Russia Invading Ukraine Is A Dumb Move

For all the news banging around about Russia targetting Ukraine, no one should be all that surprised about an invasion. This happening was long in the making since 2014.

For Russia itself, this was a dumb move strategically as it's going encourage the growth of something it sought to cease: the further expansion of NATO. It'll kick into overdrive for 2 additional Scandanavian nations' push to join the alliance: Sweden and Finland. At the moment, these are neutral nations, but with actions going as they are, it'd be a non-surprise to see them clamoring to join.

Russia will come out of this in a worse position than when it in. America will use whatever leverage it has with Israel and China, which can cut the former out of the global trade and arms markets. Not only that, the war in Ukraine is exceedingly unpopular among the Russian people. The younger generations are getting information through social media sites like TikTok and Vkontakte rather than consuming the propoganda that's broadcasted on Russian state media.

Ordinary Russians are seeing the body bags that are coming back from Ukraine, and they're pissed off about it. They're beginning to protest against the war, which is scaring the living crap out of Vladimir Putin. As an autocrat, there's nothing more threatening than peaceful protests.

New Exploding War Between Israel & Palestine

This recent violence between Israel and the Palestinian paramilitary organization Hamas is very worrying. It's as if Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist allies have found a new justification to eradicate the Palestinian people in their entirety. Before we get to that though, let's clear something up: Israel, like all nations, does have the right to defend itself against would-be aggressors. However, under Netanyahu's leadership, Israel's response has once again become overkill.

The goal looks to be collective punishment of the Palestinians for standing up to several illegal Israeli settler landgrabs in the 4-5 months prior to the recent outbreak in violence. Instead of blocking action on Israel's overreaction, America should put its foot down and tell it to end its landgrabs for good. This is what's fueling it, and Joe Biden, as America's president, has the clout to do so right now. He (Biden) shouldn't bother listening to AIPAC (which, for the record, is the domestic mouthpiece for Likud in America) with its lectures about how any criticism of Israeli policy is anti-Semitic/anti-Semitism. The 2 are not interrelated, despite what AIPAC says to the contrary. In fact, they're very different from each other.

The Palestinians need a voice at the table, and America would be in a position to facilitate that if it would quit buying into the lie that Israel is the aggrieved victim in this saga when it's very clear that it's the actual aggressor. It's also time for America to quit dragging its proverbial feet in engaging in some tough love on Israel; clearly laying out the law by saying that using the Holocaust to justify genocide and apartheid is wrong. This rings especially true given how modern Israel was born in the wake of the Nazis' nearly successful attempt to exterminate Europe's own Jewish population during WWII. It's not helping Israel's cause in becoming a non-pariah on the world stage.

Christopher Steele's Dossier - What I Got Wrong About It

 I know that I wrote a piece a few years ago about how Christopher Steele having lied about Russia's involvement in the 2016 presidential election; about it working on Donald Trump's behalf. I need to come clean and say that I was wrong, dead wrong. Steele was by no means a puppet for the Ukrainians, or for that matter the Clinton 2016 campaign, to tar both Trump and Russia in a neo-McCarthyist manner. When the intel community used his dossier and kept coming to him for additional information, it meant they considered him a credible source for Russia's activities. It turned out that Robert Mueller's investigation was able to use the information Steele provided to convict several figures in Trump's orbit and disprove the Trump Administration's lies about the Trump 2016 campaign's involvement.

Russia did apparently have some sex videos that it could use to blackmail Trump, but not even those would have mustered a yawn. People would be disgusted to see them, but not thoroughly outraged. Sex scandals have been common in our electoral politics since the 1990s, which means they largely don't pass the smell test for qualifying as a scandal at this point; that is unless there's some other egregious factor involved. I think what does get lost in all of this though is that, while certainly compromised, Trump still had more leverage on the Russians to blackmail them with. Don't forget, he was 1 of the Russian elites' primary vehicles into the U.S. economy starting in the 1980s. What also gets lost in the noise, which I bought into, is the extent to which Bill Barr had been less than forthcoming about Trump's involvement.

Barr's complete disregard for proper procedure and truth gave Trump a sense of impunity. By falsely declaring that Trump was cleared of any Obstruction of Justice charges and then going to great lengths to hide the fact that it was a lie fed into Trump's false narrative that he was innocent the entire time. A federal judge for the D.C. district court ruled earlier today that the Justice Department had to publicly release a memorandum with Barr's false evidence. Whether that happens or not isn't the question to be asking, the question we should be asking ourselves is what did Barr have to gain in keeping that memo hidden; and moreover, what his intent was, too. Should there be a criminal element to this, he needs to be held accountable.

Barr's actions also played right into the contents of Steele's dossier; just like Trump's. Steele warned us that something was amiss with Trump 2016, and many on the left and right (including the author of this blog) ignored it. And to all my readers, I can't apologize enough for that. From now on, I'll try to be more judicious in verifying sources before spouting off like I did back during Trump's term in office. 

How Vladimir Putin Is Playing With Fire Violating American Airspace

It's obvious that Vladimir Putin's Russia has been throwing a self-destructing tantrum ever since Joe Biden became president. If Putin thinks invading American airspace to harass fishing boats is his ticket to success, he's delusional. If anything, he's going to provoke a JFK-like response from Biden, which would further complicate an already deteriorating relationship between America and Russia. Don't be surprised or shocked in the slightest should war threats come eminating from Washington to Moscow if Putin decides to escalate matters even further (which he will). These types of threats are not to be taken lightly as we're talking about a war between the nations with largest nuclear weapons stockpiles.

Unless Putin really wants an exchange of nuclear launches, he should quit these provocative escalations before innocent people get killed. Lobbing 1 at the Kremlin's men's room is the last thing we need. America is going to respond, it's a matter of when, not if, and how. We'll have to keep a close eye on this situation as it continues unfolding.

The DNC Is Making The Same Mistake It Did In 2016 By Trying To Ram Joe Biden Through As Nominee

It's not a surprise by any stretch that the Third Way (New Democrat Coalition) controlled Democratic National Committee is trying to ram Joe Biden to the party's presidential nomination; running rough-shod over the protests of the progressive grassroots. But that is a big mistake on the DNC's part, as it's repeating the same mistake it made with Hillary Clinton back in 2016. Before we go into that old tizzy, let's take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

To start with, let's look at how the DNC let complacency take root by forcing Hillary's nomination. They figured, via a pied-piper campaign strategy, that they could get the public to vote for her through their own disgust with Donald Trump's caustic rhetoric; and we all saw how that played out. They also started taking certain constituencies' votes for granted and ran the most tone-deaf campaign, which was also turning off voters. But the biggest mistake it made was that the people wanted continuity, more of the same failed incrementalism that the public was beginning to tire of. For those reasons above, that was what incentivized certain parts of the electorate into either backing Trump (the least qualified presidential candidate in US History) or 3rd-party candidates, or simply staying home and not vote at all. It's undeniable that there were also other factors that played into Hillary's loss; everything from Russian interference in the election to the Republicans cheating by rigging electoral outcomes in their own favor (vote suppression, manipulating voting machines, etc.).

But we shouldn't lose sight of the central premise that the DNC severely miscalculated just how incensed the electorate actually was at the time; incensed with essentially being held hostage (and bullied into voting for the "candidate" [aka Hillary]) and then being left behind once the voting was done. By making so many derisive comments of their own, the Democrats pissed away all the votes they needed in order to win. Calling anyone who didn't vote for Hillary, during both the primaries and the general, mysogynists and "Bernie Bros" created so much ill-will that the progressive grassroots didn't turn out as heavily as they had done in both 2008 and 2012 when Barack Obama was at the top of the ticket. Trump and the Republicans exploited this rift to snatch the presidency.

As for the Russians, it's easily confirmable to say that the Republican Party colluded with them in 2016. However, that fits into a larger pattern that's been described on this blog once before. There's a likelihood that they won't be able to play the peripheries in this year's election like they did last time. Not because of Donald Trump's bumbling, but because of the intelligence community and social media giants' due diligence in weeding out potential misinformation campaigns.

All of that said, we can't ignore the other inconvenient fact, which is that the DNC is doubling down on the same failed strategy this time, only substitute Hillary with Biden. The Corporate Dem Establishment is still up to its old antics yet again upon Bernie Sanders. They're trying to do everything humanly possible to undermine his campaign, and if they succede, they'll be setting themselves up to lose. This is why we need to fight them off again, as they shouldn't be given the chance to hold us hostage again.

Why We Should Still Turn Out Regardless Of What The Republicans And Their Far-Right Goons Do To Keep Us Away From The Polls

From voter suppression to voter intimidation, it’s pretty clear to see that the Republican Party is growing desperate to hang on to their status as America’s majority party. That reason alone is exactly why we need to still come out and make our voices heard in the upcoming midterm election in 2 weeks. If you live in a Republican-controlled state, don’t let yourself be intimidated out of exercising your right to vote.

As Barack Obama correctly pointed out in a video on Youtube, voting is the only way to improve our already dire circumstances. Now is not the time to become disengaged. Let’s answer his call by heading out to the polls on November 6.

New Low For Donald Trump

There’s no question that Donald Trump is feeling the tightening of the noose that Robert Mueller has tied around him. Several people whom Trump had prior business ties with are being indicted, or already convicted/allocuted, have exposed the web of corruption that surrounds him. Mostly that corruption comes from the Republican Party itself and the various interest groups it has ties with.

That corruption was exploited by Vladimir Putin’s Russia, but not necessarily to Trump’s benefit. The fact is that Putin has next to no leverage over Trump, which has been illustrated time after time over the past year or so. The only candidate that Putin would’ve had leverage over was Hillary Clinton, as I’ll explain below.

The reasons that Putin would’ve had leverage over Hillary would be her email server (which was unencrypted for the first 3 months of 2009) and both his and his cronies’ donations to the Clinton Foundation. Donations to the Clinton Foundation would’ve been a backdoor to a President Hillary. Putin knew this and could use both the server and foundation to blackmail her into doing his bidding.

Donald Trump Has Listened To The Neocons By Ordering The Bombing Attack On Syria

This is getting to be way too out of hand, us attacking another country without an of provocation. Granted, Bashar al-Assad is no angel, but there's no excuse for launching the attack. Now unless there's some intel that I or the American people don't know about, this was outright stupid and dangerous.

Donald Trump should not have listened to the Neocons, and is now going to turn America into a target for new terror attacks, as well as potential counterattack by Vladimir Putin's Russia. There's no point in heeding the council of the same people that brought us into Iraq.

I've got a new video up on Youtube, calling on everyone to get in contact with their Representatives and Senators in Congress. You can find their links on these websites:

• House of Representatives: https://www.house.gov/
• Senate: https://www.senate.gov/

Also, hit me up on Facebook and/or Twitter, and tell me your thoughts.

Out Of Control Threats Of Nuclear War

I can't begin to describe the ramifications at play here, with loose threats of nuclear warfare between Donald Trump & Kim Jong-Un, without turning it into a history lecture. That's the price I pay for being a history graduate from San Francisco State University. I'll try to keep this as concise as I can, but no guarantees.

Loose threats of nuclear war are terrifying beyond the imagenable, and it should serve as a major wake-up call to quicken the process of nuclear disarmament. For the people who grew up during the Cold War, this is a terrifying reminder of their childhood and adolescense. That makes their terror very justifiable.

However, one of the ways these threats have gotten so out of control is by the leadership in North Korea having absolutely no regard for human life. Even worse is the level of cockiness by Kim, who thinks that he'll be able to take on America with the aid of North Korea's de facto allies: Russia and China. This is where he is wrong on so many levels as the dynamics are much different now than with the start and end of the Korean War in 1950-3. The biggest reason is that Russia and China are not going to back North Korea up should it engage in a war of aggression against America and its regional allies.

This doesn't mean that the American side is without its own contributions. For years, America has been engaging in aggressive activity very close to North Korea's territory, both terrestrial and marine, through joint military exercises with both Japan and South Korea. Granted, these activities are primarily defensive in origin, but their execution can come across as a threat to the North. Another factor to add is the cockiness on display by Trump, who, in a way, is lettling his ego cloud his judgment in a sense. Trump is a president with no prior experience in government, which puts him at a huge learning curve.