“Time to stop singularizing Trump as uniquely evil”

As practically everyone on planet Earth must now know, Donald Trump has become the first former US president to be convicted of felonies after leaving office. The response to the outcome of the trial from Democrats and Republicans has been predictably binary. Democrats have been reveling in the outcome and seem to think that the trial’s conclusion has delivered a final blow to Trump’s credibility and, in turn, his chances of winning the upcoming election. Trump’s supporters, on the other hand, are largely condemning the trial as politically motivated “lawfare” waged by the “radical left” in order to derail Trump’s chances of winning the upcoming election, which might end up galvanizing his base.

Trump’s Conviction Papers Over Much Bigger Crimes that He (and Every Other Recent US President) Has Committed in While Office

I can’t stand Trump, but this is why I don’t post about the criminal charges against him. I’d rather see him, and the rest of them, charged for war crimes! Furthermore, I can understand why his supporters, and even foreigners, see it as lawfare.

Taiwan’s Election On Saturday Will Decide War Or No-War In China

The election on January 13th, of Taiwan’s next leader, will choose between Lai Chin-le (Taiwan’s current ‘Vice-President’) who favors war against the mainland, versus Hou Yu-ih, who favors continuation of the ambiguous status-quo that has maintained China’s peace for decades. A less likely third option in this contest is Ko Wen-je, who could draw off enough votes away from Hou Yu-ih so as to throw the ‘election’ to Lai Chin-le, much like Ralph Nader in the 2000 U.S. Presidential ‘election’ drew off enough votes away from Al Gore so as to throw the U.S. Presidential ‘election’ to George W. Bush (which caused the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and might even have caused the successful Saud-Bush 11 September 2001 attacks that Bush blamed on Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden and used as the ‘justification’ for invading Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003).

Taiwan’s Election On Saturday Will Decide War Or No-War In China

Boots on the ground in the Middle East make Americans less safe, not more

Boots on the ground in the Middle East make Americans less safe, not more

This sound logic has been ignored in Iraq and Syria, where small numbers of American troops stationed on remote and exposed bases are under fire from Iranian-backed militias. As of this writing, at least 60 American service members have sustained injuries in more than 73 attacks over the past few weeks.

All of this brings to mind a solemn and recently observed milestone. On Oct. 23, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut marked the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks bombing, when a suicide bomber detonated a truck bomb killing 241 U.S. service members. Their mission was never clearly defined, they were bound by peacetime rules of engagement to maintain “neutral status,” and they took sniper and mortar fire from the moment their boots touched ground.

Daniel Davis said, in his interview with Jason Beardsley (author), that the attacks are up to 118. Beardsley is with Koch-funded Concerned Veterans for America.

Dan Crenshaw’s measure greenlighting psychedelics to treat PTSD part of defense bill + More

Ruling classes puts forth drugs & “healing” instead of addressing US imperialism.

The legislation would allow supervised clinical studies with active-duty members.

Dan Crenshaw’s measure greenlighting psychedelics to treat PTSD part of defense bill

Related:

First-ever provision for psychedelic studies included in defense bill

National Defense Authorization Act, pp. 402-406, p. 1817 ($50,311 allocated for R&D)

CIA MKULTRA / Mind Control Collection

FDA Weighs New Application To Approve MDMA As First-Ever Psychedelic Medicine For PTSD + More About MAPS

On the strategic relationship between Venezuela and China

During a state visit to the People’s Republic of China in September 2023, Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro met president Xi Jinping and both agreed to strengthen the relationship of their countries by establishing seven sub commissions to elevate it to the level of ‘all-weather strategic partnership’. This is the culmination of a relationship that began with president Hugo Chavez’s first visit to Beijing in 1999, the very first year of his presidency.

On the strategic relationship between Venezuela and China

[2008] When the Left Was Right

The ghosts of 1968 are haunting Barack Obama, which is tremendously unfair, I say as his coeval, given that our cohort spent the Chicago Democratic Convention sticking baseball cards in our bicycle spokes rather than pelting Mayor Daley’s finest with porcine epithets. But guilt by association is ironclad in these days when American political discourse is controlled by hall monitors and tattletales. Obama’s friendship—acquaintance?—with Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn is about to get extended play as the Republicans contrast Obama’s Weatherfriends with their nominee’s stint in the Hanoi Hilton.

When the Left Was Right