Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
So did CNN intentionally pull the plug on its reporter, or was it just a convenient coincidence.
I’ll let you decide.
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
In the end, the elites will be overthrown and a power vacuum will form. The transition period will be extremely difficult as the elites will fight their demise to the end. For you see, they care nothing for you they care about their power and control. Nevertheless, rulers have always only ruled by the will (or apathy) of the people and when the people become overly taxed and abused they always rebel. The main thing to think about is what kind of society do we want to rebuild from the ashes. I am of the view that it must be a return to the Constitution and an elimination of central banking power and secrecy. Let’s not fall for a demagogue or be pushed into a war when things are at their worst.
– From my 2010 post: The Elites Have Lost The Right to Rule
While the Trump and Brexit movements are indisputably fascinating merely as public indictments against the greedy and criminal status quo, they are equally meaningful from another perspective.
Guest Post by
He had made the drive enough times to already suspect what he might find. Stride Rite had left Huntington for Mexico at the tail end of the recession; Breyers Ice Cream had closed its doors after 100 years. In the weeks after each factory closing in his part of Indiana, Lewandowski had listened to politicians make promises about jobs — high-tech jobs, right-to-work jobs, clean-energy jobs — but instead Indiana had lost 60,000 middle-class jobs in the past decade and replaced them with a surge of low-paying work in health care, hospitality and fast food. Wages of male high school graduates had dropped 19 percent in the past two decades, and the wealth divide between the middle class and the upper class had quadrupled.
“These jobs aren’t the solution so much as they’re part of the problem,” Lewandowski said, and now the result of so much churn was becoming evident all across Indiana and lately in Huntington, too. Fast-food consumption was beginning to tick up. Poverty was up. Foreclosures were up. Meth usage up. Heroin up. Death rate up. In Dan Quayle’s Middle America, one of the biggest news stories of the year had been the case of a mother who had let her three-week-old child suck heroin off her finger.
“Despair is our business, and business is booming,” Lewandowski said…
“This is how it feels to be sold out by your country.”
“It’s pure greed.”
“They wanted to add another 6 feet to their yachts.”
“We’re becoming like a third-world country. We’re going to have nothing left but fast food.”
“Fast food and hedge funds. That’s where we’re going.”
– From the Washington Post article: From Belief to Outrage: The Decline of the Middle Class Reaches the Next American Town
Continue reading “Middle Class Destitution – A Devastating Tale From America’s Heartland”
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
Police were also vague about the sign, saying only that it related to “social justice.” Bishop said two others who witnessed the shooting told him that it said, “Tax the one percent,” and that he seemed to raise it just before pulling the trigger.
Jim White was at the Capitol Visitor Center when the announcement of the lockdown came over the loudspeaker. He said there was no panic, just chatter about what could be going on outside. His 1:30 p.m. tour went on as scheduled. The only indication that something was amiss: The tour guide kept stretching and extending his talk.
Bernard called the incident “a bit unfortunate,” especially with all the tourists in town to see the cherry blossoms.
Yes, so unfortunate that someone blowing their brains out potentially due to economic serfdom got in the way of cherry blossom selfies.
– From the post: Illinois Man Commits Suicide in Front of U.S. Capitol Holding a “Tax the 1%” Sign
Continue reading “US Suicide Rate Soars In 21st Century – Up 80% For Middle-Aged White Women”
Guest Post by
In addition to the 21% of responses in the “dishonest/don’t trust her” category, another 7% of Americans use even stronger words in a similar negative vein, including “criminal,” “crooked” and “thief.” Nine percent say they dislike her. Smaller percentages (shown at the end of this article) associate her with Bill Clinton, with the controversy surrounding her use of a private email server while secretary of state and with the Benghazi terrorist attack.
The perceptions of Hillary Clinton as dishonest are not new. When Gallup asked the same question in 2008, “dishonest” was Americans’ most frequent response.
– Results of a recent Gallup poll
Before I get into this post, I want to make one thing clear — I don’t have a dog in this fight. I’m neither a Hillary Clinton nor a Donald Trump supporter; in fact, I’ve spent quite a bit of time sharply criticizing both of them here on these pages.
Donald Trump checks none of my important boxes when it comes to policy. He’s horrible on civil liberties, shows no real interest in reining in Wall Street criminals, and is unlikely to view the Constitution any more respectfully than Barrack Obama or George W. Bush before him. I simply cannot support such a man. With Trump, one has to hope he’s the anti-Obama, i.e., says all the wrong things but then does the right thing. In this sense it is possible that Trump could be a decent president, but he could also be an unmitigated nightmare. He’s the ultimate wildcard, potentially far worse than even Hillary, but also conceivably far better. There’s simply no way to know for sure.
In 1990, Donald Trump conducted a lengthy interview with Playboy Magazine. It provides an absolutely fascinating window into the man’s mind, which I suggest everyone read in full. Unexpectedly, I came away with a more informed and nuanced perspective on the man. While it didn’t change my opinion of him as President, I do have a much greater appreciation for Donald Trump as a person, specifically how his mind works and what drives him.
I originally came across this interview after seeing a tweet referencing a 25 year old interview during which Trump expressed admiration for how strongly Chinese authorities cracked down on dissent in Tiananmen Square in 1989. I immediately thought to myself that this would be the perfect fodder to further elucidate the kind of cold, brutal, authoritarian leader Trump undoubtably would be as President.
While that particular quote didn’t disappoint, I decided to read further and came away with many additional observations. I think these observations are worth sharing since I think there’s a very real chance Trump will be elected President within the next ten years. His chances ride on the fact that the current system is terminally corrupt, as well as socially and economically bankrupt. It will crash and burn, whether in slow motion like the past eight years, or very rapidly over the next several. Someone will likely step in to fill this void, and Trump has the personality type and understanding of human nature to possibly propel himself into the position when the timing is right. Is the time right in 2016? Probably not, but a President Trump is far more likely to occur in our lifetimes than many of us want to admit.
So with that out of the way, let me share some of the things I learned from the interview. First, I think Trump is far less materialistic than people presume, which sounds like a contradiction considering he is unquestionably one of the biggest showoffs on planet earth. While this is true, the motivation behind his ostentatious public persona is primarily to further his brand. As he says repeatedly in the interview, it’s all a show. In other words, he claims it’s pure marketing and I believe him.
Continue reading “The REAL Donald Trump – A Fascinating Interview of the Man from 1990”
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
Yra Harris just posted a blistering critique of the crony capitalist crooks congregating in Davos. The first few paragraphs of his post, For the Sake of Capitalism, Pepper Spray Davos, are a must read.
Enjoy.
Please, PEPPER SPRAY ALL THE ATTENDEES OF DAVOS in order to halt the rape of taxpayers and consumers across the globe. This annual conclave is responsible for more wealth destruction and the widening disparity in GINI coefficients than any public policy. I believe that the cost of attending Davos is priced at such an extravagant rate because it is a giant insider scam. Hobnob with politicians and policy makers in an effort to be part of the “smart money” crowd. It was the great moral philosopher and economist Adam Smith who so presciently noted: “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for the merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” The conspiracy against the public has been the financial repression of the global middle class in an effort to bail out those who are attached themselves to the public treasury to maintain the “animal spirits” of crony capitalism.
The cost of an entrance pass to this private/public congress of mover and shakers should sound an alarm to all those who desire transparency in financial markets. In contemporizing the words of Adam Smith, Samuel Huntington was credited in the online research cite, Acton Commentary, as creating the phrase DAVOS MAN: “A soulless man, technocratic, nationless and cultureless, severed from reality. The modern economics that undergirded Davos capitalism is equally soulless, a managerial capitalism that reduces economics to mathematics and separates it from human action and human creativity.”
Continue reading ““For The Sake Of Capitalism, Pepper Spray Davos””
Guest Post by
“She’s not doing the big rallies because she can’t get the big crowds,” said the Iowa Clinton ally. “Maybe people are too anxious over this, and that anxiety is spilling over into cautiousness and overthinking decisions. Everyone’s on edge given how much we’ve invested in Iowa.”
– From the Mashable article: Bernie Sanders is Surging in Iowa and Hillary Clinton’s Campaign is Freaked
Hillary Clinton’s campaign is absolutely imploding right now. When people get desperate, they do desperate things, and the latest move by the Clinton campaign reeks of putrid, panicked desperation.
What I am referring to are recent accusations that Bernie Sanders has “gone negative” by releasing the following television ad. Let’s take a watch:
This is literally one of the most gentle, benign campaign ads I have ever seen. Nevertheless, implying the obvious, that Hillary Clinton is a Wall Street funded tool, has her campaign running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Which goes to show you how completely terrified and vulnerable she is on this particular issue. As such, her campaign’s strategy is to spread this non-story throughout the media in an attempt to guilt the Sanders campaign into not aggressively using this key issue going forward. Let’s hope it doesn’t work.
Guest Post by
As a new parent, the idea of sending my children to public school is a frightening thought. The more you read, the more you realize the importance of extreme vigilance when it comes to what’s happening at whatever place you send your kids to for majority of their day. Quite often, parents are simply left completely in the dark about some very important matters.
One such example relates to Google’s penetration of the U.S. public school system, and how the company employs a loophole in order to collect data on children. Google achieves this by referring to itself as a “school official” under the law. I truly wish I was making this up.
From the Washington Post:
Google is a major player in U.S. education. In fact, in many public schools around the country, it’s technically a “school official.” And that designation means parents may not get a chance to opt out of having information about their children shared with the online advertising giant.
Continue reading “Google is Collecting Information on Public School Students – Here’s How”
Guest Post by
Perhaps the greatest irony of this past year has been the mind numbing and irrational anti-free speech wave that swept across facets of so-called “liberal” America.
This regressive movement was most readily apparent on college campuses, where hordes of sheltered and emotionally stunted students demanded restrictions on free speech in order to prevent themselves from being offended by an ever expanding list of unhappy thoughts and words. However, what is far more troubling, albeit much less public, are attempts by two fascist academic authoritarians, to convince the American citizenry to relinquish their First Amendment rights in the name of fighting ISIS. One of these men is a close advisor to President Obama.
Glenn Greenwald does a great job of calling both of them out over at the Intercept. Here are a few excerpts from his article:
The NYT article notes that “in response to the Islamic State’s success in grooming jihadists over the Internet, some legal scholars are asking whether it is time to reconsider” the long-standing “constitutional line” that “freedom of speech may not be curbed unless it poses a ‘clear and present danger’ — an actual, imminent threat, not the mere advocacy of harmful acts or ideas.”
The NYT cites two recent articles, one in Bloomberg by long-time Obama adviser Cass Sunstein and the other in Slate by Law Professor Eric Posner, that suggested limitations on the First Amendment in order to fight ISIS. It describes growing calls to ban the YouTube lectures and sermons of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American cleric whom the U.S. assassinated by drone in 2011 (and then, two weeks later, killed his 16-year-old American son). It also notes that the desire to restrict the internet as a means of fighting ISIS has seeped into the leadership of both parties: Donald Trump said the “internet should be closed up” to ISIS, while “Hillary Clinton said the government should work with host companies to shut jihadist websites and chat rooms,” a plan that would be unconstitutional “if the government exerted pressure on private firms to cooperate in censorship.”
All of these proposals take direct aim at a core constitutional principle that for decades has defined the First Amendment’s free speech protections. That speech cannot be banned even if it constitutes advocacy of violence has a long history in the U.S., but was firmly entrenched in the Supreme Court’s unanimous 1969 decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio, about which I’ve written many times. The Brandenburg ruling “overturned the criminal conviction of a Ku Klux Klan leader who had threatened violence against political officials in a speech. Even more important was the law which the Brandenburg court invalided as unconstitutional:
The KKK leader in Brandenburg was convicted under an Ohio statute that made it a crime to “advocate . . . the duty, necessity, or propriety of crime, sabotage, violence, or unlawful methods of terrorism as a means of accomplishing industrial or political reform” and/or to “voluntarily assemble with any society, group, or assemblage of persons formed to teach or advocate the doctrines of criminal syndicalism.” The Court struck down the statute on the ground that it “purports to punish mere advocacy” and thus “sweeps within its condemnation speech which our Constitution has immunized from governmental control.” The Court ruled that “except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action” — meaning conduct such as standing outside someone’s house with an angry mob and urging them to burn the house down that moment — “the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force” (emphasis added).
The First Amendment bars the U.S. Government from banning or punishing speech even if that speech advocates “the duty, necessity, or propriety of unlawful methods of terrorism.” And that’s exactly how it should be.
There are millions of people in the world who believe and argue that the U.S. has been supporting tyranny and bringing violence to predominantly Muslim countries for decades as a means of dominating that region, and that return violence is not only justifiable but necessary to stop it (just as there are millions of westerners who believe and argue that they must bring more violence to the countries of that region). In particular, it’s astonishing to watch Americans – whose favorite political debate is deciding which country should be bombed next or which individuals should be next assassinated – propose changes to the First Amendment to make it a crime for others to justify (not engage in, but merely justify) the use of violence in what they argue is valid self-defense.
Continue reading “Glenn Greenwald Confronts American “Liberals” Trying to Destroy Free Speech”
Guest Post by
The following is an impassioned and powerful article written by Bill Moyers last week titled, The Plutocrats Are Winning. Don’t Let Them!
Enjoy.
Dear Readers:
In the fall of 2001, in the aftermath of 9/11, as families grieved and the nation mourned, Washington swarmed with locusts of the human kind: wartime opportunists, lobbyists, lawyers, ex-members of Congress, bagmen for big donors: all of them determined to grab what they could for their corporate clients and rich donors while no one was looking.
Across the land, the faces of Americans of every stripe were stained with tears. Here in New York, we still were attending memorial services for our firemen and police. But in the nation’s capital, within sight of a smoldering Pentagon that had been struck by one of the hijacked planes, the predator class was hard at work pursuing private plunder at public expense, gold-diggers in the ashes of tragedy exploiting our fear, sorrow, and loss.
What did they want? The usual: tax cuts for the wealthy and big breaks for corporations. They even made an effort to repeal the alternative minimum tax that for fifteen years had prevented companies from taking so many credits and deductions that they owed little if any taxes. And it wasn’t only repeal the mercenaries sought; they wanted those corporations to get back all the minimum tax they had ever been assessed.
They sought a special tax break for mighty General Electric, although you would never have heard about it if you were watching GE’s news divisions — NBC News, CNBC, or MSNBC, all made sure to look the other way.
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
The deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were held in strict secrecy. Consequently, anxious citizens gathered outside Independence Hall when the proceedings ended in order to learn what had been produced behind closed doors. The answer was provided immediately. A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
I actually can’t believe I’m writing this, but the following speech from freshman U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (R, Neb) is so thoughtful and inspiring, it should be required viewing for all American citizens.
To hear a U.S. Senator sound more like a statesman than a corrupt hack politician for sale to the highest bidder, is such a breath of fresh air I almost can’t believe it’s real. Rather than talking down to voters, he challenges them to become more enlightened, nonpartisan-thinkers with a sense of history. He challenges all of us to shake ourselves from an ignorant, fear-based stupor and reclaim the true genius and beauty at the heart of the American experiment.
Take the time to watch this. The entire thing, and then share it with everyone you know.
Continue reading “Caught On Tape: U.S. Senator Issues Dire Warning On Unchecked Executive Power”
Guest Post by
In effect, he believes that he is running to be the CEO of the country — not just of the government but of the entire country. In this capacity, he believes that he will make deals with other countries that cause the U.S. to come out on top, whatever that could mean. He conjures up visions of himself or one of his associates sitting across the table from some Indian or Chinese leader and making wild demands that they will buy such and such amount of product else “we” won’t buy their product.
What’s distinct about Trumpism, and the tradition of thought it represents, is that it is non-leftist in its cultural and political outlook and yet still totalitarian in the sense that it seeks total control of society and economy and places no limits on state power. The left has long waged war on bourgeois institutions like family, church, and property. In contrast, right fascism has made its peace with all three. It (very wisely) seeks political strategies that call on the organic matter of the social structure and inspire masses of people to rally around the nation as a personified ideal in history, under the leadership of a great and highly accomplished man.
Trump believes himself to be that man.
Continue reading “Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton on Freedom of Speech – A Side By Side Comparison”
Guest Post by
Saudi Arabia is at risk of becoming a major destabilizing influence in the Arab world, German intelligence has warned.
Internal power struggles and the desire to emerge as the leading Arab power threaten to make the key Western ally a source of instability, according to the BND intelligence service.
“The current cautious diplomatic stance of senior members of the Saudi royal family will be replaced by an impulsive intervention policy,” a BND memo widely distributed to the German press reads.
Saudi Arabia has previously been accused of supplying arms and funding to jihadist groups fighting in Syria, including Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
– From the Telegraph article: Saudi Arabia ‘Destabilizing Arab World’, German Intelligence Warns
To understand the enormously dangerous wildcard that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents in modern geopolitics, you must understand what is going on behind the scenes.
While the Saudis were a shady monarchy well before King Abdullah passed away, the disaster that has succeeded him will make the prior rulers look like philosopher kings by comparison. Of course, this is always the risk when it comes to hereditary rule, you never know what kind of psychopath is lurking next in line. In the case of the Saudis, although the current King is Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the guy who really wields power, and who appears to be a ticking time bomb, is his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as “Reckless.”
Guest Post by
The deplorable state of America’s college campuses, overrun by intolerant, censorship happy cry bullies, has been a key topic of discussion here at Liberty Blitzkrieg as of late.
The following video is an excellent lecture on the topic by Jonathan Haidt, Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Take the 30 minutes in between mouthfuls of turkey and share with your families.
For related articles, see:
Protesters at Smith College Demand Journalists Swear Loyalty Oath Before Reporting on Them
Not a Safe Space – Canadian University Suspends Yoga Class After Students Become Offended
From Protesting Vietnam to Demanding “Safe Spaces” – What Happened to America’s College Kids?
Speechless – UCLA Engages in Absurd, Anti-Intellectual and Dangerous Attack on Campus Free Speech
Rutgers University Warns Students – “There is No Such Thing as Free Speech”
A Professor Speaks Out – How Coddled, Hyper Sensitive Undergrads are Ruining College Learning
California Student Banned from Handing Out Constitutions on Campus
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
Guest Post by
The killings, part of the Obama administration’s targeted assassination program, are aiding terrorist recruitment and thus undermining the program’s goal of eliminating such fighters, the veterans added. Drone operators refer to children as “fun-size terrorists” and liken killing them to “cutting the grass before it grows too long,” said one of the operators, Michael Haas, a former senior airman in the Air Force. Haas also described widespread drug and alcohol abuse, further stating that some operators had flown missions while impaired.
Haas also described widespread alcohol and drug abuse among drone pilots. Drone operators, he said, would frequently get intoxicated using bath salts and synthetic marijuana to avoid possible drug testing and in an effort to “bend that reality and try to picture yourself not being there.” Haas said that he knew at least a half-dozen people in his unit who were using bath salts and that drug use had “impaired” them during missions.
– From the Intercept article: Former Drone Operators Say They Were “Horrified” by Cruelty of Assassination Program