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This broadcast was recorded in one, 60-minute segment.
NB: This program contains information that was not contained in the original program.
Introduction: This broadcast is a (probably partly unsuccessful) summary attempt at explaining what will be the results of the ascendance of the Trumpenkampfverbande in the U.S.
It is to be hoped that this description will go further toward explaining what is going on than the original program.
In addition to the excerpts of articles presented in the program, we will summarize some of the central arguments in the broadcast, with links to other programs and lectures, where possible.
In AFA #37, we discussed the Gehlen “Org” and related elements as a Trojan Horse, using anti-communism to infiltrate the United States and, ultimately, destroy it from within. In this program we develop that analysis further, adding the role of the House of Habsburg and associates to the Trojan Horse metaphor.
When the U.S. frustrated the de-Nazification of Germany, opted to ally with the remarkable and deadly Bormann capital network and the associated Habsburg royal family, and returned the Japanese and Italian fascists to power (with a civilian facade), this country signed its own death warrant.
America’s entry into two World Wars, after the combat had proceeded for years, decided both conflicts against Germany. The American revolution was the first successful revolt of a European colonial power against its colonial master.
Both Germany and the House of Habsburg vowed never again! Never!
In this context, we observe that the Habsburgs (royal house of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) ruled for six hundred years. Six hundred years ago–1417–was three quarters of a century before Columbus sailed.
To the Habsburgs, America is a blip. Democracy is a blip. They see things in an entirely different way. Because the U.S. was an unassailable military power and the most powerful economy on earth, the country could only be brought down by subversion from within.
We gave the Underground Reich and the Habsburgs the keys to the kingdom, not unlike the Praetorian Guard–Germanic mercenary troops appointed to guard the Roman Emperor. Eventually they controlled the throne and preserved the Roman Empire for as long as it could make lucrative payments to the Germanic tribes who eventually defeated and sacked Rome.
The thrust of the broadcast is that the ascension of Trump–an American Caligula–is indeed the end of what Henry Luce called “The American Century.”
The author of our first article is a former editor for Time magazine and a former State Department officer, so his literal take on Luce’s pronouncement is not surprising.
What Stengel is talking about is the end of “Brand America,” to coin a phrase–the successful PR marketing of this country as the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, etc.
That political mythology, which compelled much of Mr. Emory’s initial involvement in this research when he began in the early ’70s, will evaporate. That dissipation, however, will be eclipsed by the devastating economic, environmental, social and political devastation that will surely follow Trump’s policies.
As Mr. Emory forecast in FTR #‘s 918 and 919, among other programs in the “Trumpenkampfverbande” series, Trump’s anti-NATO rhetoric and general disparaging of the Atlanticist alliances that have held sway during the better part of “The American Century” are focused on precipitating the Underground Reich goals of: an all-EU army replacing NATO, a German-dominate Europe assuming center stage in world affairs, and the forging of an economic alliance with Russia (following Russian concessions on Ukraine) that will give “Corporate Germany” economic domination over the Earth Island.
Our next article heralds Mr. Emory’s prognostications. We do not feel Trump is necessarily conscious of his role. In the age of mind control, what goes on between a given individual’s ears is impossible to gauge, past a point.
Among the various and sundry disastrous outcomes of Trump’s policies may well be a cyber-terrorist incident from a nation-state actor or a lone malefactor, this the result of a federal hiring freeze.
” . . . On his first official day in office after inauguration, President Donald Trump has made good on his plan to institute a federal hiring freeze—part of his effort to slash the federal workforce. Details are sparse: Trump has said there would be exceptions for the military, and a White House memo notes the freeze would be waived “when necessary to meet national or public safety responsibilities.” Some experts fear a temporary hiring freeze could exacerbate a chronic problem in the federal government: a widespread shortage of cybersecurity talent. A hiring freeze could signal to essential cybersecurity talent—especially those who might consider joining the public sector from higher-paying industry jobs—that there’s no need or desire for them in the federal government, Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president of the Professional Services Council, told Nextgov. . . .”
Exemplifying a disconnect that is sure to help bring our economy down, Labor Secretary Puzder lauds the value of machines over humans. While he is correct that machines do not do many things that he sees as counter-productive, he ignores the fact that machines don’t by food at Carl’s Junior or Hardees, the food chains for which he is chief executive. No machine has ever bought anything.
” . . . Fast food executive Andrew Puzder, who President-elect Donald Trump is expected to tap as labor secretary, has advocated replacing some human workers with machines as a way for businesses to reduce costs associated with rising wages and health-care expenses. While machines require regular maintenance and can sometimes malfunction, Puzder said, they are also easier to manage than humans and don’t pose the same legal risks. “They’re always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there’s never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case,” Puzder told Business Insider in March. Puzder serves as the chief executive of CKE Restaurants, the corporate parent behind fast food chains Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. . . .”
When automation, inflation of the price of consumer goods that are imported and have had tariffs slapped on them by “The Donald,” lack of health care forcing working people to devote increasingly scarce resources toward maintaining their and/or their families’ health, the subversion of minimum wage, overtime and unionization laws and statutes and increasing concentration of economic ownership have brought American consumers to their knees, our consumer-based economy will collapse.
Lastly, we note something that heralds poorly for the response of the American people to the chaos that is sure to envelope this country after the environmental, economic and social chaos that will inevitably result from Trump’s rollback of decades of necessary regulation, enormous budget deficits from the GOP’s tax cuts, neutralization of decades of progress on health care and rollback of the New Deal.
With Betsy De Vos appointed as Secretary of Education, the already dismal, frightening civic awareness of our public school students figures to get worse. In and of itself, that is cause for extreme pessimism.
As our society disintegrates from the interplay of various economic, political and military factors, the calls for “someone to do something” to repair our dysfunctional society are likely to increase exponentially.
“. . . . When, 2011, the World Values Survey asked US citizens in their late teens and early 20s whether democracy was a good way to run a country, about a quarter said it was ‘bad’ or ‘very bad,’ an increase of one-third since the late 1990s. Among citizens of all ages, 1 in 6 now say in would be fine for the ‘army to rule,’ up from 1 in 16 in 1995. In a different national survey, about two-thirds of Americans could not name all three branches of the federal government or which party controlled the House of Representatives. In a third study, almost half of the respondents said the government should be permitted to prohibit a peaceful march. . . .”
Program Highlights Include:
- Review of the Habsburg role in Ukraine.
- Review of Karl von Habsburg and his UNPO.
- Review of Karl von Habsburg’s marriage to Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza and, through that, the Bormann capital network.
- Review of the intimate proximity of the House of Habsburg and the House of Liechtenstein.
- Review of House of Liechtenstein cousin Martin Wachter’s stewardship of a Bank al-Taqwa subsidiary.
- Review of the Habsburg proximity to the death of Antonin Scalia, which may have helped to solidify the GOP behind Trump.
1. The thrust of the broadcast is that the ascension of Trump–an American Caligula–is indeed the end of what Henry Luce called “The American Century.” The author is a former editor for Time magazine and a former State Department officer, so his literal take on Luce’s pronouncement is not surprising.
What Stengel is talking about is the end of “Brand America,” to coin a phrase–the successful PR marketing of this country as the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, etc.
That political mythology, which compelled much of Mr. Emory’s initial involvement in this research when he began in the early ’70s, will evaporate. That dissipation, however, will be eclipsed by the devastating economic, environmental, social and political devastation that will surely follow Trump’s policies.
“The End of the American Century” by Richard Stengel; The Atlantic; 1/26/2017.
The inaugural address of Donald Trump did not contain the word justice or cooperation or ideals or morals or truth or charity. It has only one reference to freedom. It did mention carnage and crime and tombstones and a variety of words never uttered before in a presidential inaugural. Since then, the president has doubled-down on his desire to build a wall on America’s Southern border and has said his administration will re-evaluate accepting refugees from designated Muslim countries and cut back by half the relatively small number of refugees accepted by the Obama administration. I spent seven years as editor of Time before I worked in the State Department as under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs. While I was editor of Time, I never wanted to be the first of Luce’s successors to pronounce the end of the American Century. In part, this was because of a misunderstanding of the term. Most people thought it meant American power or hegemony and there was not much diminution in America’s global power. What it really means is America as a global model and guarantor of freedom and rule of law and fairness.
Trump ’s administration is the death knell of the American Century. . . .
2. As Mr. Emory forecast in FTR #‘s 918 and 919, among other programs in the “Trumpenkampfverbande” series, Trump’s anti-NATO rhetoric and general disparaging of the Atlanticist alliances that have held sway during the better part of “The American Century” are focused on precipitating the Underground Reich goals of: an all-EU army replacing NATO, a German-dominate Europe assuming center stage in world affairs, and the forging of an economic alliance with Russia (following Russian concessions on Ukraine) that will give “Corporate Germany” economic domination over the Earth Island.
This article heralds Mr. Emory’s prognostications. We do not feel Trump is necessarily conscious of his role. In the age of mind control, what goes on between a given individual’s ears is impossible to gauge, past a point.
“The Moment of the Europeans;” german-foreign-policy.com; 1/18/2017.
Germany’s top politicians are calling on the EU to close ranks behind Europe’s “central power,” Germany, following President-Elect Donald Trump’s recent declarations in an interview. Trump suggested the possibility of “deals” with Russia, predicted the further disintegration of the EU and pointed to Germany’s dominant role within the EU. A new Russian-American world order is looming, according to Elmar Brok (CDU), Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, it is therefore imperative that the EU “close ranks.” Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed a similar opinion. Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, called for Russian and US disarmament and for enhancing the EU’s militarization. He recommended that “German nuclear armament” not be discussed — at least “at the moment.”
“Vehicle for Germany”
Donald Trump’s declarations in a recent interview have provoked Berlin’s call for the EU to close ranks. In his interview with the German “Bild” and the British “Times,” Trump called NATO “obsolete,” because only five member countries are investing the generally agreed two percent of their respective GDPs in their armed forces. He also suggested the possibility of “some good deals” with Russia, hailed the Brexit and predicted that other members would leave the EU. He also pointed to Berlin’s dominant role in the EU — a fact that is no longer denied in Europe’s foreign policy establishment. (german-foreign-policy.com reported.[1]) “You look at the European Union, and it is Germany; basically, a vehicle for Germany,” Trump was quoted.[2]
Close Ranks on Military Policy
The prospect that Washington under Trump could reach agreements with Moscow on international policy issues without the EU — which, for years, has been crippled with crisis and actually is facing disintegration — has provoked indignant reactions from German foreign policy makers and appeals to close ranks. “If we fail now to close ranks in the field of security and foreign policy, we will be faced with a new world order under Russia’s President Putin and the new US President Trump,” Elmar Brok, Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs contended on Monday.[3] Already at the beginning of the year, Wolfgang Ischinger, Chair of the Munich Security Conference had called for the EU to “speak more in unison in the future” and certainly not in the “cacophony of 27 or 28 European heads of states and governments.”[4] Germany’s Foreign Minister — who will soon become Germany’s President — Frank-Walter Steinmeier declared, following a meeting with his EU counterparts last Monday that it has “perhaps become again clearer to one or the other, just how important it is that Europe stands together and assumes common positions.”[5] Brok packaged his plea for a pan-EU closing of ranks into an appeal: “This is now the moment of the Europeans.”[6]
Disarm the Rivals
In Berlin, the contention is making the rounds that an eventual rapprochement between Washington and Moscow could be politically advantageous — not least of all to put the power struggle over Ukraine on ice. This would permit a roll back of sanctions on Russia and create new room for German companies to make lucrative business deals with the East — without relinquishing one’s own positions.[7] Thus, Ischinger alleges to have heard “courageous voices” in Kiev, who are prepared to forego membership in NATO. “A new US President Trump could talk to President Poroshenko in Kiev and Putin in Moscow and offer Ukraine security guarantees in exchange for renunciation of NATO membership,” explained the prominent diplomat.[8] It is also important that US-Russian negotiations reach an agreement on a new round in arms control. Disarmament must be sought. “More trust must be established again between the militaries, between NATO and Russia.” “I would make a plea for a round-the-clock jointly run crisis control center on neutral territory.” Ischinger did not mention whether he would consider Germany a suitable site.
Never Again “No War!”
While calling for US and Russian disarmament, Ischinger speaks out also for the further militarization of German and EU policy. “Putin” — meaning the conflicts concerning Ukraine and Syria — has clearly “demonstrated, how absolutely wrong it is to contend that there can be no military solutions,” he explained. Because the EU did not openly intervene militarily, “we, Europeans, ... have once again been banned to the sidelines — a spectator position — which is not the appropriate role for the EU, the world’s largest trading and economic power, with a population of 500 million.”[9] He “would like to see” that “no responsible German politician” will repeat the sentence, “there can be no military solutions.” In fact, the EU is preparing — under German pressure — a considerable expansion of its foreign policy and military activities. (german-foreign-policy.com reported.[10]) Even in transatlantic relations, there is “no guarantee of cooperation for eternity with us Europeans,” declared Chancellor Merkel, last week.[11] That is why “Europe” must considerably expand it radius of political and military action.
The Question of the Bomb
Wolfgang Ischinger has begun to take the question of “German nuclear armament” into consideration. Currently, it is better to avoid a debate on the EU’s “own nuclear arsenal,” the German diplomat declared. The nuclear power Great Britain is leaving the EU, while the nuclear power France is not “willing and capable” of “Europeanizing its nuclear potential.” However, “at the moment,” it would be “a political mistake to debate an alternative of arming Germany with nuclear weapons,” also “because we would provide an argument to critics in Moscow and in Europe that the central power Germany not only seeks to dominate Europe with financial policy, but also — in violation of all treaties — joint control over nuclear weapons.”[12] Ischinger did not elaborate on what conditions could invalidate his argument of temporal limitation (“at the moment”), nor did he express conclusive arguments against Germany’s acquiring nuclear weapons.
[1] See Leading from the Center.
[2] Trump: “Merkel-Asylpolitik ein schlimmer Fehler”. www.krone.at 16.01.2017.
[3] “Wir müssen auf das Schlimmste gefasst sein”. www.welt.de 17.01.2017.
[4] “Maximale Unberechenbarkeit”. www.swr.de 03.01.2016.
[5] Außenminister Steinmeier nach dem EU-Außenrat. Pressemitteilung des Auswärtigen Amts. Berlin, 16.01.2017.
[6] “Wir müssen auf das Schlimmste gefasst sein”. www.welt.de 17.01.2017.
[7] See Ostgeschäfte and Reversal of Business Trend with Russia.
[8], [9] Daniel-Dylan Böhmer, Thorsten Jungholt: “Frau Merkel muss sich warm anziehen”. www.welt.de 13.01.2017.
[10] See The European War Union, Strategische Autonomie and Shock as Opportunity.
[11] Merkel: Keine “Ewigkeitsgarantie” für Unterstützung Europas durch die USA. www.welt.de 12.01.2017.
[12] Daniel-Dylan Böhmer, Thorsten Jungholt: “Frau Merkel muss sich warm anziehen”. www.welt.de 13.01.2017.
3. Among the various and sundry disastrous outcomes of Trump’s policies may well be a cyber-terrorist incident from a nation-state actor or a lone malefactor, this the result of a federal hiring freeze.
On his first official day in office after inauguration, President Donald Trump has made good on his plan to institute a federal hiring freeze—part of his effort to slash the federal workforce.
Details are sparse: Trump has said there would be exceptions for the military, and a White House memo notes the freeze would be waived “when necessary to meet national or public safety responsibilities.”
Some experts fear a temporary hiring freeze could exacerbate a chronic problem in the federal government: a widespread shortage of cybersecurity talent.
A hiring freeze could signal to essential cybersecurity talent—especially those who might consider joining the public sector from higher-paying industry jobs—that there’s no need or desire for them in the federal government, Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president of the Professional Services Council, told Nextgov. . . .
5. Exemplifying a disconnect that is sure to help bring our economy down, Labor Secretary Puzder lauds the value of machines over humans. While he is correct that machines do not do many things that he sees as counter-productive, he ignores the fact that machines don’t by food at Carl’s Junior or Hardees, the food chains for which he is chief executive. No machine has ever bought anything.
When automation, inflation of the price of consumer goods that are imported and have had tariffs slapped on them by “The Donald,” lack of health care forcing working people to devote increasingly scarce resources toward maintaining their and/or their families’ health, the subversion of minimum wage, overtime and unionization laws and statutes and increasing concentration of economic ownership have brought American consumers to their knees, our consumer-based economy will collapse.
Fast food executive Andrew Puzder, who President-elect Donald Trump is expected to tap as labor secretary, has advocated replacing some human workers with machines as a way for businesses to reduce costs associated with rising wages and health-care expenses.
While machines require regular maintenance and can sometimes malfunction, Puzder said, they are also easier to manage than humans and don’t pose the same legal risks. “They’re always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there’s never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case,” Puzder told Business Insider in March.
Puzder serves as the chief executive of CKE Restaurants, the corporate parent behind fast food chains Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. . . .
6. With Betsy De Vos appointed as Secretary of Education, the already dismal, frightening civic awareness of our public school students figures to get worse. In and of itself, that is cause for extreme pessimism.
As our society disintegrates from the interplay of various economic, political and military factors, the calls for “someone to do something” to repair our dysfunctional society are likely to increase exponentially.
“Bully Pulpit” by Kristina Rizca; Mother Jones; January/February 2017.
. . . . When, 2011, the World Values Survey asked US citizens in their late teens and early 20s whether democracy was a good way to run a country, about a quarter said it was “bad” or “very bad,” an increase of one-third since the late 1990s. Among citizens of all ages, 1 in 6 now say in would be fine for the “army to rule,” up from 1 in 16 in 1995. In a different national survey, about two-thirds of Americans could not name all three branches of the federal government or which party controlled the House of Representatives. In a third study, almost half of the respondents said the government should be permitted to prohibit a peaceful march. . . .
The Future: Technology, Theocracy and the Thousand Year Reich
Here’s a reminder of how the Trump administration’s embrace of politics of xenophobia and open loathing of ‘foreigners’ isn’t just an attack on the US’s international reputation and “soft power” ability to influence the world. As the psychological effects of Trump’s “Muslim ban”, and broader ‘foreigners get out, we hate you!’ agenda takes hold and reduces the pool of international students interested in studying the US, all of that foreign money for US universities is going to fall too. And it’s money that’s effectively subsidizing US students since the foreign students tend to pay in full:
“In fact, recent data from SelfScore, a company providing financial services to international students, reveals that foreign students pay up to three times more than in-state students at public universities, “effectively subsidizing tuition costs for domestic students and functioning as a bailout for universities.””
Yeah, somehow it doesn’t seem like an open White Nationalist administration is going to help with the recruitment of foreign students. Especially after a “Muslim ban” of seven countries that’s only likely to grow. And keep in mind that you almost couldn’t ask for a more effective means of projecting US “soft power” than to have a bunch of students come to the US and generally have a great experience and then tell their friends back home about it. And if they’re coming for a xenophobic society themselves, having a great experience in an environment that promotes and respects diversity is basically PR gold.
But it looks like the US doesn’t want that PR gold anymore. Or the effective subsidy for American student. Hopefully Trump and the GOP Congress are at least planning on increasing funds to subsidize American students. LOL!
All that said, there is one area of study where we could see a surge of international foreign student interest: Bible study:
“He has said he was offered the position of education secretary in the Trump administration late last year but declined because he wanted to stay close to his family in Lynchburg, Virginia, where the university is based. He enthusiastically endorsed Trump’s eventual nominee, Betsy DeVos.”
Yep, Jerry Falwell Jr. was Trump’s first pick to education secretary. At least if he’s telling the truth, but considering who Trump picked instead, Betsy DeVoss, it’s not like it’s unimaginable to Falwell was the first pick. So that almost happened. And now, instead, Falwell is apparently going to heading up some sort of higher education task force. So if you’re a student interested in studying
religionthe Bible, things are presumably going to be looking up for religious schools. Especially really crappy religious schools that can’t current get any sort of accreditation:But don’t assume Falwell will just be out to help placers like his own Liberty University. He’s got a much bigger group of colleges he’s going to be championing: for-profit schools with high rates of student defaults and useless diplomas:
In describing his goals, Mr. Falwell focused on rolling back a series of initiatives that the Obama administration viewed as preventing abuses by predatory for-profit colleges. “The goal is to pare it back and give colleges and their accrediting agencies more leeway in governing their affairs,” Mr. Falwell told a Chronicle reporter.
More freedom for for-profit schools to fleece students! Yay. This should do wonders for US higher education.
But note that Falwell’s plan does sort of create a path for US universities to maintain high levels of foreign student enrollment despite Trump’s growing ‘foreigners out!’ agenda: By championing for-profit online universities, all those students who are either banned from entering the US or simply don’t want to go to a country that officially hates them can instead enroll online. For a degree that wouldn’t have been accredited before but will be soon. For profit. And perhaps a bit of usury. Soon to be legal usury:
So there we go: while Trump’s Muslim ban might be the start of a new period of an officially sanctioned ‘we hate your foreigners, go away!’ US government attitude seemingly designed to send foreign students elsewhere, at least some of those students will still be able to study in the US. At a predatory for-profit online university that issues previously worthless diplomas.
#MAGA
Not that we needed another reminder that the Team Trump is also Team Neo-Nazi, but Team Neo-Nazi decided to give us another reminder anyway, so here it is:
“The program, “Countering Violent Extremism,” or CVE, would be changed to “Countering Islamic Extremism” or “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism,” the sources said, and would no longer target groups such as white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in the United States.”
And in other news, a far-right Trump fan shot up a mosque in Quebec, killing 6 and wounding 8 others. But that, of course, was in Canada. It could never happen in America. Again.
News today is Supreme Court nominee Gorsuch’s founding of the Fascism Forever Club while enrolled at his private Georgetown prep school.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4182852/Trump-s-SCOTUS-pick-founded-club-called-Fascism-Forever.html
Just warms the heart, doesn’t it?
With Donald Trump once again attempting to undercut the authority of a federal judge who ruled against — the first time being Trump’s attacks on Judge Curiel ruling against Trump in his Trump University fraud case and now Trump railing” against the federal “so-called judge who temporarily blocked his 7‑country travel ban — along with his firing of acting Attorney General Sally Yates for her refusal to implement that travel van, it’s worth keeping in mind that the current fight over the constitutionality of Trump’s travel ban executive order is going to be dwarfed by the future fights tucked away his immigration-related executive orders. Like the order that could see 8 million undocumented immigrants deported for everything from letting their kids eat a free school lunch, to using medical services for the poor, or basically any reason an immigration agent comes up with. Possibly involving immediate deportation without a hearing:
““We are going back to enforcement chaos — they are going to give lip service to going after criminals, but they really are going to round up everybody they can get their hands on,” said David Leopold, a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Assn. and an immigration lawyer for more than two decades.”
Well, it looks like exploitation of the undocumented immigrant community — one of the most vulnerable members of American society (yes, the undocumented immigrants are actually a member of the society they’re living in by virtue of living in it whether you like it or not) — is about to explode since no one is going to want any contact with law enforcement. But they won’t just go without reporting crimes. They’ll also go with basic medical services and meals for their kids:
So get ready for a much sicker undocumented immigrant community too. Along with the predictable ‘immigrants bring disease’ far-right memes. Along those lines, whenever you read any quotes from the Center for Immigration Studies (like this one):
keep in mind that the Center for Immigration Studies is a far-right group with ties to the pro-eugenics Pioneer Fund, FAIR, and what would today be labeled the “Alt-Right”.
Also note how rapidly the number of people either expelled or held in detention could expand given the broadness of the executive order. And that could include vastly expanding the number of people who could be immediately expelled (or held) without processing through immigration courts:
So one of the big questions going forward is just how is this surge in the number of people going to logistically happen. Well, as the article below notes, Steve Bannon has a plan for that:
“Expect DHS to start advertising for bids from private prison operators, a much-maligned industry that was collapsing in the latter years of the Obama administration. Two of the largest, GEO Group Inc. and CoreCivic Inc., are already seeing windfalls from their second chance at life: Their stock prices have nearly doubled since the election.”
A massive network of new private prisons to hold the millions of people Trump and Bannon are planning on rounding up and expelling. That’s the plan.
Also keep in mind that, while there’s almost no way the GOP isn’t going to end up exploding the deficit to pay for all the tax cuts for the rich, the GOP is still almost certainly going to be using “revenue neutrality” as a rallying cry for justifying widespread cuts to federal programs. Specifically, whenever there’s a new spending program, the GOP is going to say “we need to make this new spending program revenue-neutral, which means we’re going to have to make cuts elsewhere to pay for it (and ignore our budget-busting tax cuts)”. And the only way to keep this construction blitz cost-neutral is to cut federal discretionary programs...especially federal welfare programs. So in order to stop undocumented immigrants from using US welfare programs, Trump and the GOP will build a new gulag that will almost certainly be paid for by cutting US welfare programs.
At least now we know what Trump’s real infrastructure program is going to look like.
And now word from your Dear Leader: Any negative polls about Dear Leader’s popularity or the popularity of his executive orders in the opening weeks of his never-ending rule are fake news. It’s all fake. Everyone loves Dear Leader and his policies. So it has been decreed. On Twitter:
“But his approach just has no basis in logic. It’s almost alogical, rather than illogical. It’s also allowing for Trump to do basically anything and claim a vast conspiracy against him by pollsters when they show people don’t like it. Unemployment could skyrocket and Trump could start World War III by accident, and the polls showing him unpopular would just be “fake news.” There is no limit to the power Trump is attempting to assert when it comes to leading his base.”
Everybody got that? All news is good news if its Trump news. If you hear bad Trump news, it’s fake news. Fake news probably designed to distract people from all the terrorist attacks the media refuses to cover:
“With his comments on Monday, Trump implied that the media is complicit in making terrorists successful. It’s part of a recent pattern of suggesting that others are standing in the way of his terrorism-fighting efforts, which includes disparaging a federal judge who halted his immigration executive order.”
Remember, if you’re in the media, you’re either cover a terrorist attack or you are a terrorist. Or at least a terrorist sympathizer. Like Barack Obama. So says Dear Leader:
Remember. The most important thing a journalist can do is give as much media attention to every terrorist attack as possible. And be sure to use the words “radical Islamic terrorism” over and over. It’s what the terrorists fear most. Unless it’s non-Islamic terrorism in which case your time is probably better spent covering one of the many acts of Islamic terrorism the press will no doubt be ignoring.
Also, any reports about Dear Leader employing fake news is just fake news. And if you read any reports describing anything other than joyful discipline in the spirit of public service on the part of the White House team, that’s all fake news too. Especially any reports that Dear Leader might have his own Dear Leader:
“Trump seemed particularly incensed by reports and parodies about chief strategist Steve Bannon being the actual decision-maker in the White House.”
Is Steve Bannon the real power behind the throne? If so, no one told Trump about it, apparently. And he’s clearly not going to take it well when he finds out so it’s best that no one mentions it:
Who’s the shot-caller? Dear Leader is the shot-caller. That’s who. And anything that says otherwise is totally fake news from a terrorist-sympathizing fake news media. Remember all of that. And forget anything that contradicts it or anything else in conflict with Dear Leader’s vision of what is, was, and always will be:
““Forget that,” Trump said. “Forget all of that.””
Remember. If something sullies the memory of Dear Leader, forget it. All of it. Especially anything about Dear Leader’s brain not being the best brain ever and maybe perhaps experiences some brain problems. Be sure to forget that stuff. And then return to the pleasant, acceptable memories. If you don’t you’re a terrorist sympathizer. It has been decreed.
Paul Krugman has some good news/bad news for Donald Trump’s ego (and mostly good news for the health of the US stock markets): based on Krugman’s analysis, we don’t have to worry about a ‘Trump bubble’ in US stocks despite all of Donald Trump’s claims about how much optimism he’s created because stocks haven’t actually shot up all that much since Trump won.
But that doesn’t mean there haven’t be major winners. Goldman Sachs, for starters. But check out which sector of the stock market has been experiencing a surge since Trump won reelection due largely to Trump-related optimism: Uranium mining stocks:
“So the fact that Trump appears to be committed to keeping the industry alive is being viewed as a significant win by investors.”
Could investor optimism that Trump will save the nuclear power industry would create a surge in market expectations that could lead to a 40 percent rise in uranium mining stocks? It seems plausible. But let’s not forget this part:
Yep, Trump wants more nukes. Not more nuclear plants. More nuclear weapons. Or at least upgraded nuclear weapons. But since this is Trump we’re talking about it’s safe to assume he’d like more actual nukes too. And that’s probably going to require a lot more uranium mining.
So given how sensitive the uranium mining industry is Trump’s nuclear whims, you have to wonder where those stocks are heading after this report:
“The phone call with Putin has added to concerns that Trump is not adequately prepared for discussions with foreign leaders.”
Uh, yeah, that sounds like a rather concerning phone call:
But it clearly wouldn’t be very concerning for the uranium mining industry! So now that this report of the Trump-Putin phone call of Doom came out it’ll be interesting to see where those stocks go. along with the stocks for the rest of the nuclear weapons industry.
So is a nuclear weapons industry stock bubble just around the corner? Well, yes, along with an ‘everything else’ bubble assuming current Trumpian trends continue.
As Mr. Emory stated/predicted, Germany is moving toward global hegemon as they now introduce the “logic” as to whey they should accumulate their own nuclear arsenal:
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/59005
Behold the fruit of Ostpolitik.
Is Donald Trump a compulsive liar? Like the type of person who just can’t help stop themselves from lying even when it’s obvious that the lie will be exposed? Or is there a method to his madness? It’s a question increasingly worth asking given the obvious signs of madness:
“Within a half-hour, Gorsuch spokesman Ron Bonjean, who was tapped by the White House to head communications for Gorsuch, confirmed that the nominee, Gorsuch, used those words in his meeting with Blumenthal. Several other senators, including Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, later relayed similar accounts of Gorsuch forcefully criticizing Trump’s public attacks on the judiciary branch.”
So within a half-hour of the reports that Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee told Senators that he felt Trump’s attacks on the judiciary were “disheartening” and “demoralizing”, multiple people, including GOP Senator Ben Sasse, confirm the comments. And former GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte backed it up. And yet Trump feels compelled to tweet out about how it was a misrepresentation.
Again, is there a method to the madness or is this just madness? Well, if there’s a method to the madness, it’s a method that apparently involves telling obvious and unconvincing lies that make the audience uncomfortable:
“According to one participant who described the meeting, “an uncomfortable silence” momentarily overtook the room.”
So on the same day Trump blatantly lies to the world about the veracity of Neil Gorsuch “disheartening” and “demoralizing” comments, which were confirmed by former Senator Kelly Ayotte, Trump holds a closed door meeting to discuss that nomination with a group of Senators, and also Kelly Ayotte, where he makes up another blatant lie. This time about the election that Kelly Ayotte herself just narrowly lost:
And, of course, uncomfortable silence followed. Because that’s what happens when people realize they’re standing next to a crazy person. They go silent and try to keep their distance.
So if there’s a method, it appears to be a method intended to convince people he’s mad. And if that seems like an crazy strategy, keep in mind that it might make sense to seem mad if you’re consciously planning on doing something totally insane and totally horrible. At least you’ll sort of have an excuse.
A federal appeals court voted unanimously to reject Donald Trump’s seven-country travel ban. So, of course, Trump tweeted about it:
Wow, all-caps. He seems rather miffed about it. But we shouldn’t necessarily assume that losing this court case disrupts the Trump/Bannon agenda. Especially if, as the article below that includes interviews with a number of former George W. Bush administration national security lawyers and counter-terrorism officials ominously reminds us, that agenda involves the undercutting of the co-equality of the US branches of government.
Yes, George W. Bush administration officials — like John Yoo — are pretty confident another terrorist attack is coming (not an outlandish prediction) and also appear to be concerned that the Trump is about to use terror to grab and abuse executive powers and possibly suspend Posse Comitatus and habeas corpus. Folks like John Yoo are publicly warning us about this. *gulp*:
“Trump’s efforts to hype the threat from terrorism during a period of domestic calm should be regarded with extreme skepticism. As McMullin noted, “Trump’s strange focus on the terrorist threat” was “out of step with reality at the moment” and was “a telltale sign of a leader contemplating policies that would otherwise be unacceptable.””
Yeah, that’s pretty terrifying. As the article puts it, when you have figures like John Yoo warning against the use of terror threats as an excuse for executive overreach, it’s “as if Trump had written an essay arguing that he was concerned about developers adding their names to buildings in lettering that was too large”. That just happened, but not for developers adding their names to buildings in overly large lettering. It happened for terror-hysterics-catalyzed executive overreach. *double gulp*
And on top of reports in Politico that Trump has has “privately expressed disbelief over the ability of judges, bureaucrats or lawmakers to delay — or even stop — him from filling positions and implementing policies”, a recent PPP poll suggests a majority of Trump voters share that sense of disbelief. *triple gulp*
“Many Americans share that same disbelief, a new survey by Public Policy Polling finds, with fully one in four saying Trump should simply be able to disregard court decisions he doesn’t like.”
So a quarter of Americans appear to be supportive of a president just overruling the courts. Maybe not all presidents. That’s not clear. But for Trump that seem to be ok with it. And, of course, this includes half of Trump’s voters:
“Seriously, can you imagine the uproar among these very same people if President Obama had openly announced he would simply ignore the judiciary? If he claimed it’s cool for him to just override judges when he disagrees with them?”
Yes, it’s unfortunately not hard to imagine what the response would be if President Obama was expressing skepticism that he had to abide by the courts. They’d probably be calling for impeachment at a minimum. And if the Democrats had complete control of both houses of Congress like the Republicans have today and were acting as if these musings about hypothetical power grabs was totally fine and normal, these same voters would probably be calling for a coup. Which is sort of what they’re calling for today, except with the president being the one to execute it.
So, just to summarize, George W. Bush officials like John Yoo are now openly concerned about terror being used for extreme executive overreach and a majority of Trump voters appear to be for it. This is where we are. It’s not quite Bizarro world, but it’s close.
You have to wonder if John Yoo is going to get waterboarded someday for these public warnings. Either way...*quadruple gulp*
One of these days we’re going to have a 24-hour news cycle that doesn’t involve a story associating someone on the Trump team also being involved with something of a fascistic/neo-Nazi-ish nature. One of these days. But not today:
“Despite that brutal legacy, in the last few years Horthy has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity among Hungary’s ultranationalist far-right, particularly in the Jobbik party, whose leaders have been accused of stoking anti-Semitism. Statues of Horthy have been erected in towns across Hungary, and conservatives have taken to wearing bocskai jackets to formal events.”
So was this a Nazi shout-out or just a far-right Nazi-collaborator shout-out? Both?
These are the fun kinds of questions we get to ask about the Trump administration. Pretty much every day.
@Pterrafractyl–
Far less subject to revisionist interpretation is Stephen Bannon’s affinity for fascist philosopher Julius Evola.
An influence on Mussolini, Evola eventually abandoned them for the Nazi SS, with whom he was extensively networked.
Here’s the “Times” story: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/world/europe/bannon-vatican-julius-evola-fascism.html?_r=0
For The Record has highlighted Evola for years.
An overview of this guy, beloved by Stephen Bannon, is here:
https://spitfirelist.com/for-the-record/ftr-233-kevin-coogans-conceptualization-of-the-order/
Best,
Dave
Well, with the resignation of Michael Flynn as Trump’s National Security Advisor over the phone calls he was making to Russia’s Ambassador contradicting US policy on the same day then-President Obama announced sanctions against Russia for alleged pro-Trump meddling in the 2016 elections (and then later denying such discussions of hte sanctions took place), it looks like the Trump administration is getting an early start on what will no doubt be an long list of offenses. Potentially prosecutable offenses:
“What the Times story does not say is what Flynn said. But the logic of the report certainly leaves the impression that Flynn was less than truthful. If that’s the case, the Flynn’s dismissal just went from being a political scandal to major legal jeopardy. You can’t lie to the FBI and people are routinely (often too routinely) prosecuted for doing so.”
Lying to the FBI. Uh oh. At least ‘uh oh’ if that’s what Flynn did. And he’s actually investigated and charges are actually brought. If all that happens then, yeah, uh oh for Flynn. And quite possibly ‘uh oh’ for the Trump administration in general. Including Trump. But, of course, whether or not any of these ‘uh oh’s turn into full blown ‘oh no!‘s for the Trump team is going to depend quite a bit on whether or not there are any serious investigations. Or any investigations at all. Because if not, all those ‘uh oh’s turn into ‘phew!‘s.
And so far, it’s looking like there’s going to be a lot of ‘phew!‘s for the Trump team:
““I think that situation has taken care of itself,” Chaffetz told reporters, as quoted by The Hill. “I think he did the right thing stepping down.””
Aha! The situation has already “taken care of itself.” So says the chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Plus, according to Chaffetz, no investigation is needed because the House Intelligence Committee is already investigating the alleged Russian hacks. And the chairman of the House Intelligene Committee has already said that it’s not going to be investigating Flynn. Phew!
Now, this doesn’t mean there won’t be any congressional investigations at all. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already said a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation is “highly likely.” How thorough those investigations are remains to be seen, but they’ll presumably happen in some form or another.
So there might be some investigations of some sort, just not in the House. And that means it’s probably a good time remind ourselves of the “years” of investigations Jason Chaffetz was promising just a few months ago if Hillary Clinton won the presidency:
““It’s a target-rich environment,” the Republican said in an interview in Salt Lake City’s suburbs. “Even before we get to Day One, we’ve got two years’ worth of material already lined up. She has four years of history at the State Department, and it ain’t good.””
Well look at that: had Hillary won, Jason Chaffetz already had two years of investigations ready to go from ‘Day One’. And yet here we are with less than a month into the Trump administration and a scandal possibly involving lying to the FBI — and maybe a violation of the Logan Act that bars private citizens from interfering with US diplomatic relations — and yet Jason Chaffetz suddenly has no appetite to investigate. Or at least no appetite to investigate the Trump administration. As Chaffetz made clear on inauguration day he’s still pretty interested in investigating Hillary:
“In an Instagram post on Friday, the House Oversight Committee chairman said he was “pleased” Clinton wasn’t elected and vowed to pursue his investigation into her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state.”
So as calls for investigations in House Oversight Committee inevitably grow as the Trump team’s various scandals continue to trickle in over the years, don’t forget, there are investigations taking place in that committee. Investigations of Hillary.
Of all the questions raised by the resignation of Michael Flynn as Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, perhaps that most immediate question for the Trump team is “who’s next?” And despite early indications that deputy National Security Advisor K.T. McFarland might be the next Trump Team member out the door, it sounds like she’s staying. At least for now. So...who’s next?
Well, if the Breitbart/Roger Stone/Alex Jones faction of the Trump base of supporters have their way, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is next to go. Along with what they describe as the 50 anti-Trump “sleeper cells” scattered throughout the government they say Priebus is protecting:
“Targeting Priebus, who leads the faction of Trump aides that is composed of experienced establishment political hands, is really just a stand-in for a larger conflict about the future of Trumpism in the White House. Breitbart News is treating Flynn’s ouster as the first salvo in a war against those in the administration they deem insufficiently loyal to Trump. Backing up Breitbart are legions of other Trump loyalists in the right-wing media sphere. And their angry reaction to Flynn’s exit signals the unpopularity of the move with a vocal segment of Trump’s base.”
Yep, the Breitbarters want a purge, and the resignation of Flynn, along with the government leaks that precipitated that resignation, just might give them the excuse to do it. At least if this Breitbart story is accurate.
And is the story accurate? Well, despite the denials for the administration, it is rather hard to ignore the fact that Breitbart isn’t just some random far-right rag;
So, on the one hand, it’s hard to imagine Breitbart not getting Bannon’s approval for such an incendiary story before publishing it. On the other hand, according to a source close to Bannon, there’s no reason to believe Bannon wants Priebug pushed out right now, because Priebus is useful in pushing through Bannon’s agenda.
Of course, if Bannon really did believe that Priebus was protecting an anti-Trump faction within the government it’s not hard to see how the calculus behind Priebus’s perceived utility to Bannon would get rapidly reassessed, which is why it’s not very hard to believe that that Breitbart article really was an opening salvo in an intra-White House war on those deemed not loyal enough. And if that’s the case, it doesn’t sound like the purging is going to be limited to the White House:
A Breitbart-led witch-hunt of non-loyal government employees. That sure appears to be what the Breitbart crew has in mind. And the way Breitbart puts it, Reince Priebus is the key to discovering these “sleeper cells” and firing them. Possibly illegally firing them:
“You are not permitted to fire government employees willy nilly just because Breitbart accuses them of being sleeper cell members”
No Breibart-led civil service witch-hunts allowed. Those are the rules. Rules that a significant faction of Trump’s power base would like him to break, including probably Bannon and Miller.
Of course, if this “sleeper cell” story is true, that means this big Breitbartian loyalty purge is highly dependent on one guy: Reince Priebus. After all, he’s the guy that apparently knows where the “sleeper cells” are!
It raises the question, if Priebus is really some sort of anti-Trump infiltrator, how is team Breitbart going to persuade him to give up the identities of all the disloyal government employees when they’ve already declared him an enemy of the Trump regime?
And perhaps that’s one of the main goals of the Breitbart story: by declaring the existence of disloyal “sleeper cells” that only a disloyal Priebus can identify, the Breitbart crew is developing a narrative that could be used to purge any executive branch employee who isn’t a Breitbart nut-job. You can’t have a widespread witch-hunt if you already know who the witches are.
Robert Parry’s essay “Trump Caves On Flynn’s Resignation” suggests the Deep State has won a round over the Trump administration.
However the Underground Reich (through lieutenants like Bannon, Miller, Sessions) knows how to play a long game.
Dave you’ve noted the power struggle going on within the Trump administration between the UR and the Deep State.
Do you see Bannon et al setting up Trump for removal with an eye toward Pence as the president-in-waiting?
Remember all those reports about all the fun “facts” that kids in Louisiana were learning in schools after then-Governor Bobby Jindal decided to experiment with a public vouchers for private schools, including religious schools? Well, it sounds like kids across the US will have the privilege of learning things like the Loch Ness Monster is a dinosaur that proves evolution isn’t real. At least that’s what will happen if the far-right Council for National Policy’s (CNP) recommendations for the new Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, are actually implemented. And while it might seem absurd to imagine that even a GOP administration would back such a move at a national level, it might seem less absurd when you factor in that the CNP is basically pushing the same agenda that DeVos herself has long championed. And DeVos donates to the group. And her parents were both leaders of the group. And Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway served on its executive committee:
“The goal, it says, is a “gradual, voluntary return at all levels to free-market private schools, church schools and home schools as the normative American practice.””
And how does the CNP propose the US enact a “gradual, voluntary return at all levels to free-market private schools, church schools and home schools as the normative American practice”?
So that’s at least part of the plan. Along with DeVos’s long-held goal of public vouchers for charter and religious schools.
So aside from the CNP’s ties to DeVos, Bannon and Conway, how much influence should we expect it to have a Trump administration? Quite a bit, if you consider that the CNP is like the mothership for US far-right figures, with hundreds of influential far-right personalities on its membership rolls:
“But what is most remarkable about the directory is that it reveals how the CNP has become a key meeting place where ostensibly mainstream conservatives interact with individuals who are, by any reasonable definition, genuinely extremist.”
An organization where mainstream-ish ‘culture-warriors’ can secretly network with hardcore far-right extremist and their wealthy benefactors. Wow, sounds like the Trump administration. Except for the secret part.
So how much of the CNP’s agenda will the White House attempt to actually implement. Only the Trump Team knows for sure, and it’s a secret. Sort of.
One of the questions raise by Donald Trump’s victory solidifying the American far-right’s complete control of US government at the federal level is what’s are all the far-right anti-government movements going to do for the next 4–8 years. Well, the League of the South certainly has plans the Trump era: form
Trump’s Brownshirtsa vigilante ‘Southern Defense Force’ intended to combat ‘the leftist menace’. But it’s not exclusively intended to be vigilante in nature. If state and local authorities ever feel the need to deputize private citizens, this new ‘Southern Defense Force’ is planning on filling that role too:“[T]he League of the South is calling for all able-bodied, traditionalist Southern men to join our organization’s Southern Defense Force for the purpose of helping our State and local magistrates across Dixie combat this growing leftist menace to our historic Christian civilization. As private citizens in a private organization, we will stand ready to protect our own families and friends, our property, and our liberty from leftist chaos. Moreover, we will be ready to assist our local and State authorities in keeping the peace should they find it necessary to “deputize” private citizens for that purpose”
And if you’re wondering if Michael Hill, president of the League of the South, really is making an overtly white-nationalist dog-whistle when he asks “Are you ready to be a man among men?”, here’s his declaration immediately following election day about how no mercy should be shown towards “Jews, minorities, and anti-white whites”:
“Today, Hill warned neo-Confederate activists that if “you don’t finish the job by routing your enemies and driving them into the sea while you have the chance, they will re-group and be back at your throats in no time! You have been given a reprieve by God (probably undeservedly so); do not give your enemies and His a reprieve.””
So it sounds like the ‘Southern Defense Force’ is going focused on driving Jews, minorities, and non-white-supremacist whites ‘into the sea’, mercilessly, while it works on building a new whites-only independent South. Or maybe they’ll get deputized so they can help ‘keep the peace’. Both scenarios are part of the plan. Whichever comes first.
@ Dennis–
The Underground Reich controls the Deep State as well, through corporations, CIA, related elements like the OUN/B milieu exemplified by Alexandra Chalupa and Dimitry Alperovitch (of Crowdstrike).
Trump will, I believe, ultimately be removed. Pence is the guy the GOP and UR really want–all of the evil without Trump’s weirdness and foibles.
Remember, the Trump statements on NATO, Russia, Ukraine et al were aimed, in my opinion, at starting a bidding war between the U.S./West and Russia, for the benefit of Germany.
U.S. will be the Bad Cop, Germany the Good Cop, although also “Bad Cop” for a while.
Do follow German Foreign Policy. Things are developing as I said.
The U.S. is incapable of anything but warlike stances, I’m afraid.
Long term, expect U.S. to fade from the picture–as its economy collapses, its environment becomes polluted beyond redemption, its foods and pharmaceuticals become dangerous to consume, along with its manufactured goods, its military becomes hopelessly entangled in endless wars far from home (helping to bankrupt the economy), Wall Street crashes again, its educational system retreats to the mid-nineteenth century, its health care collapses, epidemics become the norm, and, who knows, a cyber-terrorist incident or two and/or a nuclear power plant melt-down or two.
Long term, Germany and Russia will find some sort of accommodation, a German-led all EU military replaces NATO (which will fade from the picture with the decline and fall of the U.S.), and a German-dominated trade union stretching all across the Earth Island, from Lisbon to Vladivostok becomes the preeminent commercial entity on earth.
Do pay attention to the upcoming FTR #947 for some insights on a possible fascist Russia following removal of Putin, if U.S. is able to pull it off.
I know this is complicated, but Americans are focused on “one side or the other.”
This is different‑a dynamic.
Again, think “bidding war” to the benefit of Germany.
Best,
Dave