So now that Donald Trump has achieved quasi-martyr status, does this better qualify him to administer our government?
Does pseudo-martyrdom make him more intelligent, more competent, more empathetic to the suffering in Palestine? Does it give him insight into the vital issues that voters face?
Does pseudo-martyrdom make him more intelligent, more competent, more empathetic to the suffering in Palestine? Does it give him insight into the vital issues that we face, such as geopolitics, macroeconomics, military affairs such as warfare, and cultural affairs that affect our relations with the Middle East, the Global South, China, Russia, Iran, the resistance fronts, etc. Does it help him understand that slapping tariffs on Chinese cars is inflationary and won’t help?
You already know the answers, of course.
Yet since the assassination attempt, he has suddenly become the candidate everyone expects to win in November.
And this is scary because being shot in the ear does not impart any additional competence to a low-info low IQ candidate, as you will agree.
We are too easily distracted and that is worrisome. Makes you wonder if the people behind the event may have had pro-Trump PR in mind.
Take a look at the photo of the burning library below and its caption.
Ask yourself which US political party and its leading candidate is more responsible for this surreal set of 24/7 ongoing Palestinian atrocities – 40,000 documented murders + countless bodies under rubble -- for which our own government is fully responsible.
The answer is, BOTH parties and BOTH candidates are wholehearted enablers of the atrocities committed by US-backed and US-financed and US-armed Israel. BOTH of these slimy political creatures have taken the bribes (campaign contributions) from the king makers at AIPAC and, let’s be honest, both belong behind bars (takers of bribes from both AIPAC and weapons makers in Congress).
Does Trump’s newfound pseudo-martyrdom in any way exonerate him or lessen his guilt in the Israeli bloodbath in Palestine that we have been witnessing since October?
No matter who is elected, both candidates are controlled by AIPAC and neither candidate has shown anything but irrational hostility toward the vulnerable Palestinian children, one of which is senselessly killed or maimed every 15 minutes. Even as we are cajoled into focusing on the lesser issues of who of two hopelessly flawed individuals is less cognitively impaired – when the real and vital issue is, who has even a stitch of morality or gives a damn about the lives of helpless people whose very existence is threatened daily by the decisions made by the callous, ambitious and stupid politicians in the US Congress and White House.
And frankly, what happens to these helpless people thousands of miles away is a reflection of who WE, the American people, are. In particular, it is an indictment of our total lack of morality and empathy. And in fact of our extreme gullibility, our sheeplike proclivity to swallow the myth of the moment. The ease with which we are played by the Pied Piper du jour from whichever of the 2 parties. And of the total meaninglessness of US elections, the choice based on which of two skunks reeks less putrid to our nostrils. It’s like a wine-tasting event in which each wine tastes of acetone.
We should not be given this non-choice. We probably deserve better.
And yet, who’s to blame when two Satanic and criminal fractions, each backed by billions of dollars and the overwhelming power of the press bear down on our minds 24/7 with narratives carefully crafted by master manipulators following convoluted playbooks designed perfectly to focus our minds on the secondary, the tertiary, anything but the vital issues of genuine national security, genuine economics and genuine moral values? Why do we have such trouble identifying the REAL issues that affect our lives that we can be made to think that being a bad public speaker or forgetting people’s names will make it more difficult to feed our families or keep us out of war?
What is real any more in the Alice-in-Wonderland matrix in which we live?
But to answer the question posed in the above heading, no, no matter how much a given candidate is perceive as being a martyr, his qualifications to perform the duties pertaining to national defense, economic prosperity and justice, diplomacy and the public perception of morality and empathy toward his fellow humans everywhere – not just of his electorate – are in no way affected by a general narrative of personal suffering (martyrdom). And we all know that.
Both Trump and Biden are horribly, criminally callous and unempathetic toward the Palestinians whose lives and fortunes their performance as president depend upon. The Palestinian culture and identity will somehow survive or die depending on their actions.
However, in our Zionist-controlled political environment, it is hard to see any hope for these noble long-suffering people.
Yet, whether we realize it or not, with the world’s eyes focused on Palestine, our own future and fortunes are tied to theirs.
Thus far, neither the cognitively challenged mendacious Biden nor the sacred martyr and fast talker Trump will raise a finger to save the helpless and battered Palestinians and the US will be seen by the whole world as the weaklings and cowards they have always been.
Some Americans will be mesmerized and be carried away with Trump’s hero status.
But his callous attitude toward the poor and helpless is obvious to all who care to see it.
And as for the myth that he will instantly clear up the Ukraine war situation, the Russians aren’t impressed.
Here is the final passage of a translated article appearing below:
Trump's role: USA, China and Russia
Tsargrad political observer Andrei Perla, commenting on the news on China, noted that two things must be understood:
1. Trump sincerely believes that the war with Russia is an annoying obstacle to the US fight against China. The conflict with Russia must be ended, perhaps with losses for NATO and the EU, or even with some concessions from the United States, in order to focus on the main task.
2. Donald Trump does not have any realistic and agreed plan for negotiations with Russia. Therefore, if he becomes President of the United States, he will bluff, apply pressure and intimidate. If nothing comes of this, then he will begin to listen to Russian proposals.
Time will tell what will ultimately come of this. My opinion is that nothing will happen quickly. It will take many months, if not years, Perla concluded.
In other words, while many well-meaning Americans believe that Trump can or will resolve the Ukraine war – because he had groundlessly claimed that Putin respects and trusts him – this is laughable because Putin has no special respect for Trump. In fact, Putin had mentioned some time back, that Trump was no friend and had been the first to impose sanctions on Russia. In fact, though Putin didn’t mention it, Trump’s third party sanctions on the investors in Nord Stream completely shut down the project until Russia could resurrect a working ship and a barge from mothballs and complete the project itself.
To drive home his point, Putin then added that he would prefer to have Biden win the election! Ouch!
I think Putin’s purpose in saying this was to deflate Trump’s over-inflated ego and let the world know he was in no way relying on Trump for anything and owes Trump no favors. I get the idea that most Americans supporting Trump missed Putin’s point, although if Trump wins re-election, Putin will no doubt take another whack at him, leaving no doubt that there is no trace of bromance between the two.
“ISRAELI SOLDIERS SET FIRE TO AQSA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IN GAZA CITY AND TOOK PICTURES OF THEMSELVES IN FRONT OF THE FLAMES,” JOURNALIST YOUNIS TIRAWI REPORTED ON X ON MAY 23. TIRAWI SHOWED EVIDENCE THAT PHOTO WAS SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY ISRAELI SOLDIER TAIR GLISKO. 424TH BATTALION, GIVATI BRIGADE, WHO LATER MADE HIS ACCOUNT PRIVATE.
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Here’s your daily air strike update for July 16, 2024
Translation with my notes in bold and in [brackets]
July 16, 2024
Iskander crews dealt a powerful blow to the Ukrainian Armed Forces air base near Odessa
Russian missile launchers launched a powerful attack on the Ukrainian Armed Forces air base near Odessa. Iskander crews, using coordinates transmitted by reconnaissance, hit eight hangars with equipment.
Iskander crews dealt a powerful blow to the Ukrainian Armed Forces air base near Odessa
The destruction of several foreign drones has been confirmed, including Bayraktar, as well as a Yak-52 sports aircraft, which the militants equipped with a machine gun and tried to use to hunt our drones.
Dozens of explosions occurred at the airfield. It is almost completely destroyed.
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Translation with my notes in bold and in [brackets]
https://lenta.ru/news/2024/07/16/rossiyskie-voyska-atakovali-voennye-ob-ekty-vsu/
Missile attacks by Russian troops on Ukrainian Armed Forces targets have been reported
Voyennaya Khronika: The Russian Armed Forces attacked Ukrainian Armed Forces facilities in the Sumy and Chernigov regions
The Russian Armed Forces (AF) launched missile attacks on targets of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) in the Sumy and Chernigov regions. This was reported by the Telegram channel Voyennaya Khronika.
According to the channel, the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are fired at with Kh-59 and Kh-69 missiles, after which the targets of the Ukrainian troops are attacked by Iskanders.
Earlier it became known that Iskander destroyed the Ukrainian IRIS-T air defense missile system manufactured in Germany. In addition, the TRML-4D radar station was eliminated.
Before this, Iskanders attacked a Ukrainian Armed Forces echelon in the Kharkov region. As a result, 20 pieces of equipment were destroyed.
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Translation with my notes in bold and in [brackets]
TopWar: The Russian Aerospace Forces deceived the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with false aviation activity
Author: Alena Zhilina
July 16, 2024, 09:36 — Silovoy Blok
Observers of the publication Voyennoye delo report a massive attack by Russian troops with Gerans [Russian drones] in regions controlled by Kiev. On the night of July 16, the Russian army attacked enemy targets located in the Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Chernigov, and Cherkasy oblasts. Explosions were heard throughout the night in different regions of Ukraine, but information about the affected objects has not yet been provided by either the Russian or Ukrainian sides.
According to the authors of the publication, the day before the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine received information about increased activity of Russian aviation over a number of regions. As Ukrainian informants reported, the Russian army was preparing to launch powerful missile attacks at night on critical infrastructure in Kiev and air defense system positions.
The General Staff received information about the appearance of strategic aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in the air. Air defense forces and means were put on alert, but the missiles never arrived,” the authors of the material said, adding that all the strikes were carried out using Geranium kamikaze drones.
Earlier, Silovoy Blok reported that the Russian Navy sent Kalibers across the country to strike an airfield near Kiev.
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Translation with my notes in bold and in [brackets]
CHINA IN NATO'S CROSSHAIRS. A SIGNAL HAS BEEN SENT TO RUSSIA: THE WORLD CONFRONTATION HAS TAKEN A NEW TURN
NATO countries have set their sights on China, starting to discuss ways to nationalize Beijing's projects in Europe. It seems that the West is not ashamed of stealing other people's money under unfounded pretexts. But it is obvious that big investors will think about the advisability of storing their assets in “reliable” depositories. Russia, which is fighting against globalization, has received a signal: the global confrontation has taken a new turn.
NATO members are discussing the possibility of nationalizing Chinese assets in Europe in the event of a serious conflict with Russia, but they can also take this step preventively, without waiting for further developments. The focus is on infrastructure projects that the Chinese [People’s] Republic has invested in in recent years. For example, the Chinese own the port of Piraeus in Greece, the port of Bar in Montenegro, and they also have shares in the ports of Rotterdam, Bruges, Genoa, Valencia and Istanbul, lists journalist Sergei Klyuchenkov in the Mardan telegram channel.
Moreover, precisely during conversations about the nationalization of Chinese assets, the US House of Representatives Special Committee on China sent a letter to the President's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan with a request to analyze what data on countering American weapons Russia could transfer to China. The alliance also suggests that Beijing could use the infrastructure it owns in Europe to provide additional assistance to Moscow if the current conflict in Ukraine widens.
A NATO representative, in a conversation with CNN reporters, assured that the infrastructure built by China in Europe will “almost certainly” be nationalized. Beijing, of course, will be able to sue, but only “after the fact.” [If this happens, then China would practically be in the same boat with Russia, whose assets are being stolen. The long-term effect would be lowered investor confidence in dollar-denominated assets]
It all comes down to the fact that the global confrontation has taken a new turn: NATO is targeting China, which, as is known, is trying to maintain good neighborly relations with Russia, despite Washington’s disapproval.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during a telephone conversation with his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp (former Dutch Prime Minister [Russia-hating] Mark Rutte is the new NATO Secretary General), pointed out the inadmissibility of the alliance's interference in the affairs of the Asia-Pacific region (APR). He also demanded to stop “inciting confrontation” with China by “challenging the rights and interests” of Beijing. Wang Yi, Xi Jinping's right-hand man, stressed that China will never accept the "unfounded accusations" made at the NATO summit in Washington.
NATO's rhetoric about China's responsibility in Ukraine is unjustified and malicious. We call on NATO to reflect on the root causes of the crisis and its own actions... rather than shifting the blame to others.
- said the official spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Lin Jian.
We regret and strongly oppose the statements of the NATO summit, which increase tensions in the Indo-Pacific region and are full of bellicose statements with a Cold War mentality. Their content is directed against China and is filled with bias, slander and provocations, pointed out this Chinese speaker.
Tsargrad analyzed the opinion of experts and found out how the confrontation on the world political stage could turn out.
China's demarche: Xi Jinping has finally turned to Russia?
China has made a strategic bet on participating in globalization on its own terms and has benefited enormously from it, but there are limits to this strategy that are now becoming more apparent. The fact is that the Celestial Empire is increasingly perceived as an enemy of the West.
Initially, China's integration into the world order was justified by geopolitical logic aimed at weakening the position of the USSR.
However, over time, the PRC, thanks to its participation in globalization, has become a major player with ports around the world and huge assets in Western economies, including the United States. Now Beijing is rethinking its role in blocking Russia and Eurasia, moving closer to them. [You see, this is how the myopic Washington policies are pushing Russia and China together]
The evolution of this strategy marks the end of previous efforts to limit Russian influence and strengthen the West [by favoring China], as conceived by Kissinger, Brzezinski and the Trilateral Commission.
Now China itself has become a problem, notes Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin in his Telegram channel, adding that it is still difficult to say how serious everything is in the context of the fact that the West easily cancels the rules it has itself introduced as soon as it comes to geopolitics.
Maybe only partly, since geopolitics is not in favor in China. Participation in globalization has brought too many benefits for China to be easily abandoned. Xi Jinping seems to see the threat clearly and is moving closer to Russia consciously. But the price for China to continue its multipolar policy may be too great. China is ready for a deterioration in relations with the United States - especially with Trump already a clear winner, Dugin argues, noting that Xi Jinping would not want to lose contact with Europe.
Dugin agrees that the threats to Atlanticist geopolitics from the EU will be taken very seriously, but it is important to understand that the transition from a unipolar world to a multipolar one will cost humanity a lot of blood.
It is difficult to say whether China is ready to start truly paying for its sovereignty and its successes. A very subtle moment, summed up the philosopher.
How Moscow and Beijing cooperate today
As NATO moves east, relations between Russia and China have strengthened, reaching historically high levels in virtually all areas of cooperation. In 2023, trade between the two countries exceeded $240 billion for the first time, an increase of more than 25%.
There has been a significant increase in the number of Chinese companies entering the domestic market instead of Western ones. Russia has become a major supplier of metals, wood and food products to China. However, energy resources remain the main export item from Russia: from January to November 2023, more than 73% of all supplies from Russia to China were energy resources.
As a result, Russia shipped a record 97.5 million tons of crude oil in 11 months last year, even ahead of Saudi Arabia, which shipped 80 million tons over the same period. This happened despite prices exceeding Western levels by almost 30%.
Almost 95% of mutual settlements between Moscow and Beijing are carried out in rubles and yuan. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin noted at a meeting with the head of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Li Qiang, in December 2023 that under the current geopolitical conditions, relations between Russia and China are successfully tested for strength and demonstrate a high degree of stability.
Trump's role: USA, China and Russia
Tsargrad political observer Andrei Perla, commenting on the news on China, noted that two things must be understood:
1. Trump sincerely believes that the war with Russia is an annoying obstacle to the US fight against China. The conflict with Russia must be ended, perhaps with losses for NATO and the EU, or even with some concessions from the United States, in order to focus on the main task. [This is important to note for those who naively think Trump is a peace maker. He is not, although he seems a little more prudent than the Neocons]
2. Donald Trump does not have any realistic and agreed plan for negotiations with Russia. Therefore, if he becomes President of the United States, he will bluff, apply pressure and intimidate. If nothing comes of this, then he will begin to listen to Russian proposals.
Time will tell what will ultimately come of this. My opinion is that nothing will happen quickly. It will take many months, if not years, Perla concluded.
**
Israel is falling apart and American leaders are in denial
Philip Weiss
Israel's inability to solve the Palestinian issue except through apartheid and massacres has fostered a fascistic and racist political culture in the country. But this truth must be kept from Americans, because it would discredit Zionism and put politicians at odds with the Israel lobby.
How does the United States deal with these realities? The answer for the last 20 years of anti-Palestinian hatred has been denial. The answer for this political cycle is also utter denial.
The U.S. establishment insists that Israel is a healthy democracy and it is capable of moving towards a two state solution in which Palestinians live side by side with Israelis.
No expert on the situation believes as much; but these fictions sustain our political class, like Paul Begala saying on CNN last week that Biden has shown great leadership on Gaza. If our pundits had to confront the truth– Israel is a Jewish supremacist state that is only interested in more land with fewer Palestinians on it, and it kills young Palestinians without any hesitation– the U.S. would have to take action along with the rest of the world, to isolate Israel.
This is the lesson of the Jamaal Bowman defeat; the congressman saw the occupation up close in 2021 on a J Street trip to Israel and Palestine and according to excellent reporting by Calder McHugh in Politico, he could not lie about Israel’s dead end and war crimes.
“[The two-state solution] was the thing that you say so that everyone leaves you alone … so that at the very least you could satisfy both sides, Palestinian freedom and the Jewish state,” [Bowman] says. But what he took from five days of meetings and interviews, over boxed lunches and fancy dinners, was that there was no political will at the top of the Israeli government to pursue a two-state solution or engage in any sort of sustainable peace process — and that America’s willingness to send significant aid to Israel without any conditions attached was therefore unwise.
And after Bowman called Gaza a genocide, and said that boycott is legitimate, J Street stripped its endorsement.
Bowman had undercut the great lie of American foreign policy. That Israel is a robust democracy, and it’s moving toward a Palestinian state.
Telling the truth is politically impossible because of the Israel lobby. The Democratic Party is incapable of alienating forces that bring down nearly $20 million on the head of Jamaal Bowman in a few weeks and smear him as an antisemite for telling the truth. As Columbia deans were suspended for texting about pro-Israel donors.
So while Israel is in a freefall to which its only answer is unending massacres and famine that the world sees and hates, the U.S. crisis is simple. Our leaders must deny this reality to keep the lobby happy.
The good news is that some truthtellers in the U.S. mainstream are not afraid to speak out. There is of course the Squad, and a segment of communal Jews who have turned on Israel—IfNotNow and Peter Beinart.
Lately Megan Stack in the New York Times published an excellent report on the overwhelming “darkness” in Israel. Stack characterized Israeli society as one of official “Jewish supremacy,” repeatedly cited the apartheid reports, and said that Netanyahu had demolished the possibility of two states.
The piece quoted a mainstream columnist who responded to pictures of Palestinians on the beach in Gaza by calling for “rivers of blood.”
“We should have seen a lot more revenge there,” Mr. [Yehuda] Shlezinger unrepentantly added. “A lot more rivers of Gazans’ blood.”
Shlezinger is not a “fringe” figure, Stack said. The signs of the hardening are “in plain view.”
Dehumanizing language and promises of annihilation from military and political leaders. Polls that found wide support for the policies that have wreaked devastation and starvation in Gaza. Selfies of Israeli soldiers preening proudly in bomb-crushed Palestinian neighborhoods. A crackdown on even mild forms of dissent among Israelis.
The piece showed that when a society doubles down on apartheid, it becomes fascistic.
But the U.S. mainstream is still incapable of accepting this message. Stack is an outlier at the New York Times. It is verboten to name apartheid in the Democratic Party. The cable stations won’t touch this stuff.
Liberal Zionists play an essential role in the denial. Two years ago I reported that a J Street U leader supported BDS in a post for Americans for Peace Now. The liberal Zionist bloc responded decisively. Peace Now took the piece down and J Street issued a statement saying that the student did not endorse BDS. The student repudiated her own position. A red line had been crossed.
So the essential tool of anti-discrimination movements– from Montgomery bus boycott to the agricultural workers to South African apartheid – is quashed by a liberal organization. In fact, J Street has cast BDS as “antisemitic.”
The antisemitism charge plays a key role in the denial. Bowman was accused of antisemitism and being anti-Israel because he was bearing witness against apartheid. Columbia University has suspended two honorable Palestinian solidarity groups under the same smear– antisemitism– surely because of donor pressure. The direct mail coming to my mother’s house from the leading Jewish organizations says there is a giant surge in antisemitism in the country, and cites all the anti-Israel students and groups. No mention whatsoever of the 10s of thousands of civilian victims in Gaza.
So the witnesses must be destroyed so that the Establishment is allowed to persist in its view that Israel is a democracy pursuing a two state solution – “dreamcastle Israel,” in Max Blumenthal’s stinging phrase. Like this upcoming trip to Israel from a leading New York synagogue that denies anything is wrong.
Temple Emanu-El is sponsoring a tour of Israel titled "Rediscover Israel" that aims to stir American Jews' feelings for the "country we love." An 8-day trip in October 2024 "for the heart, mind and spirit," the trip features getaways to the desert, yoga sessions, and meetings with Israeli soldiers.
Seeing Israel for what it really is would expose the failure of Zionism. Its principal goal was to create Jewish safety. But Jews are unsafe in Israel because the society is oppressing an indigenous people, which resists. As my mother’s best friend assured me in Jerusalem 18 years ago, “There will be one war after another till they accept us.”
There are always pragmatic rationalizations for denial. If there is no illusion of a two-state solution to wave at people, then the most powerful country in the Middle East will be destabilized, and there will be a bloody and unending rollercoaster (as someone once put it) toward equal rights for all.
But we are plainly in such a savage reality now, and the U.S. establishment is siding with Jewish supremacists. And Palestinians are paying the terrible price for dishonesty and self-righteousness. Don’t say you didn’t know.
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