Puppet MastersS


Megaphone

Selective outrage: Liberal media slams Trump's call to Putin, forgets that Obama did the same in 2012

Putin and Obama
The mainstream media's anti-Trump obsession was on full-display Tuesday; with multiple networks slamming the President for calling Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his re-election; totally ignoring the fact that Barack Obama did the same thing in 2012.

The President confirmed this week that he placed a private phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin hours after his landslide election; sparking outrage from liberal lawmakers and the destroy-Trump press.

Comment:


Light Saber

Blunt Duterte blasts Canada over failed helicopter deal: 'How stupid can you get?'

duterte trudeau
© Mark R. Cristino / ReutersCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte
Outspoken Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has launched another tirade of abuse, this time aimed at Canada after it decided to stop a $233-million deal to send 16 helicopters to Manila.

In his address to the General Assembly of the League of the Municipalities of the Philippines, Duterte hit out against Canada's decision after beginning his speech with a description of the various internal struggles his country is up against.

"My God, you Canadians, how stupid can you get? Our citizens are joining ISIS so we have every right to kill our citizens because we do not want to destroy the community with apathy."

The Philippines has been struggling with Islamic extremism in recent years, with terrorist groups affiliated to ISIS operating in the country since 2014. Tensions between extremist groups and the government culminated with the so-called Marawi Siege, a five-month conflict that has cost thousands of lives.

Comment: Duterte may be too rough around the edges for the elite, but his lowyalty to his people is unquestioned.


Binoculars

Germany selling weapons tech to Iran and 'working against Israel' as US Dems block Trump pick for Ambassador

Richard Grenell
© Getty imagesRichard Grenell
Administration officials alarmed over bid to block Trump's ambassador to Germany

U.S. officials are increasingly alarmed by a congressional block on President Donald Trump's pick to be the next ambassador to Germany, a holdup that comes as Berlin pursues a host of anti-Israel measures and is growing closer to Iran, according to multiple administration insiders who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.

As Democrats in Congress continue to hold the nomination of Richard Grenell, a veteran Republican diplomat who was tapped by Trump to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to Germany, the post remains vacant, sparking concerns the United States is ceding leverage amid sensitive discussions regarding the future of the landmark Iran nuclear deal.

The vacancy also has left the United States with little voice to combat a series of anti-Israel efforts being pursued by the German government. Trump administration insiders are becoming increasingly fed-up with the block on Grenell, telling the Free Beacon that U.S. diplomats currently helming the post have been bungling critical national security priorities, including the Iran portfolio and recent efforts by Germany to sell Tehran sensitive equipment used by the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria to produce chemical weapons.


Comment: The whole 'Assad uses chemical weapons on his people' and 'Iran is evil' shtick seems to be conflated with other diplomatic issues here.


Pirates

The long war: Endless investigation of Trump was always the plan

MuellerKrembucks
© The Washington Reporter
So this is the new standard for electing a president here in America, the greatest living experiment in self-governance.

A man can run the gauntlet against more than 20 professional politicians and come out victorious.

He can win more than 40 Republican primary contests and beat every professional political campaigner out there, earning the votes of more than 14 million Republicans.

He can then turn his attention to beating the most powerful, entrenched political machine America has seen in nearly a half-century. (That corrupt machine had just pulled off its most devious and dishonest scam ever - rigging a presidential primary to snatch the party's preferred Socialist candidate away from Democrat voters.)

Brick Wall

GOP Rep McSally wants border wall between California and Arizona to 'keep out criminals'

US border wall
© Mike Blake / Reuters
It's not just the US-Mexico border which could witness a forbidding wall cropping up soon. A GOP representative wants to build a similar barrier between Arizona and its immigrant-friendly neighbor California.

Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) proposed erecting a border wall between California and Arizona to protect Arizona from "dangerous criminals" who, she claims, are protected by California's sanctuary cities policy. McSally made the remarks during a round-table discussion about sanctuary cities on Tuesday at the White House.

Comment: The good representative is not alone in her views.


Arrow Down

Top general says US troops should be prepared to die for Israel

General Richard Clark
© Jerusalem PostBrig.-Gen Zvika Haimovitch, the head of the IDF's Aerial Defense Division and US Air Force 3rd AF Commander Lt. Gen. Richard Clark.
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same..." This is the oath of enlistment that every American military service member or federal employee takes upon entry into government service (with slight variation for commissioned officers).

With the largest joint U.S.-Israeli air defense exercise ever conducted having recently concluded, which involved over 2,500 American service personnel, and in the midst of heightened Israeli involvement in the Syrian war, we find ourselves asking...

Are US troops ready to fight and to die for America's Israel's defense? ...We think not, but there are US generals out there enthusiastically promoting the idea.

Bad Guys

MPs who misled public about 'Iraq's WMDs' jump on Skripal poisoning bandwagon

US Army Iraq
© Robert King / Global Look PressFeb 16, 2005 - Baghdad, Iraq - An American soldier with the 1st Cavalry Division is treated after being shot in the volatile area of the Haifa Street neighborhood.
Many of the MPs who rushed to judgment over the Iraq War are now asserting Russia's 'culpability' for the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal. Fifteen years after the war began, are the same politicians repeating their mistakes?

In the Commons, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was slammed as he compared Theresa May's approach - labeling Russia as culpable for the Skripal poisoning before an investigation has concluded - as similar to the WMD saga that led the UK into Iraq.
Following his statement, many Labour MPs rushed to condemn their leader, openly backing May in Parliament and further distancing themselves from Corbyn following the session.

Corbyn, along with a handful of fellow MPs, consistently voted against the Iraq War - a stance he is now hailed for after British intelligence claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) were discredited.

Eye 1

Liberal 'hero' Mueller helped pave way for Iraq war by lying about WMDs

George Tenet Robert Mueller
© Kevin Lamarque / ReutersCIA Director George Tenet (L) and FBI Director Robert Mueller listen to remarks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats to U.S. security, on Capitol Hill, February 11, 2003.
The 15th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq has evoked many inconvenient memories for America - including the fact that Russiagate heartthrob Robert Mueller lied about Iraq's WMDs, paving the way for war.

Currently serving as the head of an "independent" investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, Mueller wasn't always hailed by liberals as a brave crusader for democracy and truth. Actually, the liberal love affair with Mueller is a rather recent phenomenon.

Comment: Further reading: Questions still surround Robert Mueller's dodgy Boston past
In Boston, Mueller was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office and then became the Acting U.S. Attorney from 1986 through 1987. It was Mueller's actions during that time that raised questions about his role in one of the FBI's most controversial cases involving the FBI's use of a confidential informant that led to the convictions of four innocent men, who were sentenced to death for murders they did not commit.



Telephone

Common sense: Trump responds to criticism over call he made to Putin: 'Getting along with Russia is a good thing'

Trump
© Yuri Gripas / Reuters
US President Donald Trump has hit back at 'the Fake News Media' over its criticism of him congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election victory, saying "getting along with Russia is a good thing."

Trump made the comments on Twitter on Wednesday, hitting back at media coverage of his phone call with Putin in the aftermath of the Russian election result. The US leader noted that his predecessor Barack Obama had also called Putin, after the latter won Russia's 2012 presidential race.

In a follow-up tweet, Trump said Russia "can help solve problems," including issues regarding North Korea, Syria and the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Comment: Good on Trump for responding in just this way. If he was guilty of 'Russian collusion' or being in 'Putin's pocket,' or whatever, how likely is it that he would assert such practical ideas as these about problems the US has basically started to begin with?


Caesar

Dear President Putin and company: The west is beneath you, don't waste your breath responding to their insulting lies

putin
The onslaught of western Russia bashing in the past days, since the alleged poison attack by a Soviet-era nerve agent, Novichok (the inventor of which, by the way, lives in the US), on a Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, has been just horrifying. Especially by the UK. Starting with PM May, who outright accused Russia of using chemical weapons (CW) on UK grounds, without delivering any evidence. Strangely, there is no indication where Skripal and his daughter are, in which hospital the pair is being treated, no poison analysis is being published, they cannot be visited; there is absolutely no evidence of the substance they allegedly have been poisoned with - do Sergei and Yulia actually exist?

As a consequence, Theresa May expels 23 Russian diplomats, who have to leave the UK within a week. Then came Boris Johnson, the Foreign Minister clown, also an abject liar. He said, no he yelled, at his fellow parliamentarians that it was "Overwhelmingly likely, that Putin personally ordered the spy attack." This accusation out of nothing against the Russian President is way more than a deep breach in diplomatic behavior, it is a shameful insult. - And no evidence is provided. Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, in fact, said that Johnson's personal attack on President Putin was "unforgivable".

Comment: While the author's sentiments are perfectly understandable and justified, it is probably unrealistic for Putin and his government not to address the very serious if utterly fallacious allegations being made against him. Russia is addressing the accusations made against them as an example to the world of what reasonable behavior looks like.

And, yes, the efforts at demonizing Putin and his government are indeed horrifying; it means that the crazies mentioned are willing to say and do almost anything to dominate Russia, and all too many people have utterly fallen into the abyss of believing it to be necessary.