The anti-genocide movement seems to me to be a turning point of sorts in modern America’s imperial history. Conservative dislike for many of the leftist demonstrators is understandable to a degree, but much like what Trump accomplished in pulling back the curtain on the Uniparty, these demonstrators are drawing back the curtain that has concealed the Ruling Class from public view. It’s not a pretty sight. Until now the Ruling Class could gaslight most Americans with messianic nonsense about spreading democracy around the world by overthrowing democratically elected governments—like in Kiev in 2014. The now revived Yellow Peril and the Russia Hoax have served the Ruling Class well. But supporting genocide in Gaza has stretched the limits of the credulity of ordinary Americans, as we demonstrated with Gallup survey data: Which Side Are You On?
Granted, there are still the stupid among us, including at Zerohedge, who try to draw a parallel between current protests and BLM/Antifa:
Leftists have a tendency to hijack the causes of other movements as a way to elevate their own agendas, and this is exactly what is happening in the west with the Gaza issue. It is rather revealing that these protesters aren't amassing on Joe Biden's doorstep or the halls of Congress. The people most directly responsible for the funding of Israel for some reason get a pass while US colleges with no power to change anything in the Middle East are overrun.
Is this simply a matter of what is easy? Or, is there another motive at play? Is this about speaking out about Gaza, or is it about radicalizing an ever growing mob that can be manipulated by progressive gatekeepers, just as we witnessed with the BLM riots?
The very obvious difference here is that the far more violent BLM/Antifa riots were staged by the Prog wing of the Uniparty and protected by the GOPe, led by Bluto Barr. The reaction this time around is quite different:
After years of cancel culture and the threat of Antifa and BLM mobs, we are now seeing the same exact people pummeled by law enforcement …
Even if we grant that these anti-genocide protests really are “the same exact people”—which is unwise, given the broad public opposition to genocide in Gaza that Gallup tracks—the different response is telling. This time really is different. The BLM/Antifa rioters may have been the Dems’ foot soldiers last time, but they’ve turned on the Ruling Class this time, and our Rulers are out to crush them. Ask yourself, if the Ruling Class privileged the BLM/Antifa riots in order to dump Trump—pretending that there was broad support for those riots and doing what they could to suppress criticism of BLM—what can we learn this time around? About the Ruling Class?
The_Real_Fly @The_Real_Fly
NYC THROWS THE KITCHEN SINK AT PROTESTERS: "I've covered lots of these kinds of events around the world and I’ve never seen this many police moving into one area."
From
Brian Stelter
Silver Fox @Kaizen__8
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
8:35 PM · Apr 30, 2024
Glenn Diesen
@Glenn_Diesen
If this was happening in one of the countries we are taught to hate, the political-media elites would already be calling for sanctions and regime change
5:59 AM · May 1, 2024
Who are we not allowed to criticize? Which side are Americans being told they must be on? Contrasting views—Sachs is a must listen:
Mike Johnson Announces New House Investigation into Anti-Semitism on College Campuses
Note, Johnson didn’t announce an investigation into campus Wokeism, campus censorship of dissident (non-Woke) views, leftist violence funded by Soros on campuses. No, it’s about “anti-Semitism” defined as anti-Zionism, defined as any criticism of Israel, up to and including Israeli genocide against Palestinians. Six House committees will participate in the witch hunt.
On the other hand, to simply say that the American Ruling Class has taken sides in what I recently called The War Among The Jews is, well, simplistic. Opposition to the Anglo-Zionist genocide in Gaza has been building for some time, but it reached critical mass with passage of the Forever War bill. Notably, passage of that bill required extraordinary measures, such as the GOP turning over control of the House to Dems for most of the rest of the year—with Trump throwing his massive influence behind both the bill and, presumably, the measures needed to pass it. That bill included funding for Ukraine/MIC matters that stretches out for many years, as well as extension of super intrusive domestic spying powers for the Deep State. It was, in essence, a wish list for the Deep State and Ruling Class as requested by the Zhou regime going into an election—with the support of Trump and the GOP leadership. Go figure, right? The smart people are saying that this bill will handcuff Trump to Zhou policies. So this includes The Israel Lobby wish list but also goes beyond that to broader Deep State/MIC wish lists. Bipartisanship in the best tradition of the Uniparty. In fact, even Johnson’s tendentiously named new HUAC style investigation could be said to be a bit of cover for the broader extension of government control over public discourse, with strong support from the captive “conservative” media.
So, instead of sitting back and watching the Dems struggle with this mess, or trying to peel off voters from the Dem base, Trump and the GOPe seem to be circling their wagons to protect Zhou—or at least to protect Zhou’s policies. Thus we have the spectacle telling a rally of his supporters who are chanting “Genocide Zhou!”—”He’s not wrong!” His campaign seems to be focused on Zhou’s lack of mental capacity rather than the big issues facing America.
While it is fun to watch Donald Trump piss off the donor class & stick his thumb in their eye from time to time, he is a swamp creature who is only occasionally America first. His most recent capitulation to the war machine, by joining w/Mike Johnson & Joe Biden via Ukraine Was disgusting. He still wants credit for the disastrous Covid vaccine (which is not a vaccine at all), which boggles my mind, And of course there’s this:
Quote
Jake Shields @jakeshieldsajj
Trump wants to make protesting Israel illegal. They serve the same master.
Is Dore wrong? Some argue that the leftist protests will backfire and lead people in swing states to vote Trump. Trump is thus positioning himself on that side. Kind of. See below. But even if that is the idea, the rest is far from edifying. 2016 and 2020 were votes to Drain the Swamp. What will 2024 be? More of the usual sh*t, please? There’s still time to frame a campaign around issues that matter for a nation on the brink, but …
Here’s some more to consider. US debt is a huge issue, but Trump was totally behind funding the forever wars in a way that many claim will force the funding to extend for 10 years. With predictable consequences:
De-dollarisation at "stunning speed"
- "The greenback’s share in global reserves slid last year at 10 times the average speed of the past two decades"
- Who could have predicted that unsustainable debt, sanctions & stealing reserves somehow reduces trust? https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-18/de-dollarization-is-happening-at-a-stunning-pace-jen-says?embedded-checkout=true…
What part of MAGA explains what just happened in Congress, rapidly expanding debt, with Trump behind it? And Trump’s response to the bad news about the dollar? Sanction wars forever to keep the rest of the world shoring up our debt and inflation:
Trump Advisers Discuss Penalties for Nations That Move Away From the Dollar
BRICS nations lead global debate over reducing dollar exposure
Trump says Biden policies undermining respect for US currency
Former President Donald Trump’s economic advisers are considering ways to actively stop nations from shifting away from using the dollar — an effort to counter budding moves among key emerging markets to reduce exposure to the US currency, according to people familiar with the matter. Discussions include penalties for allies or adversaries who seek active ways to engage in bilateral trade in currencies other than the dollar — with options including export controls, currency manipulation charges and tariffs, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Right. Respect our currency or else—that’ll do the trick.
What with one thing and another, I support this:
MTG To Force Mike Johnson Ouster Vote Over Ukraine Money, But Top Dems Vow To Save Him
I’ll finish with an unsettling article by a perceptive student of Israeli politics. He contends that the current Israeli government is the spiritual heir to Meir Kahane, and that they are now driving Israeli policy. But through their hold over Netanyahu and the Israel Lobby’s hold over the US government, that means that Kahane’s spiritual heirs are also holding America hostage. The article traces the rise of Jewish supremacist ideology to this peak of influence:
The Ideological Coup: How Disciples of Kahane Became the New Face of Israel
Excerpts—I highly recommend the entire article:
Throughout history, fringe religious Zionist parties have had limited success in achieving the kind of electoral victories that would allow them an actual share in the country’s political decision-making.
The impressive number of 17 seats won by Israel’s extremist religious party, Shas, in the 1999 elections, was a watershed moment in the history of these parties, whose ideological roots go back to Avraham Itzhak Kook and his son Zvi Yehuda Hacohen.
Israeli historian Ilan Pappé referred to the Kooks’ ideological influence as a “fusion of dogmatic messianism and violence”.
Throughout the years, these religious parties struggled on several fronts: their inability to unify their ranks, their failure to appeal to mainstream Israeli society and their inability to strike the balance between their messianic political discourse and the kind of language – not necessarily behavior – that Israel’s western allies expect.
Though much of the financial support and political backing of Israel’s extremists originate in the United States and, to a lesser extent, other European countries, Washington has been clear regarding its public perception of Israel’s religious extremists.
…
Israel’s religious Zionists are playing a long game, which is not linked to a particular election, individual or government coalition. They are redefining the state, along with its ideology. And they are winning.
It goes without saying that Ben-Gvir, and his threats to topple Netanyahu’s coalition government, have been the main driving force behind the genocide in Gaza.
If Meir Kahane was still alive, he would have been proud of his followers. The ideology of the once marginalized and loathed extremist rabbi is now the backbone of Israeli politics.
The language of genocide continues, coming from Kahane’s heirs:
Smotrich calls for 'no half measures' in the 'total annihilation' of Gaza
1 day ago Israel's Far-right Minister Smotrich Calls for 'No Half Measures' in the 'Total Annihilation' of Gaza.
Excellent article. Thanks
A few overarching themes came to mind while reading.
The first is the lack of appreciation of dynamic vs linear change. In the sense that humans are dynamic. A good example of this is the concept of "blowback" in IR/conflict theory. There's an illusion of control until things unravel suddenly. Rwanda 1994 is a practical example of many decades of incitement (preceded by a century of colonial bs divide and conquer), then a spark and all of sudden chaos. It's a worthwhile cautionary tale of things getting out of hand.
I can't help but feel those funding social change repeat the same playbook expecting similar results only to be surprised by people behaving differently.
The other thing is that savior complex plaguing most societies. If only so-and-so gets elected, they'll solve XYZ.
I remember when Obama was on the campaign trail in '07 and a few commentators looked under the hood of his stint as senator. And it wasn't pretty. The Nobel (post election) was the tell, but by then he was in office and was a saint, any negatives were the fault of his imperfect appointees.
So again it's a case of look at what's done, not what's said.
And Trump is the same. He gets a free pass on everything by his supporters. There's always an excuse. But if you look under the hood, it's more a case of wanting to believe than facts.
Which brings me to the crux of it all.
We live in complex societies. We depend on assumptions that things function (ie courts, police, etc), but neoliberalism (Stilgitz is on point atm) has bulldozed it's way to dominance, with business philosophies turned into gospel (ie just in time production/stock (and how'd that work out between 2020-2022?)). As Taleb would probably say: it's very fragile.
Throw in social media, multipolarity rising, unsustainable debt, crony capitalism, etc.
What blowback awaits us?
When wars start, real wars, everyone closes ranks. It doesn't matter who's in charge, why it started and who the enemy is.
Anyone who thinks we're going back to a pre Ukraine vs Russia world is in for a rude awakening.
Per the Gateway Pundit,
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/house-gop-passes-controversial-bill-labeling-certain-christian/
I almost expected to see this as a Babylon Bee headline.