Cliff Varnell

55 minutes ago, Robert Wheeler said:

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They could have played a roll of equal importance to the other VPs. Maybe the Harriman’s, Dulles, and Cabot’s are there too, but they are no where near as famous as the Bush family.

Prescott Bush and Allen Dulles worked for Averell Harriman. Bush was a managing partner in Brown Brothers Harriman; the Dulles Brothers were Harriman’s long time personal lawyers.

7 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

I agree with Bob on this.  Pelosi turned the case over to McConnell too fast.

In football, you do everything you can to run out the clock at halftime and try to score without giving the ball back to the other side.  If you do not score, then you try for a FG at least.

Well, Pelosi gave Trump the ball back with about about five minutes to go in the half.

Let’s game out this analogy.

Trump got the ball back. He wanted to pick up at least one Dem vote to acquit, hold on to every Republican, and get it wrapped up in 2 weeks so he could brag about it before the Super Bowl and State of the Union.

He didn’t get any of it. Now he’s losing what little mind he has left.

13 hours ago, Bob Ness said:

I've posted about this before but I have no idea why the Democrats didn't play hard ball, enforce subpoenas, charge for contempt and do everything they could to fight Trump on their own turf. 

The House can’t enforce subpoenas and what good does charging contempt accomplish?

If Pelosi had delayed impeaching Trump it would have looked weak. If she’d delayed sending the articles to the Senate for months it would have looked weak.

Instead, the House managers presented such a strong case there was a bi-partisan vote to convict and Trump was denied his best opportunities to promote a tainted acquittal.

Trump is trying to consolidate dictatorial powers and we’re still bashing Democrats?

8 hours ago, Kathy Beckett said:

I don't know how anyone can say that Pelosi acted poorly.

It’s a talking point of the Anti-Anti-Trump Left — Jim DiEugenio, Caitlin Johnstone and many others. Unless it’s Bernie or Tulsi the AATL bash Democrats while paying the occasional lip service to disapproval of Trump.

When has DiEugenio ever denounced Trump’s promotion of white supremacy?

1 hour ago, Robert Wheeler said:

My pick for the CEO is Richard Bissell. GHW Bush was at the VP level.

Prescott Bush, Poppy Bush and Richard Bissell were Harriman protégés. 

1 hour ago, Robert Wheeler said:

To know one in particular.

I can’t believe after 55+ years no one has figured out who killed JFK. [Insert eye rolling emoji here.]

 

John D Rockefeller the Third and W. Averell Harriman.

Who else?😜

2 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

Its pretty easy to see what Trump is doing.

Since he was acquitted and the Mueller Report did not bring home the bacon, he is now going to try and say that the Comey and Schiff ran a circus.

Schiff and Comey ran a circus?

I wasn’t aware James Comey was.a.Democratic Representative...Who knew?

Last I looked James Comey was head of the FBI 3 years ago and hasn’t’ run anything since.

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He will then wait for the Durham Report to start firing more people or have them referred for prosecution.

Someone tell DiEugenio that Trump is already trying to gin up a case against Hunter Biden, and Col Vindman. 

Trump’s not waiting for anything.

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That will fire up his base during the election.

Which is why the recent Quinnipiac Poll shows Sanders and Biden up by 8 and Bloomberg by 9.

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This was what I meant by playing chess vs Checkers.  As James Neal said during Watergate, if you shoot at a king, you have to kill him.

Bill Clinton was impeached and the Republicans won the House, the Senate, and White House.

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This is why Pelosi did not want to do this, but she did anyway, and she played a poor hand poorly.

What rubbish!

For the first time in history a Senator voted to convict a President of their own party.

Trump wanted a bi-partisan acquittal instead it was a bi-partisan vote for conviction.

Pelosi timed the Trial to deprive Trump of the chance to tout his inevitable acquittal before the Super Bowl or during the State of the Union.

It’s nice to see DiEugenio meet his daily quota of Dem bashing, however...

On 2/7/2020 at 5:40 PM, Paul Brancato said:

It’s time to leave criticism of the very real faults of the Democratic Establishment, which we all know all about, and put the spotlight on the fascist takeover that’s occurring in real time. 

Paul, doesn’t seem as if people are anesthetized to the idea we now live in a Mad Kingdom?

King Donald is showing off his autocratic muscles rigging the sentence of Roger Stone.

Trump has brazenly declared his personal control of the Justice Dept.

Political winner? Some how I doubt it.

41 minutes ago, Joe Bauer said:

Doug make that FOUR Prosecutors in the Stone case quitting now !

Yes, 4 !!!

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal ( former Federal Prosecutor and former Marine ) just said on CNN it is worse that Nixon's Watergate "Saturday Night Massacre."

Trump is simply going bananas with his impeachment dismissal emboldened dictatorial will and his private attorney/lap dog William Barr is doing his bidding no matter how outrageous and unethical.

It's gut wrenching sad and even surreal to see the crazy circus of Trump's dictator reign every day go even crazier.

But, his blindly loyal base will follow him into Hell.

Day 11 of the Trump Monarchy.

Shocking how little protest this new form of government generates.

2 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

Well, the guy is riding high right now after the fizzle in the senate.

Its a good as time as ever.

For the first time in history a Senator of the opposing party crossed the aisle to vote guilty. 

A half dozen GOP Senators admitted Trump was guilty.

The new Quinnipiac poll shows Trump losing to Bernie and Biden by 8 points and Bloomberg by 9.

Riding high...?

53 minutes ago, W. Niederhut said:

Silverstein is also on video explaining that he "told them to pull it" (WTC7) on 9/11, before they "watched it come down" in an obvious controlled demolition.

Whom was he referring to as "them?"

It wasn't the NYFD because, as one of their experts later explained, "We (the NYFD) don't do demolitions."

And, in any case, it would have taken a lot of time and man-hours to stage an expert demolition of a 47 floor skyscraper like WTC7.

What struck me about Silverstein’s statement was “the smart thing to do was pull it.”

The smart thing. Not “the safest thing,” but the “smart thing”

I can’t prove it but I suspect the plan all along was to bring the Twin Money Losers down and rebuild.  Securacom took over security in 1995, so they had 6 years to wire them up.

The demolition of the Twin Towers — the greatest engineering feat in history no one could take credit for.

5 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

My problem with voices that I would call Radical Left, like Johnstone, is that they serve the purposes of the radical right by doubling down on divide and conquer commentary. Cliff is right - the Democratic Party sometimes does good things, unlike the Republicans. About a third of the Democrats in the house even voted against the bloated Defense budget. 

 Nancy Pelosi rallied a majority of House Democrats to vote against the Iraq War. In April of 2017 the House Republicans couldn’t get a budget passed and had to ask the Dems for help. On cable news a parade of Dem reps bragged about the pork they landed for their districts. Pelosi was asked what goodies she got into the bill and she said — “Expanded Medicaid in Puerto Rico.”

Is Pelosi an asset of the Bankster Proto-Autocracy? Of course, all Democrats outside of the self-declared Democratic Socialists receive funding from the Big Donor star chambers. So do all Republicans. The difference is that in order to gather votes and smaller donations the Dems — on occasion — must deliver on policy for their mostly anti-autocratic base.

The GOP has to deliver for their base of Christian Fascists, who favor policies of extreme cruelty like family separation, cutting food stamps, cracking down on disability benefits.

When folks like Caitlin Johnstone accuse Trump and Pelosi of belonging to the same “Establishment,” they overlook the huge differences between the GOP and Dem bases — and the equally huge differences in the judges the parties put on the bench.

The Judiciary is the branch of government most people deal with directly. 

2 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

.  I consider HRC a neocon.  

Impeach Hillary Clinton!

7 minutes ago, James DiEugenio said:

Paul:

I do not consider Johnstone from the radical left.  The fact that you characterize her as such shows us how far right the political spectrum has swung in this country, and especially how far right the Democrats have gone.

IMO, when all the Democratic candidates are evaluated overall, foreign policy issues included, just who is worth voting for besides Bernie on the merits?  I don't mean just on the rather narrow issue of he or she is better than Trump.  Your dog Rover could survive that test.

I recently wrote about this in my discussion of the Foster case. I described how the GOP was taken over by its extreme Goldwater elements.  What I left out was that this  moved the Democrats to the right also--remember Al From and the DLC?  I cannot see the Bobby Kennedy of 1968 in that club. But yet that is where the Clintons came from.  And Kerry and Obama were part of their congressional arm, the New Democrats.  Which was a joke, because what they really were were Eisenhower Republicans.  The only reason they could call themselves Democrats was because the Republicans had gone into outer space with the likes of Floyd Brown and David Bossie.  Let us NEVER forget:  HRC voted for the Iraq War. And that was no outlier.  Just recall what she did in Iraq and Honduras when Mr. Hope and Change Obama appointed her Secretary of State. It was so called New Democrats Kerry and Gephardt and From who plotted against Howard Dean, because they did not think economic populism could turn out the Democratic base.  Do we recall DIck Morris and his triangulation strategy? And I hope you are following Shadow and what they just did to Sanders in Iowa.

Let me be frank about all this: The Clintons were the worst thing to happen to the Democratic Party since Carter beat Udall in the  primaries in 1976.

The spectacular success of AOC shows us that economic populism can motivate people.  It can turn out voters.  Just like RFK in 1968 turned out the east side of Los Angeles to a point where they voted in a higher ratio than the west side. 

We need people like Johnstone to keep us honest.  Fine with me if Mr. Patrick includes her.  She can be our constant warning against a return to the nightmare of Clintonism.  Just like the writings on JFK, the JFK case and RFK case in the magazine garrison remind us all just how we got into this mess.  More power to it and him..  Since there is no one out there who comes close to addressing these issues in such a format.

There is nothing in the above to indicate Mr. DiEugenio grasps the moment we’re in.

Trump has declared unlimited executive powers and DiEugenio thinks it’s “a narrow issue.”

Oblivious in the extreme.

On 2/7/2020 at 8:15 PM, S.T. Patrick said:

I would not say that it's Dem bashing. Can you say the party had a good week... or month? 

On January 31, 2020 the United States Senate ratified Donald Trump’s claim of unlimited executive power, ending the 233 year American experiment in a government ruled by checks and balances.

The United States is now a functional monarchy... but wait! Look over there! The DNC screwed Bernie Sanders out of 3 or 4 delegates in Iowa!...

Do I think the Dems had a bad week? I think humanity had a very bad week, S.T.

In 2012 Mitt Romney was declared the winner  of the Iowa caucus. Then it turned out Rick Santorum won the most votes. Once the dust settled Ron Paul won the most delegates.

That electoral cock-up ruffled few feathers in the MSM. Compare that to the media hysteria over the current Dem debacle in the same state.

In the supposed “liberal media” GOP molehills become mountains for Democrats.

1 hour ago, S.T. Patrick said:

We are starting to see some really strong left-leaning anti-party dissenters now (the people you named not being a fan of). But if I found a Republican cheerleader and a Democratic cheerleader, I'd be the same as any talking head CNN show (Crossfire? Capital Gang?). And that's not the purpose of the magazine.

When I point out that we live under a Republican Party that has declared an unchecked unitary executive, resulting in the catastrophic failure of the American experiment in a government ruled by checks and balances and the establishment of a functioning monarchy — does that make me a Democratic cheerleader?

False equivalencies must be treated with the same skepticism as false dichotomies.

6 minutes ago, S.T. Patrick said:

1 minute ago, S.T. Patrick said:

No.

I always think U.S. nuke deals are hypocritical, to some degree, but evil? No. Personally, Id rather we not have them either.
 

Okay, although it was hypocritical for nuclear powers like the US, Britain, Russia, China, and France to insist the Iranians shelve their nuke program — we can agree it was a good thing, right?

The Putin/Obama removal of Assad’s chem weapons — good thing, right?

Opening to Cuba? Paris Climate Accords?

I stipulate to the NATO/Obama war crime in Libya and a whole host of Obama mistakes. That shouldn’t erase the good stuff.

1 minute ago, S.T. Patrick said:

Probably the same as the chances that she praises a Republican politician... which she never does, not without an accompanying shot at the same politician. She's not one to praise politicians in general, but it's difficult for me to speak for Caitlin. I don't think playing cheerleader for a party is on her to-do list.

That’s not what I’m asking. Acknowledging a good job on a specific matter doesn’t make one a cheerleader.

Do you think the Iran nuke deal was evil, S.T.?

22 hours ago, Cory Santos said:

"Gambling is illegal at Bushwood".  

Seriously, you can always send me money for myself but I cannot hold money for an interstate bet.  So Cliff has bet you Robert Wheeler.   Will you take that bet?

All US Prez elections are bought. I know Bernie is trying his best to overcome this, and I’d like to think he could win on a level playing field, I just doubt he’ll be *allowed* to win.

Hell, the Banksters, Bible-Thumpers, and MSM CEOs wouldn’t allow Hillary, of all people.

So, since the election is going to be bought by various star chambers why not have it bought  by one guy so rich he is no one’s puppet?

That was a big part of Trump’s initial appeal — the fiction he was this self-funding billionaire.

23 hours ago, S.T. Patrick said:

I don't take it personally, no.

Excellent. I thought so. Many do take criticism of their work personally. It’s sad but true.

For me it’s not a matter of right and left — it’s all about fact or fiction.

Fact: Trump has declared that his personal interests are identical to the interests of the State. This new form of government— an unlimited, unchecked unitary executive — was ratified by the US Senate on January 31, 2020 when the Republicans voted down witnesses and documents in the UkraineGate Trial.

Fiction: Donald Trump is just like regular Republicans and Republicans and Democrats are just alike. Or as I like to call this piece of fiction  — The Shorter Caitlin Johnstone

In his last two years in office President Obama signed the Iran nuke deal, the Paris Climate Accords, relaxed restrictions with Cuba, signed net neutrality and put undocumented youth who grew up in this country on legal footing.

Whether or not that makes up for American adventures in Libya, Honduras, Ukraine or civilian killing drone strikes throughout the Middle East— our mileages may vary.

In 2013 Obama and Putin negotiated the removal of what turned out to be 93% of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile. Obama has been roundly denounced in the MSM ever since for failing to respond militarily when Assad allegedly crossed O’s “Red Line.”

Trump had more favorable coverage for the two phony hits he put on empty air bases.

So...what are the chances Johnstone praises any Democrat not named Sanders or Gabbard?

10 hours ago, Cory Santos said:

Told you Cliff.

The headline is so misleading it’s downright disingenuous.

Sanders was nauseated by the similarities between Kennedy’s and Nixon’s policy toward Cuba.  Regime change foreign policies — whether it’s Democratic or Republican — are nauseating, indeed.

No one bats a thousand. Everyone is wrong sometimes, right? Kennedy was wrong when he green-lit the Bay of Pigs, and wrong again when he okayed the overthrow of Diem. Those mistakes cost Kennedy his life.

But in other areas of foreign policy Kennedy was a friend of nations seeking nonalignment as they emerged from colonialism. 

I’m a Bernie supporter but I find the politics of Medicare for All nauseating. That doesn’t mean I find Bernie nauseating personally any more than Bernie found JFK nauseating.

Context, Cory, context.

20 hours ago, S.T. Patrick said:

I appreciate you giving it a shot, Cliff. I do. We aren't going to make everyone happy, and I understand that, but I appreciate you giving us a shot. I should say that Elizabeth considers herself a leftist and Caitlin calls herself a "bogan socialist." I think both are supporting Sanders in the DNC race, from what I can tell. But yes, they are more in line with Aaron Mate, who writes for The Nation, and Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone. They also tend to align with Consortium News. I can understand how that may not be your thing. I can. But, as I said, I truly appreciate you reading the first two. I do.

S.T., I sense you’re not the type to take criticism of your work personally. I relish a good fact based back and forth. Steel sharpens steel and all that.

5 hours ago, Robert Wheeler said:

When I write something, and then I see a person I blocked follow up in rapid succession with comments I can’t read, but I know who wrote them because the name is still there, I think of the late night PATH train back to Hoboken, or waiting for the Uptown C at Times Square. 

There would always be some troubled soul carrying out a full on conversation with someone only he could see. Gesturing, hand waving, sometimes having a serious argument with an imaginary foe. 

If the guy having the argument with his invisible acquaintance approached, I would give him a cigarette or a dollar or just shrug and say “I’ve got nothing for you buddy.”

I was never asked to intervene in the argument or take a side or offer my thoughts.

The mentally ill man knew I couldn’t see his friend/foe. Somehow he knew, despite his own certainty that his assertions and explanations were not falling on deaf ears, that they really were, and that smoking a cigarette would be better time spent than trying to enlist me, or the other late night subway riders, into taking his side in the argument he was having with himself.

This is a case of mistaken identity.

Herr Wheeler mistakes me for someone who cares whether he reads my posts or not.

This way his lame responses (see above) are kept to a minimum.