Puppet MastersS


Star of David

Pompeo gives away the Palestinian West Bank and any chances for a lasting peace

Philip Giraldi
The Unz Reader
Tue, 26 Nov 2019 00:00 UTC
Pompeo Netanyahu
A story has been circulating suggesting that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will soon be resigning because he needs to focus on planning for his campaign to become a Senator from Kansas in 2020. This is good news for the United States, as Senator Lindsey Graham has had no one he is able to talk to about exporting democracy by blowing up the planet since Joe Lieberman retired and John McCain died. And the tale even has a bit of palace intrigue built into it, with an interesting back story as Pompeo is apparently considering his move because he fears that staying in harness with Donald Trump for too long might damage his reputation. There are also reports that he has been traveling to Kansas frequently on the State Department's dime to test the waters, a violation of the Hatch Act which prohibits most government officials from engaging in self-promotional political activities unrelated to their actual jobs.

If one is seeking evidence to suggest that Pompeo, a man who lies with a fluency that takes one's breath away, is delusional, it would certainly have to include his self-assessment that he has a reputation to protect. It is possible to cite many instances in which Pompeo has asserted something that is absolutely contrary to the truth, though one might also have to concede that he could often be saying what his factually challenged boss wants to hear. When Pompeo was Director of the CIA he even joked openly about how "We lied, we cheated, we stole."
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Birthday Cake

Queen cancels Prince Andrew's 60th birthday party in wake of disastrous Newsnight interview

Nick Enoch
Daily Mail
Sun, 24 Nov 2019 20:35 UTC
the queen prince andrew
The Queen has scrapped plans to host a party for Prince Andrew to mark his 60th birthday in February. Instead, the monarch is said to be arranging a small family dinner for the Duke.
The Queen has scrapped plans to host a party for Prince Andrew to mark his 60th birthday in February.

Instead, the monarch is said to be arranging a small family dinner for the Duke, according to The Sunday Times. His birthday is on February 19.

The news comes just days after the Queen effectively sacked him from his royal duties at the behest of her eldest son in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Comment: See also:

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Snakes in Suits

Democrats haven't learned a darned thing from past impeachment probes

John Daniel Davidson
The Federalist
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 00:00 UTC
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
The Nixon and Clinton impeachment inquiries were bipartisan, serious, and easy to understand. None of that is true of the Democrats' anti-Trump impeachment charade

The history of impeachment proceedings in the modern era, from Nixon to Clinton to Trump, shows that a successful impeachment needs three things: it must be bipartisan, it must be about something Americans think is important, and Congress must strike while the iron is hot. In Trump's case, Democrats have botched all three.

First, this impeachment inquiry is an entirely partisan affair. The public hearings of recent weeks have made this undeniable, but even before the hearings it was obvious that Democrats alone were going to conduct this impeachment. The House's impeachment inquiry resolution passed last month without a single Republican vote, and in fact two Democrats joined GOP lawmakers in voting against the resolution, making opposition to the impeachment probe bipartisan.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to avoid this, which is one reason she refused to call for an open House vote on whether to open an impeachment inquiry and instead announced the "inquiry" in a press conference. She knew any House vote would be entirely along partisan lines, undermining the inquiry's credibility from the outset. By the time Democrats brought forward their impeachment rules resolution at the end of October, Pelosi had lost control of the process.

Comment: It is also clear that, on the heels of the ridiculous and disastrous "Russiagate" and Mueller investigation - there is already a precedent set in the minds of many Americans for Washington accusing Trump of great malfeasance and, after much hoopla, it coming to absolutely nothing. This impeachment probe is just obviously more of the same. Unless you're a Trump hater that is.

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Gear

Who gets to decide that the US should fight a "hot war" with Russia?

Andre Damon
WSWS.org
Sat, 23 Nov 2019 00:00 UTC
US deep state gears
There is a saying attributed to the banker J.P. Morgan: "A man always has two reasons for what he does — a good one and the real one."

On September 26, Congressman Adam Schiff reviewed the contents of the "whistleblower" complaint that triggered the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. "It reads like a classic organized crime shakedown," Schiff said.

Imitating Trump speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky, Schiff demanded, "I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand. Lots of it."

If the alleged "organized crime shakedown" by Trump was the "good" reason for the impeachment inquiry, the "real" reason has emerged over two weeks of public congressional hearings. The hearings have lifted the lid on a massive US conspiracy to spend billions of dollars to overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine in 2014 and foment a civil war that has led to the deaths of thousands of people.

The impeachment drive is itself the product of efforts by sections of the intelligence agencies and elements within the State Department to escalate Washington's conflict with Russia, with potentially world-catastrophic consequences.

Comment: That's right, the choice to declare war on a peaceful country gets decided by a few thousand crazies in Washington, not the democratically elected leader of the US - or the majority of Americans - who, if they were actually given the facts instead of the propaganda - would likely usher out the genocidal beltway crazies in seconds flat.

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Star of David

Human Rights Watch slams Israel's expulsion of director over BDS activism


RT
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 00:00 UTC
HRW director Omar Shakir
© REUTERS/Ammar AwadHRW director Omar Shakir speaks at Ben Gurion International Airport before his deportation from Israel, November 25, 2019.
Human Rights Watch has condemned the decision by Israel to deport Omar Shakir, HRW's director for Israel and Palestinian territories. Israel revoked his visa over activism on behalf of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).

Shakir, a US citizen, was placed on a flight out of Ben Gurion International Airport on Monday, after the Israeli Supreme Court upheld the government's decision to expel him from Tel Aviv. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Shakir has been an outspoken advocate of the BDS movement prior to his work at HRW, and that they have every right to expel him under a 2017 amendment to the rules of entry and residency.
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Snakes in Suits

Tory election candidate caught on camera setting up fake 'spontaneous' interview with resident


RT
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 14:38 UTC

Comment: If you can't make it, fake it!


Conservative
© Reuters / Kevin CoombsA Conservative Party activist
A candidate being fielded by the Tories for the UK general election has been left red-faced after being filmed setting up a fake 'spontaneous' interview with one of his residents - who is also, crucially, one of his friends.

Lee Anderson, the Conservative candidate for Ashfield, who recently caused a stir online, after suggesting anti-social council tenants should be forced to live in tents in the field and undergo hard labor, has been caught trying to trick a journalist on the campaign trail.

Michael Crick, who is reporting for Mail+ during the election campaign, spent a day with Anderson as he canvassed his constituents - accompanied by his film crew.

Comment: And it's not just the MPs that are up to such trickery, the Conservatives have the UK's tax-payer funded, state broadcaster, the BBC, doing their dirty work, too:

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Arrow Down

Down the rabbit hole he goes: Donald Trump is Alice, and Washington is Wonderland

Martin Sieff
Strategic Culture Foundation
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 00:00 UTC
the red queen
Donald Trump's millions of detractors without doubt see him as The Mad Hatter: But, no: He's Alice. The President of the United States has disappeared down the rabbit hole and he's in Wonderland - Complete with a Red Queen (Nancy Pelosi) shouting "Off with his head!"

The great mistake foreign observers make observing the latest farce in Washington is assuming that there must be some order, rationality and linear logic behind it. There is none. It is Politics According to the Marx Brothers

This is a show trial - incompetently planned and directed with hundreds of crazed scriptwriters: The Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee, their staffs and the salivating Mainstream US Media are writing and rewriting the script as they go along.

If one is to believe the Mainstream Media, who avidly take this bizarre cartoon seriously, enough evidence has already been established to clearly convict Trump of seeking to push an inquiry into the prima facie evidence of corruption on the part of the son of a former vice president and the leading Democratic presidential candidate.

Is this supposed to be criminal or shocking? What is Trump even accused of doing? He is accused of cautiously investigating the possibility of corruption in a sensitive and clearly unstable US ally whose government openly tried to influence the 2016 US presidential election (as Russia did NOT!)
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Propaganda

Manufacturing consent: How NY Times shamefully spins Bolivian coup against 'coca-farming strongman' Morales


RT
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 19:51 UTC

Comment: "Strongman"! Ooh, that's gonna wins hearts and minds!


Supporters of ousted President Evo Morales
© REUTERS/Agustin MarcarianSupporters of ousted President Evo Morales hold a sign that reads "Down with the coup in Bolivia," November 22, 2019
A military-assisted coup against a democratically elected president transforms into a dramatic rescue of democracy from military dictatorship by someone who got 4 percent of the vote, to hear the US paper of record tell the story.

President Evo Morales of Bolivia resigned on November 10, after losing the support of the military, after US-backed opposition violently protested the outcome of the election which showed him winning in the first round with a 10-percent lead over the closest challenger. Three days later, opposition senator Jeanine Añez declared herself "interim president." Washington called it a "significant moment for democracy in the Western Hemisphere."

In the New York Times narrative, however, Morales was a "strongman" - at least in the printed edition headline - and "a leftist who led with a single-minded pursuit of his vision for 14 years."


Comment: See also: Western media's whitewash of Bolivia's far-right coup

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USA

Tulsi Gabbard says Democratic party is not 'of, by or for the people'


apkfamily.com
Sat, 23 Nov 2019 00:00 UTC
TulsiScreenshot
© screenshotDemocratic Candidate for President, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Tulsi Gabbard caught every single Democrat off guard with this gutsy statement!

Tulsi Gabbard may be trailing in the polls, but she certainly set herself apart from the other 2020 hopefuls.

The veteran has been mercilessly attacked by her own party. Hillary Clinton, defying all logic, accused her of being a Russian operative (sound familiar?).

Gabbard is even taking on Google for alleged attempts to censor her.

It seems the liberal establishment is doing everything they can to squash their fellow Democrat. But Tulsi is not backing down.

And she's taking on the entire party.


Comment: See also:

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Target

In case you didn't notice, the trade war with China went off the rails

Linette Lopez
Business Insider
Sun, 17 Nov 2019 08:19 UTC
Broken rails
© ICSA
While you weren't looking — perhaps while you were watching impeachment hearings — the trade war with China went off the rails and lost its meaning.

To understand why, you have to know why the US started a trade war with China in the first place. It began with a very specific investigation, one using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to examine claims of Chinese theft of US intellectual property.

The investigation determined what many in the business community had been talking about for years: that China abused its US partners, stole the IP of American companies, forced those companies to reveal their technology to Chinese counterparts, and muscled US firms out of the Chinese economy in favor of state-owned enterprises.

This, the Trump administration said, was a problem beyond the capacity of the World Trade Organization. It was a problem worth going to economic war over. And so we did.

But so far this trade war has accomplished nothing aside from breaking up US supply chains and souring relations between the US and China. And now instead of discussing meaningful ways the Chinese economy will open to US businesses, trade negotiators are reportedly haggling over how many soybeans China will buy.
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