Doug Macgregor's Big Picture; Plus

Today, speaking with Danny Davis, Doug Macgregor presented in clear terms his view of what’s endangering America today. This, is of key importance in light of the reckless regime escalation into a direct war on Russia.

Mountain of Lies in Ukraine Russia War w/Col Douglas Macgregor

Once again, this has nothing to do with Ukraine. This is a small group of people who've hijacked our government and they're not going away, necessarily, on 20 January. [They] want to harm Russia. That's it. And you've got a portion of that group that is just as interested in destroying Iran, sadly. So I see nothing good happening, and given what's happened in Ukraine thus far I cannot imagine that the Russians will back down one inch from supporting Iran, or Syria, or--for that matter--the Turks if they decide to weigh into this.

We can be an engine of prosperity for the world--that's what we were a hundred years ago. We can be that again, and that's where we should focus. But this this demands change in the way we look at the world. Right now this small group of people want us to see the rest of the world through a lens that suggests everyone is hostile to us--there are threats everywhere, everyone hates us. Well, a lot of people don't like us, but that has a lot to do with what we've been up to for the last 30 years.

The mystery in this seems to be, Who is this “small group of people”? For all the world, Macgregor’s words reminded me of a recent post of mine, called Empire of Hate. This was a very long post, but in the last third or so I quoted extensively from an interview with economist Michael Hudson. Michael Hudson was there at the founding of a core Neocon think tank, The Hudson Institute, founded by Herman Kahn (read the post for fuller background on all that). The Hudson Institute was heavily populated by Zionists, including Uzi Arad (again, please refer to the previous post). In the interview, Hudson provides his recollections of his days there, and especially of the world view of that “small group of people”. Michael Hudson, in his earlier life was very close to Trotskyite circles in the US—the same circles from which the Neocons arose. Notice the mentions of Jewish hatred for Russia and the desire to use the United States to exact revenge:

On one occasion, I’d brought my mentor, Terrence McCarthy, to the Hudson Institute, to talk about the Islamic worldview, and every two sentences, Uzi would interrupt: “No, no, we’ve got to kill them all.” And other people, members of the Institute, were also just talking continually about killing Arabs.

I don’t think there were any non-Jewish Americans that had that visceral hatred of Islam that the Zionists had, or also the visceral hatred of Russia, specifically for anti-Semitism of past centuries, most of which was in Ukraine and Kiev, by the way.

Well, that was 50 years ago, and these sanctions that Jackson introduced ... became the prototypes for today’s sanctions against all the countries that the Neocons viewed as adversaries. Joe Lieberman was in the tradition of the Jackson Democrats ... the pro-Zionist Cold War hawks with this hatred of Russia, and that made Israel the cat’s paw for these Cold Warriors.

…

And if you look at the Neocons, they have a virtual religion. I met many at the Hudson Institute; some of them, or their fathers, were Trotskyists. And they picked up Trotsky’s idea of permanent revolution. That is, an unfolding revolution – what Trotsky said began in the Soviet Russia was going to spread to other countries, Germany and the others. But the Neocons adopted this and said, “No, the permanent revolution is the American Empire – it’s going to expand and expand and nothing can stop us for the entire world.”

In Macgregor’s terms, Hudson is talking about a small group of people who took over the US government and are motivated by an overpowering obsession with harming Russia. “That’s it.” For this small group of people the world is full of other people against whom they harbor an unquenchable grudge that calls for revenge. And they control the US government. They have been conducting their holy war for over 50 years and they think they’re on the verge of success—if only we can escalate far enough.

Anyone who thinks Vladimir Putin and the rest of the ruling class of Russia fail to understand this, I’ve got news for you. Putin gets it.

Thus, Putin has responded to the ATACMS escalation by launching a ballistic missile that has the potential to hit any target in Europe. To drive that point home, Russia today specifically named a possible target that they’re interested in eliminating—which, let it be said, can be accomplished with purely conventional, albeit “advanced”, weapons:

Russia threatens to attack new US base in Poland with ‘advanced weapons’

Russia has threatened to attack a new US defense base in Poland with “advanced weapons” — just hours after reportedly launching an intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine on Thursday.

Moscow leveled the warning after saying the opening of the ballistic missile defense base, located in the town of Redzikowo near the Baltic coast, would lead to an increase in overall nuclear danger.

“Given the nature and level of threats posed by such Western military facilities, the missile defense base in Poland has long been added to the list of priority targets for potential destruction, which, if necessary, can be executed with a wide range of advanced weapons,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

The US base at Redzikowo, which opened Nov. 13, is part of a broader NATO missile shield — known as “Aegis Ashore” — that can intercept short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles, according to the alliance.

“This is another frankly provocative step in a series of deeply destabilizing actions by the Americans and their allies in the North Atlantic Alliance in the strategic sphere,” Zakharova said of the base’s opening.

“This leads to undermining strategic stability, increasing strategic risks and, as a result, to an increase in the overall level of nuclear danger.”

Poland stressed that the base does not pose a threat and does not hold nuclear missiles.

“It is a base that serves the purpose of defense, not attack,” said Pawel Wronski, Poland’s foreign ministry spokesperson.

“Such threats will certainly serve as an argument to strengthen Poland’s and NATO’s air defenses, and should also be considered by the United States.”

This is the point that this small group of people has brought America.

Here’s a useful discussion of many of these issues:

Using Missiles as Diplomacy Ukraine & Russia w John Mearsheimer

Now, some brief links--because I need to get out and shovel snow:

US ‘fundamentally rejects’ ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu

Meanwhile, Israeli officials have denounced the warrants and accused the ICC of anti-Semitism.

It’s always anti-Semitism, isn’t it? Never any other possible viewpoint if it differs from the views of a small group of people.

The Officer Who Killed Ashli Babbitt Had Long History Of Disciplinary & Training Problems; Report

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

I have previously written about the dubious investigations of the shooting of Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6th and the alleged violation of the standards for the use of lethal force by the officer who shot her. I strongly disagreed with the findings of investigations by the Capitol Police and the Justice Department in clearing Captain Michael Byrd, who shot the unarmed protester. Now, Just the News has an alarming report of the record of Byrd that only magnifies these concerns.

Investors Are Increasingly Reluctant To Buy US Treasuries Even At These Yields

By Bas van Geffen, Senior Macro Strategist at Rabobank

Yesterday, my colleague wrote that not everything is worth worrying about equally. Financial stability reports always provide plenty of fodder for pessimists; after all, the purpose of these reports is to raise awareness of potential downsides. But not all risks are equally concrete or urgent. Having said that, in its latest Financial Stability Review, the ECB was more blunt about financial risks than in previous years.

The central bank is particularly worried about the potential resurgence of the sovereign debt crisis, but unlike the original crisis, France is now being called out as a particular risk: “policy uncertainty [or paralysis], weak fiscal fundamentals in some countries and sluggish potential growth raise concerns about sovereign debt sustainability.”

…

Trump is right to consider his options. Because whoever gets the job, it will be a tough one. The incoming Treasury Secretary will have the difficult challenge of uniting Trump’s agenda of disruption and change in the (world) economy, and tax cuts, with stability in financial markets. The potential impact on the US fiscal deficit is getting increasing attention, and yesterday’s auction of 20y Treasury bonds served as a warning to the incoming administration. The auction drew very weak demand, even though 20y yields have risen from 4% in mid-September to around 4.65% currently. Although the 20 year is admittedly a bit of an odd point on the US curve, it does suggest that investors are reluctant to buy Treasuries even at these yields as long as there are concerns about potential impact of Trump’s plans on the deficit.

Read it all, but for my part it’s not clear exactly how much control Trump will have in terms of reducing the deficit.

Lastly, in “devout Catholic” news:

Joe Biden Gives Ex Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards Medal of Freedom in Secret Ceremony