How Empires Work ... For A While
Apologies up front. We have an early appointment today and I’m dealing with a 42 part thread. So I’m just offering a link. But we’ll start with a related matter that is very much related to that long thread—an example or episode from the current American Empire—or Anglo-Zionist Empire, or Empire of Hate. As an historical matter, empires are marked by periodization, so different tags work better at different times. Here’s Michael Hudson’s working definition of empire from 3/42:
Michael Hudson provides a good definition by saying its "a transborder, culturally legitimized, Center-Periphery structure of unequal exchange: economically, militarily politically, and culturally."
Onward. Remember how I’ve maintained that the real president between the two Trump regimes was not only NOT Zhou, but was also not Obama—despite what some people like to claim. As if Obama was ever a power broker. The real presidents, or the people who headed the imperial-presidential committee who ran things, were the chiefs of staff—COS, or POS if you prefer. So, Ron Klain and then the bagel shop impresario—I keep forgetting his name. Oh yeah, Jeff Zients. And this started before Zhou was installed. They were ably assisted by what has become the usual gaggle of grifting Neocons—of Zionists if you prefer:
Author Chris Whipple wrote that Ron Klain recounted Biden being 'exhausted' and 'out of it' during prep
Fun homework assignment:
Compile a complete list of people in the political establishment who didn’t know what the deal was. Use only one page from a 3x5 notebook—trying to snow the rest of us with extra pages won’t impress.
Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain revealed that former President Joe Biden was "fatigued, befuddled and disengaged" before his debate with President Donald Trump in June, according to a new book.
"At his first meeting with Biden in Aspen Lodge, the president’s cabin," author Chris Whipple wrote, Klain "was startled. He’d never seen him so exhausted and out of it. Biden was unaware of what was happening in his own campaign. Halfway through the session, the president excused himself and went off to sit by the pool," according to an excerpt published by The Guardian.
Whipple's new book, titled "Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History," is set to be released this month. Klain, a close ally and major supporter of the former president, served as his chief of staff from 2021 until 2023 and helped Biden prepare for his June debate against Trump.
"The president was fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged," Whipple wrote, according to the excerpt. "Klain feared the debate with Trump would be a nationally televised disaster."
The fake debate, the campaign from the basement, the staged presidency—the ruling committee did it all for you. Ha ha! The joke was on us. But what does it tell you about the state of the empire that so many people actually did vote for that? It shouldn’t be too hard to fit that into the periodization of empire scheme. And guess what? Trump may be the actual president, but he has—and this, apparently, is The Art of the Deal—has surrounded himself, by and large, with the the usual gaggle (official and non-official) of grifting Neocons. And has simply put time tested Neocon policy on steroids—although I’d luv to be proved wrong on that.
Here’s that thread. See how it works for you. The example of the Roman Empire has become fairly standard, of course, but it happens to work rather well. One of those plus ça change things—that’s French for, it always seems to be the same old grift. Note that the thread author is trying to make the argument that Trump is somehow trying to bring the empire in for a sort of soft landing at the bottom of the cliff. I personally don’t buy that argument, but YMMV (click here for the full thread:
Smug Doomposting Publishing House
It's honestly near impossible to explain the looooong term view/explanation on "why a senior WH official saying the post-WWII order is over is yuge" in only 25 or so tweets, but I'll try to do so. Short and simple. 1/42
Trump--full of surprises:
Megatron @Megatron_ron
 President Trump introduced a 17% tariff on Israel despite its complete elimination of duties on US imports.
Israeli economic officials are stunned by the U.S. decision to impose a 17% tariff:
"We are in shock. We were sure that the decision to completely cancel tariffs on imports from the U.S. would prevent this move. But it didn't happen."
Interesting, in Yemen. US wants to use Reapers, but they keep getting shot down. Houthis engage USS Harry with (cheap) cruise missiles and drones rather than more important ballistic missiles--working to deplete missile defenses:
JacobCharite Иагов @jaccocharite
Houthis announce shooting down SECOND US MQ-9 reconnaissance drone IN 72 HOURS
The drone was carrying out hostile operations in the airspace of the Hodeidah province, the movement’s spokesman said.
Yemen Military @Yemenimilitary
The Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a military operation in which they engaged the American aircraft carrier Truman and several of its accompanying warships with a number of cruise missiles and drones north of the Red Sea.