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Rachel Maddow seethes over Trump leading possible peace talks with North Korea

Nicholas Fondacaro
MRC News Busters
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 00:30 UTC
Rachel Maddow
President Trump shocked the world Thursday night when it was announced that he planned to sit down with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in the coming months. The political world was so overwhelmed by the news that even the journalists at CNN were more or less optimistic. Yet over at MSNBC, host Rachel Maddow was anything but enthused by the idea as she spewed skepticism and threw shade at the commander-in-chief for accepting North Korea's offer.

Towards the beginning of her bitter rant, Maddow seemed to question the President's intelligence and/or knowledge of history for taking the meeting:
You might think another president in this circumstance, you can imagine a president asking himself or herself, "why has no other American president ever agreed to do this? Why has no sitting American president ever met with a leader from North Korea? Why has that never happened in all the decades North Korea existed as a nation? Should I take that to mean that this might be particularly risky or even an unwise move?"

Comment: Talk about your faulty logic. How could it be seen as a bad thing to have a sit-down with a nuclear power that holds animosity towards the United States? Maddow apparently would prefer an 'ignore the problem and it will go away' strategy. Clearly, Maddow's rabidly anti-Trump stance is clouding her reading of the situation (if it were Obama, she'd likely be gushing about his unorthodoxy). While risky, this situation requires diplomacy, and meeting face to face is a potential step towards de-escalation and amicable relations.

See also:

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Star

Trump: Meeting with Kim "very much in the making"


RT
Sat, 10 Mar 2018 09:52 UTC
trump
US President Donald Trump believes he is capable of reaching a deal with North Korea that will be a "very good one for the world," he said, after agreeing to talks with Pyongyang following Kim Jong-un's invitation for a meeting.

"The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World," Trump tweeted on Friday evening, adding that the time and the place of the planned meeting is still to be determined.

Trump agreed to hold discussions with North Korea, provisionally expected sometime in May, after a South Korean delegation, which met with Kim on Monday, delivered his personal invitation for talks to the US president.


Comment: It has been interesting to watch the MSM response to this news. Moon of Alabama summed it up well:
The mainstream commentariat:
Then: Trump is a madman who wants to lead us into war against North Korea.

Now: Trump is a madman who wants to lead us towards peace with North Korea.

Rory Yeomans
I welcome the announced meeting of Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump.

The imperial military-industrial complex will do its best to sabotage it. Billions of dollars of planned revenue may soon evaporate.

Kim Jong Un has so far shown himself as an excellent strategist. He offered direct talks at the exactly right moment. Trump blindsided all the hawks, worrywarts and bureaucrats in his staff by suddenly agreeing to them. If this brinkmanship succeeds the South Korean President Moon deserves a peace price for arranging it.
Whatever Trump does, it's wrong, at least according to his critics. Take Senator Jeff Flake, for instance:
President Trump's historic North Korean breakthrough yesterday has put one of his biggest critics, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) in an awkward position, as just the day before, the Washington Examiner published an interview in which the outgoing Senator skeptically claimed that only a military strike could stop North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons, and declared "that's just not a good option."

While its specifics have yet to be finalized, President Trump's planned meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un will undoubtedly go down as a landmark moment in United States foreign policy, as no sitting American President has ever met with a North Korean leader (Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton visited the country after they left office). And more importantly, Kim Jong Un has pledged to cease conducting nuclear tests and begin the denuclearization process.

In fact, when the news broke earlier this week that North Korea sought a meeting with President Trump - two days before a top South Korean National Security Advisor announced that President Trump would accept the invitation - even some of the President's harshest liberal critics praised the progress he was making on the issue. The Atlantic and Washington Post both noted how President Trump's unique approach was putting new pressure on the communist country, and CNN's Chris Cuomo publicly applauded it, telling his viewers: "Congratulations to the Trump administration; they were able to move the ball here."

But Flake remained unimpressed, telling the Washington Examiner "This talk that we could somehow by threatening them or by sanctioning keep them from getting to a point where they sit down at the table as a legitimate nuclear threat was unreasonable, kidding ourselves."

Flake continued on to falsely claim that "By the time we get down to sitting at the table with them and actually have negotiations, then, they may be all the way there [as a nuclear power]."
Flake may have a point there. But he's still missing the point. All North Korea wants is to be left alone, i.e. to have its security guaranteed. If that can be done so without nukes, nukes can be gotten rid of. But Kim needs a willing partner in peace for that, someone whose word can be trusted, and who can back up that word with action.

See also:

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Info

Uranium One FBI informant interviewed in Clinton Foundation investigation, fights back against false media reports

Sara A. Carter
saracarter.com
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 09:36 UTC
Hillary Clinton
A former FBI informant who spent more than six years undercover gathering information on the Russian energy and uranium market was recently interviewed by FBI agents from the Little Rock, Arkansas field office as part of an ongoing bureau investigation into the Clinton Foundation, according to Victoria Toensing, the attorney representing the informant.

Toensing disclosed the information in a letter asking for a retraction to The Hill's article published Thursday, which was based solely on a Democrat memorandum attacking the credibility of William Douglas Campbell, the former informant. Democrats stated that Campbell provided no evidence to the congressional committees of "quid pro quo" regarding the Clinton Foundation and the Russians.

Toensing was never contacted prior to publication by The Hill for fair comment in the story. The Hill's article has now been followed up in The Washington Post, The Washington Examiner, CNN, Reuters, Yahoo, and other numerous outlets, none of which contacted Toensing for fair comment. On Friday, The Hill updated the story, only after receiving a call from Toensing asking for a retraction.

In a formal letter, Toensing condemned the Democratic memo and The Hill for making false allegations against her client and not contacting her for comment. The Hill did not retract the story but updated it instead.

"The reporter told me they were leaving in the accusations because she said, that's what the Democrats told her," said Toensing. "This is a new journalistic standard."
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Gold Coins

China set to internationalize yuan and open financial markets


RT
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 12:00 UTC
China yuan money
© c40 / Global Look Press
Beijing is set to further internationalize the yuan, including through the opening of the country's financial markets, according to the Governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC) Zhou Xiaochuan.

"We have taken sufficient measures in the process of internationalization of the yuan which from now on will allow the yuan to be used in trade and investment," Xiaochuan said at a press conference on Friday. "Moreover, the yuan has been included in the SDR currency basket. The key procedures have already been carried out."

The SDR (Special Drawing Rights) is an international asset created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1969 to supplement the national currencies of its members. The SDR's valuation is based on a basket of major international currencies reviewed by the IMF every five years. China's yuan made it to the basket in October 2016 for the very first time. The move was welcomed by the PBC back then, which described it as recognition of the country's reforms and development.

Comment: China and Russia are certainly showing themselves to be the major players in the emerging multi-polar world:

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Bad Guys

Oleg Deripaska op-ed: The Deep State's ever-changing 'Russia narrative' is false public manipulation

Oleg Deripaska
The Daily Caller
Thu, 08 Mar 2018 15:33 UTC
Putin Obama
© Putin and Obama Getty Images/WPA/Pool, Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla
In the comedy movie "Wag the Dog," a fictitious U.S. president is on the cusp of losing an election over a real scandal. So a political spin doctor and Hollywood producer hired by his campaign instead distract the public by manufacturing "the appearance of a war" with Albania. The spin doctor explains: "It's not a war, it's a pageant. We need a theme, a song - some visuals." The producer ascribes Albania a false motive against the United States: "They want to destroy our way of life!" The story line keeps changing to explain away emerging, inconvenient realities.

The ever-changing "Russia narrative" in American politics is today's "Wag the Dog" scenario. Technology and the disintegration of evidence-based journalism permit a surprisingly small number of individuals to destroy bilateral or multilateral relations. Their motivation in shifting from an inconvenient reality into their desired reality is power and military-industrial commercial interests.

When I attended the Munich Security Conference in February, the extraordinary, coordinated message of a panel of U.S. senators was summarized by moderator Victoria Nuland, former assistant secretary of state under President Barack Obama, as: "Deep State-proud loyalists giv[ing] broad reassurance about continuity." One of the panelists, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), said: "What the Breitbart crowd would call the 'Deep State' is what many of us would call 'knowledgeable professionals.'" The panel's uniform message was essentially: Ignore Donald Trump and increase your defense budget to 2 percent, because the generals who are 'operationalizing policy' remain in charge.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

Outrage as UK government looks to seal Saudi £10 billion fighter jet deal and much more during Prince's visit

Joe Watts
Independent
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 12:00 UTC
saudi uk visit advertising
Saudi Arabia moving towards purchase of 48 Typhoon fighter jets from UK after Crown Prince visit
Saudi Arabia has signed a provisional agreement with the British Government to buy 48 of the UK's Typhoon fighter jets.

If finalised, the deal struck on the final day of the visit from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman would be a major boost for BAE Systems - which employs some 35,000 people in Britain.

But with the Saudi regime embroiled in a bloody bombing campaign in Yemen, which has killed large numbers of civilians and precipitated a humanitarian crisis, the deal will anger anti-war campaigners.

Announcing the deal after a meeting with the Crown Prince, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said it had "opened a new chapter in our two countries' historic relationship".


Comment: Meet Gavin Williamson: British Defence Secretary Claims Russia 'could kill thousands and thousands and thousands' With Infrastructure Attack on UK


Comment: Also See:





Monolithic and Ruthless Conspiracy: The West's Obliteration of Yemen by Covert Means

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Attention

'If the button is pushed, There's no running away' America, are you listening?

Scott Ritter
Russia News Now
Fri, 02 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
Ragflag
© Unknown
Don't you understand what I'm trying to say?
And can't you feel the fears I'm feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there's no running away,
There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave,
Take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy,
And you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
-Barry McGuire, "Eve of Destruction," 1965
From 2002 until 2011, Paul Marcarelli, perhaps better known to American audiences as Verizon's "test guy," made a career starring in television commercials, wandering the width and breadth of the United States, holding a phone to his ear and asking the simple question, "Can you hear me now?" Verizon was, and is, in the communications business in which the ability to send a message is only as good as the corresponding ability to receive it.

On Thursday, Vladimir Putin, Russia's much-maligned president, delivered his state of the nation address to the Russian Federal Assembly (the Russian national Legislature, consisting of the State Duma, or lower house, and the Russian Council, or upper house). While the first half of his speech dealt with Russian domestic issues-and any American who has bought into Western media perceptions that Russia is a collapsing state, possessing a failed economy, would do well to read this portion of the speech - it was the second half of the presentation that caused the world to sit up and listen.
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Satellite

Russia and China would aim for US' Achilles heel in a war: Satellites

Dave Majumdar
The National Interest
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
Putinmissile
© Unknown
Russian and Chinese space capabilities are growing rapidly, but moreover, both powers are developing counter-space capabilities to blunt America's advantage in that domain.
"Foreign countries - particularly China and Russia - will continue to expand their space-based reconnaissance, communications, and navigation systems in terms of the numbers of satellites, the breadth of their capability, and the applications for use," director of national intelligence Dan Coats said in his written testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 6. "Both Russia and China continue to pursue anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons as a means to reduce US and allied military effectiveness."
Coats noted that both Russia and China continue to press for restrictions on space weapons, but said that during a time of war, both Beijing and Moscow would justify the offensive space operations as a military necessity.
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Bullseye

US slams Russia, fails to fault itself in the E. Ghouta crisis


Sputnik
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 21:00 UTC
Nauert/E Ghouta
© AP/Alex Brandon, AP/Ammar SulemanState Department's Heather Nauert has one narrative, evidence indicates another.
The US State Department's narrative of Moscow and Damascus' failing to adhere to the provisions of UN Resolution 2401 clearly contradict facts on the ground. Meanwhile, it has turned out that the areas where the resolution remains largely neglected and people are not getting much needed humanitarian aid are those controlled by the US.

On March 6, the US State Department once again verbally attacked Russia and the Syrian government for what it called an attempt to "feign implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2401" and the demonstration of "complete disregard for the ongoing humanitarian disaster that still unfolds."

'Brutal Airstrikes by Russia and the Syrian Gov't Continue'
"Brutal airstrikes by Russia and the regime continue, especially in Eastern Ghouta, despite the unanimous UN Security Council vote on February 24th to demand an immediate cessation of hostilities throughout Syria," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told a press briefing. "The strikes on Eastern Ghouta in recent days have demonstrated the farcical nature of Russia's proposed humanitarian corridor."
​However, while citing UN Resolution 2401, which calls for the implementation of a 30-day ceasefire across Syria, the State Department spokesperson somehow failed to mention that the document clarifies that the truce does not apply to military actions against Daesh (ISIS/ISIL), al-Qaeda, al-Nusra Front and "and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with al-Qaeda or ISIL, and other terrorist groups, as designated by the Security Council."

Comment: When did the life of an ideology become more important than the lives of the people it professes to serve? Some countries get this. At least one doesn't.

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Attention

The US has been outgunned, outmatched by Russia says top general seeking budget increase


RT
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 04:43 UTC
Scaparrotti
© Marijan Murat/Getty Images/KJN
US troops in the Baltic countries would be "outranged, outgunned and outmatched" by Russians in case of a conflict, the head of the US European Command told lawmakers, seeking to secure funds in the face of a Moscow "threat."

"If you look at it in a concentrated way on the border of Eastern Europe and only on the ground force, I would agree with that statement," General Curtis Scaparrotti told Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday.

Inhofe was referring to the recent RAND Corporation report which found that Russian forces could take the capitals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania within 60 hours. The report has been compiled over the past several years, with the assistance of EUCOM, Scaparrotti said.

"I don't have any argument with the basis of the report and the threat that we have," he added. Though the RAND report concluded that NATO has "sufficient resources, personnel, and equipment to enhance conventional deterrence focused on Russia," it argued a "more robust posture ... is worthy of consideration". "Hence my comment that I don't have all the forces I need in Europe today," Scaparrotti lamented, despite admitting that the US has "repostured forces" and "rewritten plans" of containing Russia over the past few years.

Last month, EUCOM requested $6.5 billion for its European Deterrence Initiative in 2019, which is roughly $2 billion more than requested for fiscal 2018.

Comment: It's all about inflation: Inflated money, inflated risk, inflated egos, inflated fear. When in doubt, whether justified or not, merely inflate the cause and throw money at it. When that doesn't work, do it again.

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