Urging leftists to support the Ukraine proxy war, Bernie Sanders aide Matt Duss whitewashes the US role, attacks dissent, and advocates the militarism that he claims to oppose.
The democrats have been shifting the party right for many decades and Clinton/ Biden made that shift greater with the passage of NAFTA and the overturn of glass steagall just before leaving office . Clinton also began the practice of drawing more countries into NATO. At one time I also believed Bernie was different. No more. He's all talk, and knows his political liberal perspective will never be implemented by his fellow democrats.
Cor, imagine still being an unironic Bernie Bro. Three election cycles the old snake yanked your chain over that student debt you have no intention of paying-off yet $40billion can be found for foreign war, no questions asked
Ukraine is costing us a lot more than the $54 billion we're giving them in direct assistance.
The sanctions on Russia are far more costly than the direct aid we're sending to Ukraine.
The price of fuel has increased by about $2 per gallon since we (NATO countries) imposed sanctions on Russian oil exports in late February.
In 2021, the United States consumed 134.83 billion gallons of fuel (e.g. gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, etc...).
135 billion gallons of fuel multiplied by an extra $2/gallon is an extra $270 billion in higher fuel costs alone that the sanctions are costing us. Then there's the knock-on effects that higher fuel costs have on the price of other goods and services (giving rise to the possibility of a recession), plus the $54 billion that we've committed to spend on direct aid in just the last 4 months (which is likely to increase by the end of the year), and we're on track to spend/lose hundreds of billions of dollars every year that this nonsense drags on.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg went on BBC the other night and said the war could last for years. If we don't change course, Ukraine could easily cost us trillions of dollars over the long run -- and for what? Why should we care who controls Crimea and Donbas?
It is sad and disillusioning to see the ugly underbelly of D.C. Political Elites on both sides that has been exposed these past few years. And I completely agree with your premise about voting Democrat after watching them disregard Constitutional Law, Process, Bill of Rights, Self Liberty, and Free Speech all while accusing everyone else of doing so. I was struck by the image of Rand Paul on the floor single handily trying to thwart that 40 billion monstrous lie ,that was approved by both parties, as his own party members trashed and claimed he was obstructing on behalf of Russia! It reminded me of that man standing in front of the tank at Tiananmen Square. In 2016 when Sanders should have been the Democratic nominee he was bluntly honest , to his own disservice
at times, but you knew who he was whether you agreed or not but after he remained silent over the DNC and Clinton stealing the nominee from him he lost all credibility.
What is surprising is how effective they have used the "lesser of two evils" argument to get Americans to play into their oligarchic con game - of continuing to vote for Democrats - despite the obvious corruption of the party. And it looks like they plan on using the same strategy for the upcoming fraudulent electoral processes. Sanders has gone along with it - either because either he too is part of the "con" or just has become to much a part of DC that he no longer knows any better and has rationalized to himself the "lesser of two evils" is simply a political reality. Maybe it's the same rationale Americans have been telling themselves now for decades - that corruption is a political reality, and you just have to accept it, and choose the lesser of the two corrupt parties.
But this I think has led to a ruinous road where Americans think they have a democratic system, but instead they are being governed by two corporately run parties, bought by big monied interests, who have a suicidal interest in continuing American militarism abroad, and don't give two cents about the global ecosystem. I'm not sure there will be any way out of these two ruinous paths but a massive amount of suffering before change takes place. And when it comes to the planetary ecosystem, that will likely come way too late.
SO true: “two corporately run parties, bought by big monied interests, who have a suicidal interest in continuing American militarism abroad, and don't give two cents about the global ecosystem.”
I’m 80, and have seen this descent over the last 50 yrs. Ike was right in his exit speech, re: the dangerous rise of the military industrial complex. We didn’t listen.
Thanks Bill. I am approaching 60 myself, and wow what a decline we've seen in this country. And how right Eisenhower was all those years ago! Every year, that speech he gave becomes more and more remarkable (and prescient).
Did you hear Bernie's glorified speech of war monger Clinton after her win in 2016 as the democratic presidential nominee, and his knowing full well the party itself undermined his chances of winning which was abetted by a very supportive media, especially MSNBC?
but everybody knew he was corrupt. and really -- what is new about that? why the assumption that socialists so-called are any less corrupt than capitalists, so-called? You don't get in Congress because you are modest and thoughtful.
I knew that his antiwar rhetoric was disingenuous because of his support for the NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia all the way back in 1999.
I remember, during that war, when Bernie refused to meet with antiwar activists at his office in Vermont. They staged a sit-in and announced that they weren't going to leave until he met with them, but instead of meeting with them he called the cops and had them all arrested instead.
Bernie has been playing liberals for chumps for at least 25 years -- although now that most "liberals" are pro-war and pro-censorship, I don't know that many of his supporters were ever sincere in their professed principles either.
The key reason why Barack Obama got the Democratic nomination in 2008 instead of Hillary Clinton was because he had opposed the Iraq war. There was a time in the early 2000s when the base of the Democratic party at least professed to be antiwar, but then Obama attacked Libya in 2011 and practically every supposedly antiwar liberal who had spent the last 9 years screaming "Bush lied, people died!" went silent.
I think that was the point at which I realized that the Democratic party was irredeemable.
It is shocking how the belief in individual liberty "Liberal" has been abandoned by the Democrats along with many in their own party. I guess they didn't get the memo instructing all comrades about the change to "Democratic Socialist"...
there was quite a stink about the net worth of the socialist's real estate holdings. And he cut a deal pretty quick in exchange for more influence on policy than he had ever had on anything in government. Where was his moral fiber, where were his convictions in all that? The man never held a working job in his life that I am aware of. He's a company man.
FWIW, I consider myself a conservative but am finding more commonality with “progressives” like Aaron, Glenn, even Jimmy Dore and others than with so-called conservatives like the Lindsey grahams of the world.
Left vs Right has been imprinted so heavily on us as fundamental - that it is sometimes hard to see the traces of the other, older conflict: Liberty vs Authority.
Not that class & economics are unimportant; but they just don't describe the state of affairs on the ground as well, anymore.
I agree with many of the goals of the left - I just don't think the bureaucracy in its current forms can deliver. Nits just a waste of money thatbwillp It needs reform - maybe by a maniac like Musk or Bezos.
Guaranteed Income is just capitulation. It will lead to a Brave New World of sitting around and getting stoned, while the elite run everything. Just Replace pot with Soma.
The question of what immediately triggered the Russian invasion should be better addressed. Mate's article correctly retrieves the steady post-Maidan fighting in the Donbass from Duss' flagrant and unpardonable suppression. But Mate' doesn't address the fact that the days immediately preceding the invasion there had been a sharp uptick on shelling of the Donbass by the Ukrainian army, as observed and reported by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The *fact* of this aggression, coupled with Zelensky's threat to withdraw from agreements to forego nuclear weapons acquisition, have been used to explain/justify Russia's decision to attack. Please engage this argument.. Also, at some point it will be necessary to consider this disaster in light of broader US strategic aims as they bear on what had been the increasing economic integration of Europe and Russia. Big subject, but a more complete analysis of NATO's role as an instrument of US policy is urgently necessary.
“Starting on February 16 Ukrainian artillery attacks on Donbas increased from a few dozen per day to more than 2,000 per day as was dully noted and reported by the OSCE special observer mission. “ ?
Didn’t the US supposedly invade Syria because Assad allegedly poisoned his own people, an assertion that, regardless of facts to the contrary, would be strategically absurd? Yet we fund and arm the government of a country that shells its own people, with this flagrant disdain for democratic and humanitarian ideals, ideals the US only pretends to support?
No, the US didn't "invade Syria" in response to Assad's chemical weapon attacks. And as for the notion that it would've been "strategically absurd" for Assad to use such weapons? Obviously he didn't think so. Why would Assad do such a thing? Because he could. It was display of power, to intimidate the opposition. That's how dictatorships work.
"Assad gassed Syrians" just as obviously as "Saddam threw out Kuwaiti babies out of incubators" and "Ghadaffy distributed viagra to Libyan troops". Just as obviously as USN was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin, German troops marched through Belgium with babies on their bayonets, etc. etc.
There was also Zelensky's speech at the Munich conference at which he said Ukraine intended to go back on the Budapest Agreement and develop nuclear weapons. Russia knew that Ukraine already had the technical know how to develop a nuclear weapon.
Recently Russia has invited the IAEA(International Atomic Energy Authority) to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant now under their control. Could they have found evidence of something that should not be there?
Agreed. I think they *have* met the burden for showing cause for war and would like to hear Aaron's analysis . It seems like we're holding Russia to a standard that no other nation would meet.
Declassified docs reveal how Pentagon aimed to nuke USSR and China into oblivion
Plans for a nuclear war devised by the US Army in the 1960s considered decimating the Soviet Union and China by destroying their industrial potential and wiping out the bulk of their populations, newly declassified documents show.
Aaron, of all the journalists who oppose the tidal wave of violence initiated by US imperial management, you have the most restraint and respect for the people you so rightly criticize. It’s quite admirable and has largely in the past been beyond my own abilities. You are inspiring in that you leave little if anything in your arguments to criticize, despite anything narcissistic henchmen of empire may say to the contrary.
You're wrong, Cal. There's strong evidence that the 20014 coup was fomented by the U.S., and the civilian deaths caused by the extreme right wing (the Azovs, I believe), which they blamed on Yanukovych. A team of outside experts even examined the bullets and scene of the carnage, determining that the perpetrators weren't from the govt. I also recall (I'll have to check again) a video that a member of the Azovs made bragging of this black flag operation. It wasn't long after that when Russia seized Crimea...
You shouldn't under estimate the U.S.'s desire to weaken Russia, either. And Please read Colonel Jacques Baud's comments on this in the Postil (TP); it's quite enlightening, and his own personal background and expertise relating to this war is extensive, to say the least.
The entire Democratic Party can't seem to stop themselves from trying to become The Party of Slavery again. Anyone else feel the swing towards ultra global autocracy? They're sure mad about not starting a war in Syria 6 years ago
Thanks Aaron, that's a really good summary. And thanks for pointing out the Russian attempt to get the Minsk Accords enforced, which would have prevented all of this. It's a great tragedy that the Nuland's of this world can't resist meddling.
I wonder if Matt Duss will even attempt to respond to Aaron's eviscerating article here? My guess is: nope.
No wonder the Democratic party, and the Deep State are doing whatever they can to censor voices like Aaron Mate via smear campaigns and/or silencing on social media. When a journalist like Aaron can so clearly expose the deliberate 'out of context' lies being promoted by political figures such as Matt Duss - who do so wittingly or unwittingly, to support a way 'out-of-control' military industrial complex (that Eisenhower warned us about decades ago) - then the only recourse is political suppression - so that ordinary Americans are not awakened to the fact that they are being conned into War by these Elite arrogant scumbags.
A bit of background: Matt Duss is the son of Serge Duss, who was my boss during the time that we opened the World Vision office in Russia in 1991. Serge speaks a bit of Russian, but identifies as ethnic Ukrainian. The Duss family is therefore quite pro-Ukrainian, and in a recent facebook post also told me off when I suggested that 'pray for Ukraine' should include 'pray for the people in Donbass'. As Serge was/is an avid Democrat and always in the NGO network, he most definitely insulates his thinking as does Matt.
Bernie is a sheepdog. It is a role that he has played very, very well. His mission was to go forth barking to gather the strays, independents, and those who are disillusioned with the system. Once Bernie has gathered them up he leads as many as possible back to the main flock. He has done a phenomenal job with this. The whole independent but somehow a democrat thing. Truly outstanding. I think that age and repetitive disillusionment on the part of supporters make it unlikely for a repeat performance. It will be hard to find someone to cover the role anywhere near as well as Bernie.
She won't be able to do anywhere as near a performance as Bernie but you may be right. They don't have many to choose from. She is an actress in that she literally auditioned for the role of being the primary candidate to be backed by 'progressives'.
Great post Aaron. I wonder how this guy got associated with the Bernie team? What was he doing before and what is he doing now. If he is attached to any progressive franchise going forward I would have difficulty supporting such a team.
There are a couple grammar and spelling mistakes in your post that you might want to have someone look at. I have had my share of such published errors and it always was a result of the author being blind to his own writing in the fervor of the idea. Great to get someone uninvolved to look over before publishing.
Disagree with the characterisation that Russia was not "justified in launching an invasion of Ukraine."
A few days prior to Feb 24, Putin formally recognised both the Donetsk and the Luhansk People's Republic. He then invoked Article 51 of the UN Charter.
According to Scott Ritter, the Ukrainian military actions over the last 8-years which has resulted in over 14 thousand deaths gives legitimacy to Putin's invocation of Article 51.
The fact is, Russia's entry into Ukraine has ended the US/NATO genocide of the people of the Donbas.
Sorry, no dice. You clearly are not a person of principle. The invasion is not justifiable. Putin has used the people of Luhansk and Donetsk as foils for a land grab and ultimately for his invasion. Also, please stop calling the conflict in Donbas for the past 8 years a genocide. It's a misuse of the term just as the term liberal is misused and overused to score rhetorical political points.
"Principles". Really. Your principles are, ignore the actual cause of the Ukraine conflict: the US overthrowing the Ukrainian elected government and installing a puppet-regime backed by a bunch of Nazis. Well, fortunately, your principles are of little interest. This is a case of legal vs illegal. And the law is on Russia's side.
There are 2 provisions in the UN Charter that can be invoked to justify a military intervention: Russia invoked Article 51.
Scott Ritter, an ex-UN inspector agrees that Russia's "special military operation" is justified under Article 51; and there are at least 2 legal scholars who support Ritter.
And the claim that "Putin has used the people of Luhansk and Donetsk" is non-sense. Both the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Federations have been asking for Russian recognition since 2015.
Ukraine has never had an "elected" government and please, Nazis whining about Nazis is laughable. Putin and his merry band of mafia-like oligarchs are deceitful, clever, malevolent creeps just as are the Western version of the same.
So I guess if Zinke and his fellow oligarchical Montanans decide tomorrow that Montana is a Russian breakaway region in America, that means Putin has a right to conduct a "Special Operation" in America under the auspices of Article 51. Got it. Thanks.
Yeah, you know there is some detail in there. As time goes by it’s okay to remind people of that detail. It should also be considered that there could be someone, younger or older, reading this information for the first time or early stages of learning about this particular situation or the overall political game.
Bernie Sanders is one of the hugest political disappointments I've had in my lifetime - even bigger than Barack Obama.
If you vote or support the Democratic party, you are a political chump. There is no two ways about it anymore.
The democrats have been shifting the party right for many decades and Clinton/ Biden made that shift greater with the passage of NAFTA and the overturn of glass steagall just before leaving office . Clinton also began the practice of drawing more countries into NATO. At one time I also believed Bernie was different. No more. He's all talk, and knows his political liberal perspective will never be implemented by his fellow democrats.
Cor, imagine still being an unironic Bernie Bro. Three election cycles the old snake yanked your chain over that student debt you have no intention of paying-off yet $40billion can be found for foreign war, no questions asked
Ukraine is costing us a lot more than the $54 billion we're giving them in direct assistance.
The sanctions on Russia are far more costly than the direct aid we're sending to Ukraine.
The price of fuel has increased by about $2 per gallon since we (NATO countries) imposed sanctions on Russian oil exports in late February.
In 2021, the United States consumed 134.83 billion gallons of fuel (e.g. gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, etc...).
135 billion gallons of fuel multiplied by an extra $2/gallon is an extra $270 billion in higher fuel costs alone that the sanctions are costing us. Then there's the knock-on effects that higher fuel costs have on the price of other goods and services (giving rise to the possibility of a recession), plus the $54 billion that we've committed to spend on direct aid in just the last 4 months (which is likely to increase by the end of the year), and we're on track to spend/lose hundreds of billions of dollars every year that this nonsense drags on.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg went on BBC the other night and said the war could last for years. If we don't change course, Ukraine could easily cost us trillions of dollars over the long run -- and for what? Why should we care who controls Crimea and Donbas?
It is sad and disillusioning to see the ugly underbelly of D.C. Political Elites on both sides that has been exposed these past few years. And I completely agree with your premise about voting Democrat after watching them disregard Constitutional Law, Process, Bill of Rights, Self Liberty, and Free Speech all while accusing everyone else of doing so. I was struck by the image of Rand Paul on the floor single handily trying to thwart that 40 billion monstrous lie ,that was approved by both parties, as his own party members trashed and claimed he was obstructing on behalf of Russia! It reminded me of that man standing in front of the tank at Tiananmen Square. In 2016 when Sanders should have been the Democratic nominee he was bluntly honest , to his own disservice
at times, but you knew who he was whether you agreed or not but after he remained silent over the DNC and Clinton stealing the nominee from him he lost all credibility.
What is surprising is how effective they have used the "lesser of two evils" argument to get Americans to play into their oligarchic con game - of continuing to vote for Democrats - despite the obvious corruption of the party. And it looks like they plan on using the same strategy for the upcoming fraudulent electoral processes. Sanders has gone along with it - either because either he too is part of the "con" or just has become to much a part of DC that he no longer knows any better and has rationalized to himself the "lesser of two evils" is simply a political reality. Maybe it's the same rationale Americans have been telling themselves now for decades - that corruption is a political reality, and you just have to accept it, and choose the lesser of the two corrupt parties.
But this I think has led to a ruinous road where Americans think they have a democratic system, but instead they are being governed by two corporately run parties, bought by big monied interests, who have a suicidal interest in continuing American militarism abroad, and don't give two cents about the global ecosystem. I'm not sure there will be any way out of these two ruinous paths but a massive amount of suffering before change takes place. And when it comes to the planetary ecosystem, that will likely come way too late.
SO true: “two corporately run parties, bought by big monied interests, who have a suicidal interest in continuing American militarism abroad, and don't give two cents about the global ecosystem.”
I’m 80, and have seen this descent over the last 50 yrs. Ike was right in his exit speech, re: the dangerous rise of the military industrial complex. We didn’t listen.
Thanks Bill. I am approaching 60 myself, and wow what a decline we've seen in this country. And how right Eisenhower was all those years ago! Every year, that speech he gave becomes more and more remarkable (and prescient).
About strange nude man attack on Pelosi: Paul Pelosi was most likely attacked by a male prostitute
An unavoidable conclusion about Paul Pelosi
1. Assailant in his underpants
2. Paul Pelosi knows his name and tells police he’s a “friend.”
3. Assailant asks “where’s Nancy?” to make sure she’s not home.
4. Pelosi takes bathroom break from spat and makes 911 call
Conclusion: This guy was a sex partner or male prostitute!
So sad about Bernie Sanders -- what an utter disappointment
Did you hear Bernie's glorified speech of war monger Clinton after her win in 2016 as the democratic presidential nominee, and his knowing full well the party itself undermined his chances of winning which was abetted by a very supportive media, especially MSNBC?
but everybody knew he was corrupt. and really -- what is new about that? why the assumption that socialists so-called are any less corrupt than capitalists, so-called? You don't get in Congress because you are modest and thoughtful.
...."everybody knew"... ??
I knew that his antiwar rhetoric was disingenuous because of his support for the NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia all the way back in 1999.
I remember, during that war, when Bernie refused to meet with antiwar activists at his office in Vermont. They staged a sit-in and announced that they weren't going to leave until he met with them, but instead of meeting with them he called the cops and had them all arrested instead.
Bernie has been playing liberals for chumps for at least 25 years -- although now that most "liberals" are pro-war and pro-censorship, I don't know that many of his supporters were ever sincere in their professed principles either.
The key reason why Barack Obama got the Democratic nomination in 2008 instead of Hillary Clinton was because he had opposed the Iraq war. There was a time in the early 2000s when the base of the Democratic party at least professed to be antiwar, but then Obama attacked Libya in 2011 and practically every supposedly antiwar liberal who had spent the last 9 years screaming "Bush lied, people died!" went silent.
I think that was the point at which I realized that the Democratic party was irredeemable.
It is shocking how the belief in individual liberty "Liberal" has been abandoned by the Democrats along with many in their own party. I guess they didn't get the memo instructing all comrades about the change to "Democratic Socialist"...
hmm --- Socialism is the future of humans...
there was quite a stink about the net worth of the socialist's real estate holdings. And he cut a deal pretty quick in exchange for more influence on policy than he had ever had on anything in government. Where was his moral fiber, where were his convictions in all that? The man never held a working job in his life that I am aware of. He's a company man.
Yeah, "everybody". I guess I was the only one that didn't know Bernie was corrupt...lonely me...???
Subbed! Keep up the great work Aaron.
FWIW, I consider myself a conservative but am finding more commonality with “progressives” like Aaron, Glenn, even Jimmy Dore and others than with so-called conservatives like the Lindsey grahams of the world.
It’s not R vs D. It’s US vs THEM.
Left vs Right has been imprinted so heavily on us as fundamental - that it is sometimes hard to see the traces of the other, older conflict: Liberty vs Authority.
Not that class & economics are unimportant; but they just don't describe the state of affairs on the ground as well, anymore.
The right is innately authoritarian, no matter how much they might try to pretend otherwise.
That's because those so-called "progressives" that you find yourself agreeing with are also conservatives.
I agree with many of the goals of the left - I just don't think the bureaucracy in its current forms can deliver. Nits just a waste of money thatbwillp It needs reform - maybe by a maniac like Musk or Bezos.
Guaranteed Income is just capitulation. It will lead to a Brave New World of sitting around and getting stoned, while the elite run everything. Just Replace pot with Soma.
I’m not sure if you mean “Us vs Them” as a rallying cry or a denouncement.
The question of what immediately triggered the Russian invasion should be better addressed. Mate's article correctly retrieves the steady post-Maidan fighting in the Donbass from Duss' flagrant and unpardonable suppression. But Mate' doesn't address the fact that the days immediately preceding the invasion there had been a sharp uptick on shelling of the Donbass by the Ukrainian army, as observed and reported by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The *fact* of this aggression, coupled with Zelensky's threat to withdraw from agreements to forego nuclear weapons acquisition, have been used to explain/justify Russia's decision to attack. Please engage this argument.. Also, at some point it will be necessary to consider this disaster in light of broader US strategic aims as they bear on what had been the increasing economic integration of Europe and Russia. Big subject, but a more complete analysis of NATO's role as an instrument of US policy is urgently necessary.
“Starting on February 16 Ukrainian artillery attacks on Donbas increased from a few dozen per day to more than 2,000 per day as was dully noted and reported by the OSCE special observer mission. “ ?
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/05/no-the-ukraine-war-has-not-stoked-a-global-food-crisis.html
Didn’t the US supposedly invade Syria because Assad allegedly poisoned his own people, an assertion that, regardless of facts to the contrary, would be strategically absurd? Yet we fund and arm the government of a country that shells its own people, with this flagrant disdain for democratic and humanitarian ideals, ideals the US only pretends to support?
No, the US didn't "invade Syria" in response to Assad's chemical weapon attacks. And as for the notion that it would've been "strategically absurd" for Assad to use such weapons? Obviously he didn't think so. Why would Assad do such a thing? Because he could. It was display of power, to intimidate the opposition. That's how dictatorships work.
"Assad gassed Syrians" just as obviously as "Saddam threw out Kuwaiti babies out of incubators" and "Ghadaffy distributed viagra to Libyan troops". Just as obviously as USN was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin, German troops marched through Belgium with babies on their bayonets, etc. etc.
Thanks for that, James.
The invasion is regrettable but it was NECESSARY !!!
There was also Zelensky's speech at the Munich conference at which he said Ukraine intended to go back on the Budapest Agreement and develop nuclear weapons. Russia knew that Ukraine already had the technical know how to develop a nuclear weapon.
Recently Russia has invited the IAEA(International Atomic Energy Authority) to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant now under their control. Could they have found evidence of something that should not be there?
Agreed. I think they *have* met the burden for showing cause for war and would like to hear Aaron's analysis . It seems like we're holding Russia to a standard that no other nation would meet.
All of that was Ukrainian response to Russian aggression. Claiming that somehow justifies Russian aggression is ludicrous.
Russian invasion was defensive and necessary. Hopefully it will help us all !!
There's no such thing as a defensive invasion. Russia's attack on Ukraine is an act of imperialism.
OUTSTANDING: Jacob Dreizen -- of The Dreizen Report - Viva & Barnes LIVE!
https://youtu.be/Q-ZY1sE6OyY
--------------------------------------------------------------
Declassified docs reveal how Pentagon aimed to nuke USSR and China into oblivion
Plans for a nuclear war devised by the US Army in the 1960s considered decimating the Soviet Union and China by destroying their industrial potential and wiping out the bulk of their populations, newly declassified documents show.
https://www.rt.com/news/437432-us-declassified-nuclear-plans/
Aaron, of all the journalists who oppose the tidal wave of violence initiated by US imperial management, you have the most restraint and respect for the people you so rightly criticize. It’s quite admirable and has largely in the past been beyond my own abilities. You are inspiring in that you leave little if anything in your arguments to criticize, despite anything narcissistic henchmen of empire may say to the contrary.
Forgive my hyperbole, Jenny and, of course, Aaron. No excuses. The words I used were wrong.
My apologies.
Remember -- Aaron has the best teacher -- noble dad Gabor
It wasn't "US imperial management" that initiated the violence in Ukraine. It's Russian imperialism that caused it.
You're wrong, Cal. There's strong evidence that the 20014 coup was fomented by the U.S., and the civilian deaths caused by the extreme right wing (the Azovs, I believe), which they blamed on Yanukovych. A team of outside experts even examined the bullets and scene of the carnage, determining that the perpetrators weren't from the govt. I also recall (I'll have to check again) a video that a member of the Azovs made bragging of this black flag operation. It wasn't long after that when Russia seized Crimea...
You shouldn't under estimate the U.S.'s desire to weaken Russia, either. And Please read Colonel Jacques Baud's comments on this in the Postil (TP); it's quite enlightening, and his own personal background and expertise relating to this war is extensive, to say the least.
Thanks for the reply.
2022 - No Blue No Matter Who
Of course not, you prefer fascist brown.
Atta boy, Cal. If it ain't Blue it's "fascist". I guess that makes our boy: Binary! Nice!
Those are the two options that exist in the United States. The Democratic Party and the fascist Republican Party.
First past the post elections make it impossible for any other party to win.
The entire Democratic Party can't seem to stop themselves from trying to become The Party of Slavery again. Anyone else feel the swing towards ultra global autocracy? They're sure mad about not starting a war in Syria 6 years ago
The Democratic Party is the only one in America that's OPPOSING to that swing toward global autocracy.
What flavor of Kool-Aid are you drinking? The Dems have not been anti-war since Jimmy Carter (and you can see why)
What does opposing the global swing toward autocracy have to do with being anti-war?
DNC is a fascist War party but GOP is no better. They are uniparty -- a three ring circus for population
Every Democrat voted for war.
I won't be voting for Nazie Pelosie ever....nor should u.
Thanks Aaron, that's a really good summary. And thanks for pointing out the Russian attempt to get the Minsk Accords enforced, which would have prevented all of this. It's a great tragedy that the Nuland's of this world can't resist meddling.
Thanks for speaking out.
I wonder if Matt Duss will even attempt to respond to Aaron's eviscerating article here? My guess is: nope.
No wonder the Democratic party, and the Deep State are doing whatever they can to censor voices like Aaron Mate via smear campaigns and/or silencing on social media. When a journalist like Aaron can so clearly expose the deliberate 'out of context' lies being promoted by political figures such as Matt Duss - who do so wittingly or unwittingly, to support a way 'out-of-control' military industrial complex (that Eisenhower warned us about decades ago) - then the only recourse is political suppression - so that ordinary Americans are not awakened to the fact that they are being conned into War by these Elite arrogant scumbags.
A bit of background: Matt Duss is the son of Serge Duss, who was my boss during the time that we opened the World Vision office in Russia in 1991. Serge speaks a bit of Russian, but identifies as ethnic Ukrainian. The Duss family is therefore quite pro-Ukrainian, and in a recent facebook post also told me off when I suggested that 'pray for Ukraine' should include 'pray for the people in Donbass'. As Serge was/is an avid Democrat and always in the NGO network, he most definitely insulates his thinking as does Matt.
Bernie is a sheepdog. It is a role that he has played very, very well. His mission was to go forth barking to gather the strays, independents, and those who are disillusioned with the system. Once Bernie has gathered them up he leads as many as possible back to the main flock. He has done a phenomenal job with this. The whole independent but somehow a democrat thing. Truly outstanding. I think that age and repetitive disillusionment on the part of supporters make it unlikely for a repeat performance. It will be hard to find someone to cover the role anywhere near as well as Bernie.
Agreed. I fear AOC will play that role in the next disastrous election cycle, she appears to be checking the right/wrong boxes of late.
She won't be able to do anywhere as near a performance as Bernie but you may be right. They don't have many to choose from. She is an actress in that she literally auditioned for the role of being the primary candidate to be backed by 'progressives'.
Great post Aaron. I wonder how this guy got associated with the Bernie team? What was he doing before and what is he doing now. If he is attached to any progressive franchise going forward I would have difficulty supporting such a team.
There are a couple grammar and spelling mistakes in your post that you might want to have someone look at. I have had my share of such published errors and it always was a result of the author being blind to his own writing in the fervor of the idea. Great to get someone uninvolved to look over before publishing.
Duss is still in the same position at Bernie -- for full five and half years -- foreign policy advisor
Disagree with the characterisation that Russia was not "justified in launching an invasion of Ukraine."
A few days prior to Feb 24, Putin formally recognised both the Donetsk and the Luhansk People's Republic. He then invoked Article 51 of the UN Charter.
According to Scott Ritter, the Ukrainian military actions over the last 8-years which has resulted in over 14 thousand deaths gives legitimacy to Putin's invocation of Article 51.
The fact is, Russia's entry into Ukraine has ended the US/NATO genocide of the people of the Donbas.
Sorry, no dice. You clearly are not a person of principle. The invasion is not justifiable. Putin has used the people of Luhansk and Donetsk as foils for a land grab and ultimately for his invasion. Also, please stop calling the conflict in Donbas for the past 8 years a genocide. It's a misuse of the term just as the term liberal is misused and overused to score rhetorical political points.
"Principles". Really. Your principles are, ignore the actual cause of the Ukraine conflict: the US overthrowing the Ukrainian elected government and installing a puppet-regime backed by a bunch of Nazis. Well, fortunately, your principles are of little interest. This is a case of legal vs illegal. And the law is on Russia's side.
There are 2 provisions in the UN Charter that can be invoked to justify a military intervention: Russia invoked Article 51.
Scott Ritter, an ex-UN inspector agrees that Russia's "special military operation" is justified under Article 51; and there are at least 2 legal scholars who support Ritter.
And the claim that "Putin has used the people of Luhansk and Donetsk" is non-sense. Both the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Federations have been asking for Russian recognition since 2015.
Ukraine has never had an "elected" government and please, Nazis whining about Nazis is laughable. Putin and his merry band of mafia-like oligarchs are deceitful, clever, malevolent creeps just as are the Western version of the same.
So I guess if Zinke and his fellow oligarchical Montanans decide tomorrow that Montana is a Russian breakaway region in America, that means Putin has a right to conduct a "Special Operation" in America under the auspices of Article 51. Got it. Thanks.
Impossible to respond to such a silly emotional ahistorical rant.
Simple Bear -- and Nazis are human rights activists.... Go to a doctor to pull your head out of your a**....
TL;DR neocons and their liberal enablers are intellectually dishonest.
No shit.
Yeah, you know there is some detail in there. As time goes by it’s okay to remind people of that detail. It should also be considered that there could be someone, younger or older, reading this information for the first time or early stages of learning about this particular situation or the overall political game.