American Empire awaits final curtain

Just watched a ten minute segment on Fox where General Keane was 'splainin' to Larry Kudlow how, in spite of appearances to the contrary, the USA is in fact in full control of Hormuz. For ten minutes they danced around the very obvious fly in the ointment, to wit, the fact that four months into a four day war, the mightiest military the world has ever seen has proven incapable of achieving any of the goals it proclaimed when they started this war. In normal parlance, that's known as "losing." But not at Fox News. No, the extended pause in US attacks is 100% due to Donald's humanitarian bent. He just wants to make sure he gave the terrorist thugs every last chance before he unleashes hell etc. The truly sad (and might I add dangerous) fact is more Americans get their news from Fox than anywhere else, and I can't imagine they're likely to change the chanel to CNN or Al Jazeera for a second opinion. What will it take before reality sets in?... I figure $12/gallon diesel should do it!

Trump declares "peace in our time" for 39th time in three months

Donny J is working on the premise that if you repeat utter bullshit often enough, eventually it becomes reality. Or at least seems realistic enough to much of his fan base that they go along with it. I can see how that happens. I just spent ten minutes watching Larry Kudlow interview Gen. Jack Keane at Fox. Aside from being a retired General and the boss of the Institute for the Promotion of War, Keane is always keen, in every appearance on screen, which is multiple times per day, to remind the Fox audience that Trump's tenure as Commander-in-Chief has cemented America's status as World Hegemon. The reality of things of course points entirely in the opposite direction. In the first year-and-a-bit of Donny's second term, the wheels are falling off the Empire's bandwagon everywhere you look. No matter the extravagant lengths the narrative managers go to divert our attention, it's hard to come to any other conclusion than non-nuke Iran has fought two nuke powers to a stalemate. I predicted months ago that America didn't have the resources to crush Iran, and that once US power in the 'hood was throttled, Israel as we know it is doomed. That's not a bad thing. The Israel that every Christian kid who ever went to Sunday School was taught to revere, has long since morphed into a racist apartheid state committing mass murder on an industrial scale. The end of the US empire that facilitates and fully pays for Israel's atrocities can only be welcomed by the entire Middle East.

American Empire facing multiple vortices of doom

You have to give credit to Bibi and Trump; they've succeeded in leading two nuke-equipped nations to defeat by a non-nuke nation! It's hilarious to watch Pistol Pete Hegseth, aka "Greasy Pete," standing in front of TV cameras claiming one victory after another. Every victory so glorious the entirety of human history has never seen anything like it... Ya... or maybe not. I gotta say, from my perspective, looks to me like the towelheads have got Uncle Sam over the proverbial barrel- the barrel of oil, that is. Not only are they giving Team Trump the finger re: his various ever-changing demands, they're still shipping boat-loads of oil out the allegedly-blockaded Persian Gulf. And when they let foreign ships through, it's only after they've paid a juicy toll in something other than USD. There goes the petrodollar! American cred in the military sphere has already gone for a shit. In the first place, US tech is distinctly over-priced and underwhelming. Billion-dollar AD systems taken out by a drone swarm that doesn't amount to $100k. I'm no expert, but that doesn't strike me as a formula to win a war. And our "Israeli Allies" have truly become the albatross around America's neck. They obviously can't get anything serious done on their own. They've been waging total war against Hamas for the better part of three years and everybody knows Hamas is nowhere near defeated. Even their genocide requires non-stop American support. Americans are turning away from Israel's war crimes like never before.

Trump and the ever-gushing firehose of horseshit

It’s comforting to imagine the dismay and disarray that has befallen our “Laurentian elite” since January 20 is part of an awakening to just how destructive to Canadian interests US domination of our economy and society has become. Alas, this elite has been all too comfortable with our vassalage, which has been undeniably obvious at least since John Diefenbaker killed the Avro Arrow in 1959. I don’t believe their sudden obsession with Canada’s sovereignty is anything other than nostalgia for the gentler pre-Trumpian days, when Uncle Sam picked our pockets clean while whispering sweet nothings into our ears. Trump, on the other hand, claims we’ve been sponging off the American Empire all along and demands we make it up to them. It’s a vulgar despoilation of the fantasy that we’ve always been besties. Recall it was merely three months ago that our pretty but undeniably stupid Foreign Minister announced the Canadian Arctic was henceforth to be known as the North American Arctic, and that we Canadians were in actuality members of something I’d never heard of; the “North American Homeland!” My view has consistently been that Trump’s political persona is an integral part of America’s Democracy Theatre. Insofar as there ever was a functioning democracy in the US, it has long ago ceased to be such. The billionaires who control the joint can’t just come out and admit that, hence the ever-gushing firehose of horseshit about values, human rights, democracy, and so forth. There’s an excellent essay on view at Naked Capitalism which is well worth a read. The writer argues that the perceived chaos in Trump’s Washington is nothing more or less than the rebranding of the American Empire to better reflect the interests of its owners. I’m inclined to agree.

More evidence Canada no longer a reliable ally of American Empire

Looks like the “world community” (USA and me-too states) has convinced the government of Kenya to go where all other US flunkies fear to tread; Haiti. That Jimmy BBQ dude and his G-9 hombres have put the fear into every other candidate for the job of bringing peace and stability to Haiti, including Canada. If you recall, that issue was on the agenda when Big Sleepy visited with Fluffy back in March. Joe was hoping Justin would pick up the torch in the battle to restore peace and democracy in Haiti, which has gone seriously off the rails since the last time we restored their democracy. Justin was initially keen, but when he found out Jimmy BBQ’s crew had guns and might shoot back, he demurred, and wisely so. After all, Canada is known far and wide as the country that brings a parliamentary commission to a gunfight. Rule of law, don’t you know! Kenya, not so much. They bring guns to the gunfight. Their security forces just spent a few days knocking sense into folks protesting a doubling of the fuel tax. Sure, a couple of dozen protesters died, but that’s a small price to pay for law and order. Besides, during the last big wave of protests, thousands died, so relatively speaking, Kenya has evolved into a peaceable nation. That’s why they’re the perfect candidate for the Haiti mission. Besides, the Western Liberal Democracies are going to feel better if it’s black Kenyan peace-keepers gunning down the black Haitian protesters.

Where's Greta?

Seems like just yesterday you couldn't open a newspaper or a laptop without the obnoxious teen scold Greta Thunberg getting in your face about how your reckless disregard for her climate expertise was destroying the planet. Now, Greta be gone. You can barely find a reference to her on the news anymore, and her glory days of addressing the UN, the US congress, Davos, and sundry parliaments are long over. Is this because the world heeded her wisdom and climate salvation is now assurred? No! In fact, the world at large is going in the opposite direction. Coal, the dirtiest of fossil fuels, is setting all-time consumption records. In 2021 over 200 new coal-fired generating plants were under construction worldwide, mostly in Asia. So why the radio silence from the most revered climate activist of all time? Here's my theory. The "Mighty Wurlitzer" of global propaganda only has room for one top story at a time, and Greta's time is up. She has been pushed into the shadows by Vlodomyr Zelensky's heroic war to save freedom, democracy, and the "liberal world order." After all, what's more important; saving the planet, or saving the American Empire?

Leader of Free World falls off bike

Better to fall off a Schwinn than a Harley, I guess. But he got right back up! Wasn’t that inspirational? Uncle Sam’s been falling off his bike quite a lot these past few decades. That fact has yet to impact the bellicose rhetoric emanating from the self-appointed boss of the world. The Americans still believe that they are the light on a hill that illuminates the path to freedom, democracy, a partridge in a pear tree, and goodness knows what else for the rest of humanity. The trail of destruction left in the wake of America’s mission to remake the world in its image has been successfully erased by the narrative managers. But how much longer can this go on? The US and her obedient satraps in the collective West have been winning the propaganda war in Ukraine. Unfortunately for them, the actual war on the ground has been going in the opposite direction. PR is about to succumb to reality. That’s not the leader of the Free World… That’s just a senile old man falling off his bike.

Sleepy Joe goes to Warsaw; Zelensky goes to Doha

Check out Sleepy Joe's inspirational speech as he boosts the morale of our Polish allies in this clip from Fox News. Note the WTF expressions on the faces of the Polish delegation as they try to make sense of the rambling inanities!

Shared values, blah blah blah... Anybody who thinks our European allies don't sense America's weakness is deluding themselves.

Sadly for them, that realization only highlights their own weakness. Remember, it was the Poles who were quick to pass the hot potato right back to Washington when the Americans had the bright idea that Poland should deliver a fleet of mothballed and obsolete MIG-21 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Nevertheless, the leader of the free world appears to have secured an agreement to wean the EU from dependence on Russian energy, and make it dependent on US energy instead. That's what passes for a win in the current context.

Will this deprive Russia of much-needed income to pursue its war agenda, as we are told? Not so long as most of the world, including putative US allies like India, Indonesia, and Pakistan (which collectively hold almost one quarter of the world's population) are not participating in the US led economic sanctions of all things Russian.

What is more likely is that global trade is increasingly destined to occur outside the US dollar, which in the long run is a greater threat to American power than any hypersonic missile.

Meanwhile, Zelensky's Global Zoom Tour landed at the Doha Energy Forum. His hosts listened politely, acknowledged Ukraine's thirst for justice, and then started talking about the Palestinian people's seven decades long quest for justice to be done!

If nothing else, that's a timely reminder that Ukraine isn't the only tragedy unfolding in the world.

Standing with Protasevich while burying Assange

Our media are waxing indignant over the Protasevich incident. An obscure 26 year old journalist whose career trajectory has consisted primarily of toiling for US funded "news" operations in Eastern Europe was taken into custody in Belarus after his commercial flight was forced down by a Belarus fighter jet.

Viola! A new icon of press freedom is born!

So why do we celebrate free-press champion Roman Protasevich, while allowing free-press champion Julian Assange to rot in a UK prison?

That's easy enough!

Julian Assange is a fierce critic of American Empire.

Roman Protasevich is an employee of the American Empire.

"Press freedom" has absolutely nothing to do with it.

 

Huff Post hoists flag of Empire

This story has legs. It's shown here as it appears in Huffington Post Canadian edition, but I found it under "Israel English" in the Google news aggregator.

The first thing to catch my eye was the claim that Syria is such a complicated scenario that it precludes "US-led action to topple another Middle-East dictator."

That sentence leaves the impression that the US is in the business of toppling dictators. By my count Saddam was the only Middle East dictator ever to be toppled by the US, and before that the most recent toppling of a dictator by the US was Hitler, and the Red Army did most of the heavy lifting on that job.

As anyone remotely acquainted with the arc of history over the last hundred years will know, the US is far more inclined to topple democratic governments than dictatorships.

Then the writer, after speculating about a quid-pro-quo arrangement with Russia that may or may not have greenlighted their seizure of Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles, declares this "a model of understanding how power begets principle in today's world."

Power begets principle? What kind of horseshit are we reading here?

The reason that America cannot intervene in Syria, let alone Iran, is because the country is broke and broken. Yes, American power may have toppled a dictator in Iraq. What principles did that beget?

The only principle one can draw from the last fifty years of American meddling in other countries is that the unprincipled use of power leaves mayhem and anarchy and death and destruction in its wake.

And it creates far more enemies for America than it destroys.

The Huffington Post has long enjoyed the reputation of being a left-of-mainstream journal of current events. If this article is any indication, it has joined the mainstream chorus of pro-Empire cheerleaders.