Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

For discussion of secret combinations (political, economic, spiritual, religious, etc.) (Ether 8:18-25.)
Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

Whew, I was getting worried -- no new attacks lately by the American Empire. However, the good news has arrived. US military might will be applied in yet another country. You can hear the Trump supporters rejoicing already. "Yea!!! More dead brown people!"

http://theantimedia.org/pentagon-seeks- ... ilippines/

Pentagon Seeks Authority for Airstrikes in Philippines
August 8, 2017 at 7:29 am
Written by Jason Ditz

(ANTIWAR.COM) — Pentagon officials say a discussion is ongoing about the possibility of granting US forces in the Philippine authority to conduct airstrikes against the nation’s ISIS affiliate, and that the announcement and naming of the new operation could happen within the next 24 hours.

ISIS affiliates have been active in the southern Philippines in recent months, seizing the city of Marawi and leading to a protracted battle with the Philippine military, which the US has been participating in in a limited role.

The US is always keen for deeper military involvement in the Philippines, especially as President Duterte was until very recently talking about his interest in getting the US military out of his country entirely. This could be just the pretext to get the US dug in even deeper.

Duterte had been courting ties with Russia and China, but now seems to be committed to the US, greeting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson by declaring himself to be America’s “humble friend in Southeast Asia.”

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

Korea, the first place that the mighty US fought a war and didn't win. After that war (it was called a "police action" by the traitors in Washington, DC, and at the UN), America hasn't won any significant overseas war. The MIC could see that there is a lot of profit in a continuous state of war so there's no need to completely annihilate an enemy. Keep the little bugaboo alive so the American sheeple can get whipped into a frenzy every so often.

If we go to war again with NK under Trump, know that he is faithfully serving his Luciferian masters, just like Hillary would have if she were elected. It's amazing to me after 60 years of warmongering that children of the covenant still vote for R or D.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/04/17 ... rth-korea/

APRIL 17, 2017
The Problem is Washington, Not North Korea
by MIKE WHITNEY


Email

Photo by Stefan Krasowski | CC BY 2.0
Photo by Stefan Krasowski | CC BY 2.0

Washington has never made any effort to conceal its contempt for North Korea. In the 64 years since the war ended, the US has done everything in its power to punish, humiliate and inflict pain on the Communist country. Washington has subjected the DPRK to starvation, prevented its government from accessing foreign capital and markets, strangled its economy with crippling economic sanctions, and installed lethal missile systems and military bases on their doorstep.

Negotiations aren’t possible because Washington refuses to sit down with a country which it sees as its inferior. Instead, the US has strong-armed China to do its bidding by using their diplomats as interlocutors who are expected to convey Washington’s ultimatums as threateningly as possible. The hope, of course, is that Pyongyang will cave in to Uncle Sam’s bullying and do what they are told.

But the North has never succumbed to US intimidation and there’s no sign that it will. Instead, they have developed a small arsenal of nuclear weapons to defend themselves in the event that the US tries to assert its dominance by launching another war.
There’s no country in the world that needs nuclear weapons more than North Korea. Brainwashed Americans, who get their news from FOX or CNN, may differ on this point, but if a hostile nation deployed carrier strike-groups off the coast of California while conducting massive war games on the Mexican border (with the express intention of scaring the $#!% of people) then they might see things differently. They might see the value of having a few nuclear weapons to deter that hostile nation from doing something really stupid.

And let’s be honest, the only reason Kim Jong Un hasn’t joined Saddam and Gadhafi in the great hereafter, is because (a)– The North does not sit on an ocean of oil, and (b)– The North has the capacity to reduce Seoul, Okinawa and Tokyo into smoldering debris-fields. Absent Kim’s WMDs, Pyongyang would have faced a preemptive attack long ago and Kim would have faced a fate similar to Gadhafi’s. Nuclear weapons are the only known antidote to US adventurism.

The American people –whose grasp of history does not extend beyond the events of 9-11 — have no idea of the way the US fights its wars or the horrific carnage and destruction it unleashed on the North. Here’s a short refresher that helps clarify why the North is still wary of the US more than 60 years after the armistice was signed. The excerpt is from an article titled “Americans have forgotten what we did to North Korea”, at Vox World:

“In the early 1950s, during the Korean War, the US dropped more bombs on North Korea than it had dropped in the entire Pacific theater during World War II. This carpet bombing, which included 32,000 tons of napalm, often deliberately targeted civilian as well as military targets, devastating the country far beyond what was necessary to fight the war. Whole cities were destroyed, with many thousands of innocent civilians killed and many more left homeless and hungry….

According to US journalist Blaine Harden: “Over a period of three years or so, we killed off — what — 20 percent of the population,” Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay, head of the Strategic Air Command during the Korean War, told the Office of Air Force History in 1984. Dean Rusk, a supporter of the war and later secretary of state, said the United States bombed “everything that moved in North Korea, every brick standing on top of another.” After running low on urban targets, U.S. bombers destroyed hydroelectric and irrigation dams in the later stages of the war, flooding farmland and destroying crops……

“On January 3 at 10:30 AM an armada of 82 flying fortresses loosed their death-dealing load on the city of Pyongyang …Hundreds of tons of bombs and incendiary compound were simultaneously dropped throughout the city, causing annihilating fires, the transatlantic barbarians bombed the city with delayed-action high-explosive bombs which exploded at intervals for a whole day making it impossible for the people to come out onto the streets. The entire city has now been burning, enveloped in flames, for two days. By the second day, 7,812 civilians houses had been burnt down. The Americans were well aware that there were no military targets left in Pyongyang…

The number of inhabitants of Pyongyang killed by bomb splinters, burnt alive and suffocated by smoke is incalculable…Some 50,000 inhabitants remain in the city which before the war had a population of 500,000.” (“Americans have forgotten what we did to North Korea“, Vox World)

The United States killed over 2 million people in a country that posed no threat to US national security. Like Vietnam, the Korean War was just another muscle-flexing exercise the US periodically engages in whenever it gets bored or needs some far-flung location to try out its new weapons systems. The US had nothing to gain in its aggression on the Korean peninsula, it was mix of imperial overreach and pure unalloyed viciousness the likes of which we’ve seen many times in the past. According to the Asia-Pacific Journal:

“By the fall of 1952, there were no effective targets left for US planes to hit. Every significant town, city and industrial area in North Korea had already been bombed. In the spring of 1953, the Air Force targeted irrigation dams on the Yalu River, both to destroy the North Korean rice crop and to pressure the Chinese, who would have to supply more food aid to the North. Five reservoirs were hit, flooding thousands of acres of farmland, inundating whole towns and laying waste to the essential food source for millions of North Koreans.10 Only emergency assistance from China, the USSR, and other socialist countries prevented widespread famine.” (“The Destruction and Reconstruction of North Korea, 1950 – 1960”, The Asia-Pacific Journal, Japan Focus)

Repeat: “Reservoirs, irrigation dams, rice crops, hydroelectric dams, population centers” all napalmed, all carpet bombed, all razed to the ground. Nothing was spared. If it moved it was shot, if it didn’t move, it was bombed. The US couldn’t win, so they turned the country into an uninhabitable wastelands. “Let them starve. Let them freeze.. Let them eat weeds and roots and rodents to survive. Let them sleep in the ditches and find shelter in the rubble. What do we care? We’re the greatest country on earth. God bless America.”

This is how Washington does business, and it hasn’t changed since the Seventh Cavalry wiped out 150 men, women and children at Wounded Knee more than century ago. The Lakota Sioux at Pine Ridge got the same basic treatment as the North Koreans, or the Vietnamese, or the Nicaraguans, or the Iraqis and on and on and on and on. Anyone else who gets in Uncle Sam’s way, winds up in a world of hurt. End of story.

The savagery of America’s war against the North left an indelible mark on the psyche of the people. Whatever the cost, the North cannot allow a similar scenario to take place in the future. Whatever the cost, they must be prepared to defend themselves. If that means nukes, then so be it. Self preservation is the top priority.

Is there a way to end this pointless standoff between Pyongyang and Washington, a way to mend fences and build trust?

Of course there is. The US just needs to start treating the DPRK with respect and follow through on their promises. What promises?

The promise to built the North two light-water reactors to provide heat and light to their people in exchange for an end to its nuclear weapons program. You won’t read about this deal in the media because the media is just the propaganda wing of the Pentagon. They have no interest in promoting peaceful solutions. Their stock-in-trade is war, war and more war.

The North wants the US to honor its obligations under the 1994 Agreed Framework. That’s it. Just keep up your end of the deal. How hard can that be? Here’s how Jimmy Carter summed it up in a Washington Post op-ed (November 24, 2010):

“…in September 2005, an agreement … reaffirmed the basic premises of the 1994 accord. (The Agreed Framework) Its text included denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a pledge of non-aggression by the United States and steps to evolve a permanent peace agreement to replace the U.S.-North Korean-Chinese cease-fire that has been in effect since July 1953. Unfortunately, no substantive progress has been made since 2005…

“This past July I was invited to return to Pyongyang to secure the release of an American, Aijalon Gomes, with the proviso that my visit would last long enough for substantive talks with top North Korean officials. They spelled out in detail their desire to develop a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and a permanent cease-fire, based on the 1994 agreements and the terms adopted by the six powers in September 2005….

“North Korean officials have given the same message to other recent American visitors and have permitted access by nuclear experts to an advanced facility for purifying uranium. The same officials had made it clear to me that this array of centrifuges would be ‘on the table’ for discussions with the United States, although uranium purification – a very slow process – was not covered in the 1994 agreements.

“Pyongyang has sent a consistent message that during direct talks with the United States, it is ready to conclude an agreement to end its nuclear programs, put them all under IAEA inspection and conclude a permanent peace treaty to replace the ‘temporary’ cease-fire of 1953. We should consider responding to this offer. The unfortunate alternative is for North Koreans to take whatever actions they consider necessary to defend themselves from what they claim to fear most: a military attack supported by the United States, along with efforts to change the political regime.”

(“North Korea’s consistent message to the U.S.”, President Jimmy Carter, Washington Post)

Most people think the problem lies with North Korea, but it doesn’t. The problem lies with the United States; it’s unwillingness to negotiate an end to the war, its unwillingness to provide basic security guarantees to the North, its unwillingness to even sit down with the people who –through Washington’s own stubborn ignorance– are now developing long-range ballistic missiles that will be capable of hitting American cities.

How dumb is that?

The Trump team is sticking with a policy that has failed for 63 years and which clearly undermines US national security by putting American citizens directly at risk. AND FOR WHAT?

To preserve the image of “tough guy”, to convince people that the US doesn’t negotiate with weaker countries, to prove to the world that “whatever the US says, goes”? Is that it? Is image more important than a potential nuclear disaster?

Relations with the North can be normalized, economic ties can be strengthened, trust can be restored, and the nuclear threat can be defused. The situation with the North does not have to be a crisis, it can be fixed. It just takes a change in policy, a bit of give-and-take, and leaders that genuinely want peace more than war.

lundbaek
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 11123
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by lundbaek »

It seems to me that North Korea remains determined to annex South Korea

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

lundbaek wrote: August 8th, 2017, 1:48 pm It seems to me that North Korea remains determined to annex South Korea
Which is more dangerous to world peace, 60 years of idle threats from North Korea or the near-constant empire-building by the US? Look at the latest by Trump, the murderer. It seems the US is marching to war again to appease the warmongering CFR, banksters, and Military Industrial Complex.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-0 ... never-seen

Trump Threatens North Korea With "Fire And Fury Like The World Has Never Seen Before"

by Tyler Durden
Aug 8, 2017 3:43 PM

Speaking at a press event at his golf resort in Bedminster, N.J., President Trump offered a stern warning to the rogue dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, saying that he "best not make any more threats to the United States" or they "will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."

"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."
"He has been very threatening beyond a normal statement. And, as I said, they will be met with fire, fury, and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before."

All of which spooked markets...though we're sure a 'Buy The Fire & Fury' rally will commence shortly.

Of course, first thing this morning we reported that according to a 500-page report by the Japanese Defense Ministry, North Korea may now be in possession of a miniature nuclear warhead. That said, the report did not move the market because the Japanese report was largely inconclusive and did not claim with certainty that this is the case.

Shortly thereafter, the exact same narrative escalated when the WaPo echoed what Japan said, only it "confirmed" that North Korea had successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that could fit inside its missiles, "crossing a key threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power, U.S. intelligence officials have concluded in a confidential assessment."

As the WaPo added, the analysis completed last month by the Defense Intelligence Agency came on the heels of another intelligence assessment that sharply raised the official estimate for the total number of bombs in the communist country’s atomic arsenal.

“The IC [intelligence community] assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include delivery by ICBM-class missiles,” the assessment states, in an excerpt read to The Washington Post. The assessment’s broad conclusions were verified by two U.S. officials familiar with the document. It is not yet known whether the reclusive regime has successfully tested the smaller design, although North Korean officially last year claimed to have done so.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

The article contains links for additional light and knowledge.

http://theantimedia.org/save-trump-north-korea-war/

The Only Thing That Can Save Trump’s Presidency Now Is War With North Korea
August 8, 2017 at 4:54 pm
Written by Joey Clark

(ANTIMEDIA Op-ed) — With his poll numbers sinking, Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation ramping up, and a stalled domestic legislative agenda, President Donald J. Trump may have only one way to save his presidency — war with North Korea.

A man who wanted a military parade at his inauguration, Donald Trump had this to say in the face of North Korea’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons:

“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening … and as I said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”

Despite the fact that North Korea has not attacked the United States and has only threatened to do so as a defensive measure in the face of U.S. threats to destroy the hermit kingdom, it seems Donald Trump is considering a preemptive strike against the communist nation.

Despite Trump’s supposed ‘realist’ foreign policy promises during the campaign, he has already learned that when a U.S. president bombs a supposed adversary, presidential standing tends to go up. He learned this after bombing Syria after an alleged gas attack, which garnered praise even from some of Trump’s most dogged detractors. As Fareed Zakaria, for example, said the day after the Tomahawks flew into Syria, “Donald Trump became president of the United States last night.”

Assad wasn’t even threatening the American people in this episode. Can you imagine the praise Trump would receive from the mainstream press if he were to actually unleash “fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before” against a nation that has been locked in a cold war with the U.S. since the 1950s? Do you think any sitting Democrats or Republicans would really speak up against a president who ‘saved’ the West coast from a potential North Korean nuclear missile? Do you think the American people will be outraged at all at the massive death toll or the geopolitical ramifications of war on the Korean peninsula regarding China and Russia?

No, I suspect that though some Americans will be horrified, most will cheer any such actions by the sitting president. I suspect even those who are now advocating a policy of mutually assured destruction in regards to North Korea’s nuclear arsenal would not dare criticize the president for such ‘decisive’ action.

Remember, folks, war is the health of the state. It is also the health of presidents and their popularity in the present and future. Remember that war-time presidents are usually ranked as some of the greatest in American history — Lincoln, FDR, and Woodrow Wilson come to mind.

I only hope millions of North Koreans, who are hostages and slaves of their own government, do not die for over perceived threats to the American people. And good lord, let us hope millions do not die for the sake of Trump’s own poll numbers and place in history. It is terrible even to think of it, but that is the world we have inherited — one that allows an American president to promise “fire and fury” as the crowds cheer out of fear or pride, a world that tempts dictators to think pursuing that same ability to inflict fire and fury will bring them security.

The issue of North Korean nukes has long been argued, but there is an even older argument: Should these weapons have been created in the first place?

Indeed, Mr. Oppenheimer, in the name of peace and security, the ‘great’ nations of the world have “become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

All the evidence that an honest person needs to see that Trump = Obama = Bush = Clinton. Puppets of Gadiantons.

https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-ne ... estroys-it

Tuesday, 08 August 2017
U.S. Boots in Yemen As Globalist-Saudi Coalition Destroys It
Written by Alex Newman

As the Saudi regime and its allies continue laying waste to the impoverished nation of Yemen using mostly American weapons, U.S. boots are now reportedly on the ground to assist in the destruction under the guise of the global terror war. Millions of Yemeni civilians have been displaced and suffering amid what analysts are describing as among the greatest humanitarian crises currently afflicting the planet — disease, starvation, and violence are running rampant. With the U.S. government now getting sucked even deeper into the conflict, there appears to be no end in sight to the civil war. And unsurprisingly, globalists are, as usual, exploiting the tragedy they helped create to advance the cause of globalism via regional governance.

The conflict in Yemen is multi-faceted and complex, with numerous factions vying for power and control of the ruins. From the North, Houthi forces supposedly aligned with the Iranian regime have been fighting for more than a decade against the corrupt, autocratic U.S.-backed authorities that have since been displaced.

Numerous other globalist propaganda pieces suggested the exact same plot. As this magazine has documented extensively, the globalist establishment, very much including the Council on Foreign Relations, is ultimately hoping to impose a “Middle East Union” on the diverse peoples of the region. And that new transnational regime would join the EU, the African Union, the Union of South American States, Vladimir Putin's Eurasian Union, and other such regional blocks as part of what globalist schemers refer to as the “New World Order.” So, in addition to profiting from weapons sales, the establishment is using the atrocious conflict in Yemen to advance its dangerous and totalitarian vision of a globalist utopia controlled by that same establishment.

The U.S. government has absolutely no business meddling in Yemen's affairs. With its lawless wars and mass-murder programs, it makes all Americans complicit in the atrocities being perpetrated across the Middle East. Since there has been no declaration of war from Congress, the conflict is blatantly unconstitutional, too. The Trump administration should abandon the immoral and illegal globalist warmongering of Obama and previous U.S. administrations, and instead follow the non-interventionist advice of America's Founding Fathers. The world may not become perfect, but at least Americans would no longer have the blood of countless innocents on their hands.

lundbaek
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 11123
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by lundbaek »

Many of us "conspiracy nuts" have been concerned for some years now that the globalist establishment, including the Council on Foreign Relations, is striving to impose a “Middle East Union” on the diverse peoples of the region. And that new transnational regime would join the EU, the African Union, the Union of South American States, Vladimir Putin's Eurasian Union, and other such regional blocks including the proposed North American Union, as part of what globalist schemers refer to as the “New World Order.” Let us not overlook the conspiracy to create the North American Union, a union of Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico.

gardener4life
captain of 1,000
Posts: 1690

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by gardener4life »

We need to clean up our traitors and those stealing our government. Then we can fix these other things. We still have good people here, and we don't hate other people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSO3TH9aG8U

I ran in today to this idea; the concept of shadow governments where a previous ruler can't let go of power. It's interesting that the reasons that Hillary had her private email server people haven't even realized. I wanted to point this out. Both the Clintons and Obama are trying to still run the government under the table without letting go. Why else would she have her own private server, if she was trying to run things off the grid her own way? And why is it that Obama is still in the D.C. area?

If we don't clean up our 'house', we may lose it by forfeiting our blessings. 2 Nephi;

4 For, behold, said he, I have seen a vision, in which I know that spiritual Babylon will be destroyed; and had we remained in spiritual Babylon we should also have perished. 5 But, said he, notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a land of promise (the land off Joseph for the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph), a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath covenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed (most LDS church members belong to Joseph, and why are they are? This is land of inheritance for the tribe of Joseph). Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever (even after Nephites are gone it was given to other Josephites), and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord.

6 Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.

7 Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them (conditional, not permanently given...hmm); wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever. (so if we turn our backs on God, we could forfeit our blessings of the promised land and blessings of Joseph, and lose our birthright as Joseph's seed if we don't repent.)

8 And behold, it is wisdom that this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance. (Aren't we seeing that now? "...yeah, is this not cause to mourn. Yea, it is exceedlingly great cause to mourn..."

9 Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a promise, that inasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land (both by having the land given to the tribe of Joseph and for having the birthright blessings of Israel, which are conditional on keeping the commandments and doing away with secret combinations); and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves. And if it so be that they shall keep his commandments they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them, nor to take away the land of their inheritance; and they shall dwell safely forever. (Again the reminder we can forfeit our birthright as the seed of Joseph if we continue being unrepentant.)

10 But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them.

11 Yea, he will bring other nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and smitten. (The test has begun, or it is beginning now. If we as a nation and church humble ourselves and try to repent we can still avoid losing everything.)

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

The John Birch Society has some good stuff on the warmongering. The society was recommended by Ezra Taft Benson. He spoke at their events. His son served in their leadership. In a normal world members of the Church would be obedient to the words of a prophet. Here on LDSFF, some would rather side with the Gadianton puppet, Trump. Sackcloth and ashes, but I'm not surprised that the tares are growing up with the wheat. The scriptures all warn us of this phenomenon.

https://www.jbs.org/store/shoptna/tna-b ... st-21-2017

Thursday, 10 August 2017
Abandon American Imperialism — Before It Destroys America
Written by C. Mitchell Shaw

The United States has — since at least World War II — been suffering from an identity crisis: We are a republic that calls itself a democracy and behaves like an empire. But now, the “primacy” of the United States in the order of nations is “fraying” and “may, in fact, be collapsing,” according to a report published in June by the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute. With the American empire falling under its own bloated weight and coming apart at the seams, the report — rather than suggesting a return to the roots of the American Republic as outlined in the Constitution — suggests expansions of force, surveillance, and propaganda to reinforce the crumbling empire.

The report — entitled At Our Own Peril: DoD Risk Assessment in a Post-Primacy World — is the conclusion of a year-long study, with input from the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Army. Both the report and the study were sponsored by high-level government and military agencies, including the U.S. Army’s Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate; the Joint Staff, J5 (Strategy and Policy Branch); the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development; and the Army Study Program Management Office.

The report — available for download here — laments the decline (and pending fall) of the American empire and predicts dire consequences if the “unassailable position” of the United States “versus state competitors” is not reinforced. The report goes on to say, “Status quo forces [comprised of ‘the United States and its major Western and Asian allies’] collectively are comfortable with their dominant role in dictating the terms of international security outcomes and resist the emergence of rival centers of power and authority.”

While the “fraying” and “collapsing” of what the report calls “the status quo that was hatched and nurtured by U.S. strategists after World War II” may concern those who accept that “status quo” as normal, it would serve Americans well to remember that this was a radical departure from the earlier “status quo” of noninterventionism that was advocated by the Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson cautioned us “in extending our commercial relations, to have with them [foreign nations] as little political connection as possible.” And George Washington advised: “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”

lundbaek
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 11123
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by lundbaek »

I think what I last posted on the Sheriff Joe Arpaio topic applies equally if not more so to this topic.

I wish more people understood that both the Clintons and Obama are puppets beholden to puppet masters that include George Soros and I believe members of the Rockefeller and Rothshild clans. I maintain they are part of that secret combination that Nephi, Moroni, President Benson, President Packer, and a host of others tried to warn Latter-day Saints about. And yes, that murderous combination is continuing to run the government under the table. Members of the LDS Church are the only people I know of on this planet who have been informed by true servants of the Lord (prophets, apostles, etc.) about a secret combination taking over complete control of government. I believe the Lord expected Latter-day Saints to take the lead in doing something about our awful situation brought about by the latter-day gadiantons. I think that over the years certain LDS prophets and apostles gave us all we needed to awake to our awful situation caused by the latter-day gadiantons and take actions to suffer not that they get above us. But too few responded. And now, it seems to me, we are being overcome by Satan. But there are still things we can do to prepare for the events subsequent to the cleansing of America.

It is not within my stewardship to tell anyone else how they should contribute to the protection and restoration of our God-given and unalienable rights that are being stolen from us. But we Latter-day Saints are under a commandment given in Chapter 8 of the Book of Ether, written by Moroni, to awake to an awful situation because of a secret combination which he told us shall be among us. Considerable passages of scripture in the Book of Mormon, especially in the Books of Helaman and 3 Nephi, describe the MO of the ancient secret combinations on this continent as they sought and acquired wealth and control of government, and in so doing deprived people of their God-given and unalienable rights. Finally, Moroni wrote that it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto us so that we may "suffer not" that the "murderous combinations" described in the Book of Mormon shall get above us.

I believe that if we read about these things in the Book of Mormon and give heed to events transpiring in the world today, we will see the same things happening today that destroyed both the Jaredite and the Nephite civilizations. And I believe that the Lord will guide our individual actions in response to these things if we sincerely ask for His guidance.
Last edited by lundbaek on August 10th, 2017, 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

Do you all not see the pattern? Government debt vs. GDP.
Pattern.jpg
Pattern.jpg (10.51 KiB) Viewed 1600 times

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

Wow, Ron Paul and Lew Rockwell in the same video. 20 minutes of enlightenment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzFsaG3 ... e=youtu.be

lundbaek
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 11123
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by lundbaek »

This what Pastor Chuck Baldwin has to say about President Trump:

http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/Articles/ta ... Trump.aspx

This column is written primarily in response to the way a host of televangelists, pastors, self-professing Christian talk show hosts, and Christian leaders are promoting Donald Trump as being a man of “bold Christian faith,” a “Bible-believing Christian,” a “modern Moses,” a “modern John The Baptist,” a “man for the Body of Christ,” a “REAL Christian,” etc., ad infinitum.

Forgive me, but I’ve heard all of this before: back when G.W. Bush was President. One noticeable distinction between Bush II and Trump I is Bush truly did often publically express a personal faith in Jesus Christ--not that that made him a better President. If you ask me, G.W. Bush was one of America’s very WORST presidents--his Christian profession notwithstanding.

In August of last year, I posted a list of the men I believe are America’s ten worst presidents on my Facebook page. If you are interested, here is my list:

Chuck Baldwin Facebook Post - America's Ten Worst Presidents

But at no time has Donald Trump made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. A bunch of reverends have claimed Trump has made such a profession, but we have never heard it from Trump himself. And, again, I am not judging his presidency on his religious profession or lack thereof. I judge a civil magistrate--any civil magistrate--on his or her fidelity to the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and principles contained in the Declaration of Independence. That’s it. I really don’t care what the magistrate calls him or herself or what religious label he or she goes by or even what political party they say they represent. I’m merely pointing out the fact that all of the hype about Trump’s Christian profession by these sycophantic, pandering preachers is mere propaganda. And THAT bothers me. I am afraid that these Christian “leaders” are setting America up for another long, bloody war.

So, as a pastor with a national audience, it behooves me to say something.

Because G.W. Bush claimed to be a believer in Jesus Christ, he absolutely could do no wrong in the eyes of America’s evangelical pastors and Christians. When he took America into two unconstitutional, illegal, and immoral wars, Christians cheered; when he bombed innocent men, women, and children in the name of the “war on terror,” Christians cheered; when he created a brand new war doctrine--the preemptive war doctrine--Christians cheered; when he created a gigantic surveillance state and national police force, Christians cheered; when he filled his cabinet and administration with CFR globalists, Christians cheered; and when Bush partnered with Bill and Hillary Clinton in what can only be described as an international crime family, Christians, well, they looked the other way. Bush was a “born-again Christian,” so he could do no wrong.

Like I said, I’ve heard all of this before.

Christians (and conservatives) completely overlooked the Bush family connections to Saudi Arabia; the Bush family connections to international drug running; the Bush family connections to globalist war traders and profiteers; and the Bush family connections to German Nazism and Italian fascism. Bush was a “Christian” and could do no wrong.

And with Donald Trump in the White House, the televangelists, preachers, and Christian leaders are at it again. But here is what Christians are completely overlooking about Donald Trump.

*Donald Trump spent his entire adult life scamming people out of billions of dollars.

Trump's companies have filed for bankruptcy seven times, taking billions of dollars out of people’s pockets in the process. When Trump filed bankruptcy over the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1991, he was $3 billion in debt. Other Trump bankruptcies involving the loss (for other people) of multiple billions of dollars include The Trump Castle in Atlantic City, Trump Plaza and Casino in Atlantic City, the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts in Atlantic City, and Trump Entertainment Resorts in Atlantic City (once in 2009 and again in 2014). Trump actually brags about these bankruptcies as being “good business.” Speaking of his multiple bankruptcies, Trump gloated, “I don’t think it’s a failure; it’s a success.”

Doug Heller, the executive director of Consumer Watchdog, said Trump is the "most egregious, almost comical example" of the disparity between what the average American faces when going through bankruptcy and the "ease with which the very rich can move in and out of bankruptcy."

Read this article to get the truth about the Trump bankruptcies:

The Truth About The Rise And Fall Of Donald Trump’s Atlantic City Empire

To this day, Trump brags about how “smart” he is as a businessman and shows absolutely no remorse over the billions and billions of dollars that he has bilked out of investors and partners. Shrewd, unscrupulous charlatans might view all of this as “good business,” but it is hardly the mark of a Christian--or even an honorable man.

*Donald Trump spent his entire adult life as a philandering playboy.

Most everyone knows that Donald Trump has been married three times and has had innumerable sexual affairs. When Trump was deposed in the divorce with his first wife, Ivana, he invoked the 5th Amendment right to keep silent about his relationship with “other women” 97 times. He had an affair with his second wife Marla Maples while he was still married to Ivana.

Regarding his current wife, Melania: “In 1999, shortly after they began dating, she participated in an on-air phone call with Trump and Howard Stern, as they discussed her chest, and whether she stole money from Donald’s wallet. When Stern asked to talk to ‘that broad in your bed,’ Trump put her on the line, and she spoke about how they had sex more than daily, and revealed that she was nearly nude. Stern replied, ‘I have my pants off already.’ Thanks to her relationship with Trump, she finally got her glossy-magazine spread--nearly naked in British GQ, handcuffed to a briefcase on a private jet, which Trump supplied. Managing the career moves of his companions was part of a pattern. While he was still married to Ivana, Trump pushed his girlfriend Marla Maples to pose nude in Playboy and reportedly negotiated the fee himself. (The deal fell through.)”

“As Donald’s celebrity ballooned with The Apprentice, Melania was asked to tolerate even more [humiliation]. His public interchanges with Howard Stern, which provided a kind of Greek chorus to their relationship, went from lewdly objectifying to grotesque. He agreed with Stern that his daughter Ivanka was ‘a piece of a##.’ He joked that if Melania were in a horrible, mangling car crash he’d still love her as long as the breasts remained intact. When asked by Stern whether he’d be up for ‘banging 24-year-olds,’ Trump eagerly assented. Subsequent accusations suggest similar improprieties.” (Source: Vanity Fair magazine, April, 2017)

Trump’s lifelong immoralities, infidelities, and sexcapades cannot even be discussed in polite company.

This is the cold, hard truth about who and what Donald Trump has been all of his life. The sleazy statement Trump was caught saying with Billy Bush during the presidential campaign last year was a revelation--not an aberration--of Trump’s personal life.

There is absolutely NOTHING to suggest that Donald Trump even comprehends what honesty, integrity, fidelity, or wholesomeness even looks like.

Oh, yes, and there is this:

*Donald Trump spent his entire business life consorting with international crime syndicates and the Jewish mafia.

One does not become an international casino tycoon without getting in bed with gangsters. The stories revealing Trump’s connections to global criminal enterprises are just now beginning to surface on the Internet. It’s not a pretty picture. If anything, the mainstream media has given Trump a pass so far on the real truth about Trump’s shady shenanigans. If Trump is removed from office, it will be because his past will have finally caught up with him--and because the globalists knew that they could use Trump and, due to his sordid past, take him down at any time. That’s how they work, folks.

Months ago, I posted on my Facebook page that I expected Mike Pence would assume the presidency at some point. I still think that Pence is the one the globalists really want in the White House right now but knew he could not get there without Trump. The only question in my mind is whether Donald Trump is a witting or unwitting participant in the globalists’ scheme.

Here was my Facebook post back on June 20:

Chuck Baldwin Facebook Post - Mike Pence

But I digress.

“Last week, the United States’ Ninth Circuit Court addressed an ongoing case involving the city of Almaty, one of Kazakhstan’s most outspoken critics, and millions of dollars in American real estate--some of which is tied directly to the U.S. president.

“As Courthouse News reported, the Ninth Circuit ‘revived a $300 million civil racketeering lawsuit’ from the city of Almaty against Viktor Khrapunov, the erstwhile Almaty mayor who, city representatives claim, invested millions in real estate abroad. The ruling reversed an earlier decision moving the lawsuit out of California, and allowed the suit to proceed in the state.”

“However, the relationship between Trump and Khrapunov may present the most serious, and certainly the strangest, wrinkle in relations between Astana and Washington moving forward. After all, despite the fact that Central Asian regimes have proven increasingly adept at pursuing governmental opponents abroad, they’ve never dealt with one who is a tenant of a building named after the sitting president.

“It remains unclear how Kazakhstani officials will approach their case against Khrapunov, especially now that it’s been re-opened in the United States. But the case suddenly presents not simply a fascinating development in post-Soviet autocracies’ pursuit of critics abroad, but one with the additional obstacle of linking directly to the American president. Trump may have recently described Kazakhstan’s economic progress as a ‘miracle,’ and he may be completely unaware of his role in the ongoing Kazakhstan-Khrapunov saga, but Astana--along with U.S.-Central Asian relations--is stepping into unknown territory. The president, as of early April, may have little interest in the region but, as we’ve seen, things can change swiftly when it involves Trump’s properties.”

See the report:

How Trump Is Connected To A Kazakh Corruption Scandal

And Trump’s association with Jewish mafia billionaires--among whom Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner (Ivanka’s husband) and his family belong--is easily documented. I’m talking about men such as Alexander Mashkevich, Tevfik Arif (not Jewish by birth but a strong Zionist), Felix Henry Sater, and Lev Avnerovich Leviev. Look them up for yourself. Jewish Zionist Wilbur Ross (Bilderberg), whom Trump appointed as Secretary of Commerce, was one of the Jewish billionaire Rothschild bankers who bailed Trump out of one of his bankruptcies.

This is the character of the man who sits in the White House. This is the character of the man who has his finger on the nuclear suitcase. This is the character of the man that our televangelists and Christian leaders are hailing as a “modern John the Baptist.” This is the character of the man that Christians are expecting to “save” America.

And now Trump has endorsed the establishment toady Luther Strange over Judge Roy Moore in the U.S. Senate race in Alabama. There is no finer Christian and no braver patriot than Roy Moore. I cannot think of another man in public office who more courageously took on the establishment than Judge Roy Moore. If Donald Trump truly wanted to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C., there is no man in the country who could better help him do it than Judge Moore. But Trump endorsed the establishment lackey Luther Strange. Regardless, Christian leaders, talk show hosts, and televangelists will still try to tell us what a wonderful Christian Donald Trump is. It is truly incredible!

Does all of this mean that Donald Trump cannot and will not make some good decisions as our President? No! Not at all. If it’s true that Trump ordered the CIA to stop supporting the Syrian rebels, that was a very good decision. And I applaud Trump’s decision to ban transgenders from the U.S. military. My only question is why he didn’t ban all homosexuals from military service at the same time. Since the days of George Washington, the U.S. military has always deemed that homosexuality was “incompatible” with military service. And indeed it is. So, why did Trump stop with transgenders? Why did Trump leave that Barack Obama order allowing homosexuals to serve in the military intact? And for that matter, why doesn’t Trump undo Obama’s order putting women in combat units and on submarines?

I am told by trusted, Christian attorney friends that Trump’s justice department is advocating against cases that provide legal preferences on the basis of aberrant sexual behavior. I applaud Trump for this. Trump has taken a public stand in support of the Second Amendment. I applaud Trump for this. I applaud Trump for making it difficult for manufacturing companies to relocate overseas and for keeping jobs in and bringing jobs back to the United States. I applaud Trump for drawing attention to our illegal immigration problem--albeit I strongly object to the way Trump inserted religion into the debate. And I don’t like walls. The Berlin Wall was not built to keep people out; it was built to keep people IN.

It is way too early to applaud Trump for his Supreme Court appointment Neil Gorsuch. Like so many of Trump’s appointees, Gorsuch is CFR. That makes it very doubtful that Gorsuch will be faithful to constitutional government. And, as I have said before, for the most part, Gorsuch is untested on the issues that really matter. So, we’ll see.

There are several other decisions Trump has made that I could likewise applaud. G.W. Bush made some good decisions too. But that doesn’t change who Bush was or who Trump is.

For Christian leaders, televangelists, and “Christian” talk show hosts to make Trump into a “modern John the Baptist” and refuse to deal with the true nature of this man we call President is the height of gullibility and irresponsibility.

Was Hillary Clinton any better? Of course not. Are people to be blamed for voting for Donald Trump? Not at all. Although I will say that if Christian leaders, pastors, conservative pundits, talk show hosts, etc., would be more honest and objective during the primary elections--and if they had a better understanding of constitutional government, liberty principles, sound money principles, Natural Law, etc.--we would not always be forced to choose between the “lesser of two evils” every general election. But, again, I digress.

Believe it or not, this column is not intended as an anti-Trump rant. Instead, it is an honest, truthful analysis of the man we elected President of the United States. It IS intended to be a wake-up call for my Christian brethren across the country to GET REAL.

The only way to truly gauge the character of a person is by their track record. The track record of Donald Trump is not pretty. But he is the President. Accordingly, we should support him when his decisions are constitutional, and we should oppose him when his decisions are not constitutional--and we should pray that he doesn’t take us into World War III. But the last thing in the world we should be doing--at least the last thing Christians should be doing--is making him out to be a “modern John the Baptist” and the like.

No wonder so many people think Christians are stupid

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

Chuck Baldwin goes step by step and ruins the fantasies surrounding Trump.

http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/Articles/ta ... Trump.aspx

The Truth About Donald Trump

Published: Thursday, August 10, 2017
This column is written primarily in response to the way a host of televangelists, pastors, self-professing Christian talk show hosts, and Christian leaders are promoting Donald Trump as being a man of “bold Christian faith,” a “Bible-believing Christian,” a “modern Moses,” a “modern John The Baptist,” a “man for the Body of Christ,” a “REAL Christian,” etc., ad infinitum.

Forgive me, but I’ve heard all of this before: back when G.W. Bush was President. One noticeable distinction between Bush II and Trump I is Bush truly did often publically express a personal faith in Jesus Christ--not that that made him a better President. If you ask me, G.W. Bush was one of America’s very WORST presidents--his Christian profession notwithstanding.

In August of last year, I posted a list of the men I believe are America’s ten worst presidents on my Facebook page. If you are interested, here is my list:

Chuck Baldwin Facebook Post - America's Ten Worst Presidents

But at no time has Donald Trump made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. A bunch of reverends have claimed Trump has made such a profession, but we have never heard it from Trump himself. And, again, I am not judging his presidency on his religious profession or lack thereof. I judge a civil magistrate--any civil magistrate--on his or her fidelity to the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and principles contained in the Declaration of Independence. That’s it. I really don’t care what the magistrate calls him or herself or what religious label he or she goes by or even what political party they say they represent. I’m merely pointing out the fact that all of the hype about Trump’s Christian profession by these sycophantic, pandering preachers is mere propaganda. And THAT bothers me. I am afraid that these Christian “leaders” are setting America up for another long, bloody war.

So, as a pastor with a national audience, it behooves me to say something.

Because G.W. Bush claimed to be a believer in Jesus Christ, he absolutely could do no wrong in the eyes of America’s evangelical pastors and Christians. When he took America into two unconstitutional, illegal, and immoral wars, Christians cheered; when he bombed innocent men, women, and children in the name of the “war on terror,” Christians cheered; when he created a brand new war doctrine--the preemptive war doctrine--Christians cheered; when he created a gigantic surveillance state and national police force, Christians cheered; when he filled his cabinet and administration with CFR globalists, Christians cheered; and when Bush partnered with Bill and Hillary Clinton in what can only be described as an international crime family, Christians, well, they looked the other way. Bush was a “born-again Christian,” so he could do no wrong.

Like I said, I’ve heard all of this before.

Christians (and conservatives) completely overlooked the Bush family connections to Saudi Arabia; the Bush family connections to international drug running; the Bush family connections to globalist war traders and profiteers; and the Bush family connections to German Nazism and Italian fascism. Bush was a “Christian” and could do no wrong.

And with Donald Trump in the White House, the televangelists, preachers, and Christian leaders are at it again. But here is what Christians are completely overlooking about Donald Trump.

*Donald Trump spent his entire adult life scamming people out of billions of dollars.

Trump's companies have filed for bankruptcy seven times, taking billions of dollars out of people’s pockets in the process. When Trump filed bankruptcy over the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1991, he was $3 billion in debt. Other Trump bankruptcies involving the loss (for other people) of multiple billions of dollars include The Trump Castle in Atlantic City, Trump Plaza and Casino in Atlantic City, the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts in Atlantic City, and Trump Entertainment Resorts in Atlantic City (once in 2009 and again in 2014). Trump actually brags about these bankruptcies as being “good business.” Speaking of his multiple bankruptcies, Trump gloated, “I don’t think it’s a failure; it’s a success.”

Doug Heller, the executive director of Consumer Watchdog, said Trump is the "most egregious, almost comical example" of the disparity between what the average American faces when going through bankruptcy and the "ease with which the very rich can move in and out of bankruptcy."

Read this article to get the truth about the Trump bankruptcies:

The Truth About The Rise And Fall Of Donald Trump’s Atlantic City Empire

To this day, Trump brags about how “smart” he is as a businessman and shows absolutely no remorse over the billions and billions of dollars that he has bilked out of investors and partners. Shrewd, unscrupulous charlatans might view all of this as “good business,” but it is hardly the mark of a Christian--or even an honorable man.

*Donald Trump spent his entire adult life as a philandering playboy.

Most everyone knows that Donald Trump has been married three times and has had innumerable sexual affairs. When Trump was deposed in the divorce with his first wife, Ivana, he invoked the 5th Amendment right to keep silent about his relationship with “other women” 97 times. He had an affair with his second wife Marla Maples while he was still married to Ivana.

Regarding his current wife, Melania: “In 1999, shortly after they began dating, she participated in an on-air phone call with Trump and Howard Stern, as they discussed her chest, and whether she stole money from Donald’s wallet. When Stern asked to talk to ‘that broad in your bed,’ Trump put her on the line, and she spoke about how they had sex more than daily, and revealed that she was nearly nude. Stern replied, ‘I have my pants off already.’ Thanks to her relationship with Trump, she finally got her glossy-magazine spread--nearly naked in British GQ, handcuffed to a briefcase on a private jet, which Trump supplied. Managing the career moves of his companions was part of a pattern. While he was still married to Ivana, Trump pushed his girlfriend Marla Maples to pose nude in Playboy and reportedly negotiated the fee himself. (The deal fell through.)”

“As Donald’s celebrity ballooned with The Apprentice, Melania was asked to tolerate even more [humiliation]. His public interchanges with Howard Stern, which provided a kind of Greek chorus to their relationship, went from lewdly objectifying to grotesque. He agreed with Stern that his daughter Ivanka was ‘a piece of a##.’ He joked that if Melania were in a horrible, mangling car crash he’d still love her as long as the breasts remained intact. When asked by Stern whether he’d be up for ‘banging 24-year-olds,’ Trump eagerly assented. Subsequent accusations suggest similar improprieties.” (Source: Vanity Fair magazine, April, 2017)

Trump’s lifelong immoralities, infidelities, and sexcapades cannot even be discussed in polite company.

This is the cold, hard truth about who and what Donald Trump has been all of his life. The sleazy statement Trump was caught saying with Billy Bush during the presidential campaign last year was a revelation--not an aberration--of Trump’s personal life.

There is absolutely NOTHING to suggest that Donald Trump even comprehends what honesty, integrity, fidelity, or wholesomeness even looks like.

Oh, yes, and there is this:

*Donald Trump spent his entire business life consorting with international crime syndicates and the Jewish mafia.

One does not become an international casino tycoon without getting in bed with gangsters. The stories revealing Trump’s connections to global criminal enterprises are just now beginning to surface on the Internet. It’s not a pretty picture. If anything, the mainstream media has given Trump a pass so far on the real truth about Trump’s shady shenanigans. If Trump is removed from office, it will be because his past will have finally caught up with him--and because the globalists knew that they could use Trump and, due to his sordid past, take him down at any time. That’s how they work, folks.

Months ago, I posted on my Facebook page that I expected Mike Pence would assume the presidency at some point. I still think that Pence is the one the globalists really want in the White House right now but knew he could not get there without Trump. The only question in my mind is whether Donald Trump is a witting or unwitting participant in the globalists’ scheme.

Here was my Facebook post back on June 20:

Chuck Baldwin Facebook Post - Mike Pence

But I digress.

“Last week, the United States’ Ninth Circuit Court addressed an ongoing case involving the city of Almaty, one of Kazakhstan’s most outspoken critics, and millions of dollars in American real estate--some of which is tied directly to the U.S. president.

“As Courthouse News reported, the Ninth Circuit ‘revived a $300 million civil racketeering lawsuit’ from the city of Almaty against Viktor Khrapunov, the erstwhile Almaty mayor who, city representatives claim, invested millions in real estate abroad. The ruling reversed an earlier decision moving the lawsuit out of California, and allowed the suit to proceed in the state.”

“However, the relationship between Trump and Khrapunov may present the most serious, and certainly the strangest, wrinkle in relations between Astana and Washington moving forward. After all, despite the fact that Central Asian regimes have proven increasingly adept at pursuing governmental opponents abroad, they’ve never dealt with one who is a tenant of a building named after the sitting president.

“It remains unclear how Kazakhstani officials will approach their case against Khrapunov, especially now that it’s been re-opened in the United States. But the case suddenly presents not simply a fascinating development in post-Soviet autocracies’ pursuit of critics abroad, but one with the additional obstacle of linking directly to the American president. Trump may have recently described Kazakhstan’s economic progress as a ‘miracle,’ and he may be completely unaware of his role in the ongoing Kazakhstan-Khrapunov saga, but Astana--along with U.S.-Central Asian relations--is stepping into unknown territory. The president, as of early April, may have little interest in the region but, as we’ve seen, things can change swiftly when it involves Trump’s properties.”

See the report:

How Trump Is Connected To A Kazakh Corruption Scandal

And Trump’s association with Jewish mafia billionaires--among whom Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner (Ivanka’s husband) and his family belong--is easily documented. I’m talking about men such as Alexander Mashkevich, Tevfik Arif (not Jewish by birth but a strong Zionist), Felix Henry Sater, and Lev Avnerovich Leviev. Look them up for yourself. Jewish Zionist Wilbur Ross (Bilderberg), whom Trump appointed as Secretary of Commerce, was one of the Jewish billionaire Rothschild bankers who bailed Trump out of one of his bankruptcies.

This is the character of the man who sits in the White House. This is the character of the man who has his finger on the nuclear suitcase. This is the character of the man that our televangelists and Christian leaders are hailing as a “modern John the Baptist.” This is the character of the man that Christians are expecting to “save” America.

And now Trump has endorsed the establishment toady Luther Strange over Judge Roy Moore in the U.S. Senate race in Alabama. There is no finer Christian and no braver patriot than Roy Moore. I cannot think of another man in public office who more courageously took on the establishment than Judge Roy Moore. If Donald Trump truly wanted to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C., there is no man in the country who could better help him do it than Judge Moore. But Trump endorsed the establishment lackey Luther Strange. Regardless, Christian leaders, talk show hosts, and televangelists will still try to tell us what a wonderful Christian Donald Trump is. It is truly incredible!

Does all of this mean that Donald Trump cannot and will not make some good decisions as our President? No! Not at all. If it’s true that Trump ordered the CIA to stop supporting the Syrian rebels, that was a very good decision. And I applaud Trump’s decision to ban transgenders from the U.S. military. My only question is why he didn’t ban all homosexuals from military service at the same time. Since the days of George Washington, the U.S. military has always deemed that homosexuality was “incompatible” with military service. And indeed it is. So, why did Trump stop with transgenders? Why did Trump leave that Barack Obama order allowing homosexuals to serve in the military intact? And for that matter, why doesn’t Trump undo Obama’s order putting women in combat units and on submarines?

I am told by trusted, Christian attorney friends that Trump’s justice department is advocating against cases that provide legal preferences on the basis of aberrant sexual behavior. I applaud Trump for this. Trump has taken a public stand in support of the Second Amendment. I applaud Trump for this. I applaud Trump for making it difficult for manufacturing companies to relocate overseas and for keeping jobs in and bringing jobs back to the United States. I applaud Trump for drawing attention to our illegal immigration problem--albeit I strongly object to the way Trump inserted religion into the debate. And I don’t like walls. The Berlin Wall was not built to keep people out; it was built to keep people IN.

It is way too early to applaud Trump for his Supreme Court appointment Neil Gorsuch. Like so many of Trump’s appointees, Gorsuch is CFR. That makes it very doubtful that Gorsuch will be faithful to constitutional government. And, as I have said before, for the most part, Gorsuch is untested on the issues that really matter. So, we’ll see.

There are several other decisions Trump has made that I could likewise applaud. G.W. Bush made some good decisions too. But that doesn’t change who Bush was or who Trump is.

For Christian leaders, televangelists, and “Christian” talk show hosts to make Trump into a “modern John the Baptist” and refuse to deal with the true nature of this man we call President is the height of gullibility and irresponsibility.

Was Hillary Clinton any better? Of course not. Are people to be blamed for voting for Donald Trump? Not at all. Although I will say that if Christian leaders, pastors, conservative pundits, talk show hosts, etc., would be more honest and objective during the primary elections--and if they had a better understanding of constitutional government, liberty principles, sound money principles, Natural Law, etc.--we would not always be forced to choose between the “lesser of two evils” every general election. But, again, I digress.

Believe it or not, this column is not intended as an anti-Trump rant. Instead, it is an honest, truthful analysis of the man we elected President of the United States. It IS intended to be a wake-up call for my Christian brethren across the country to GET REAL.

The only way to truly gauge the character of a person is by their track record. The track record of Donald Trump is not pretty. But he is the President. Accordingly, we should support him when his decisions are constitutional, and we should oppose him when his decisions are not constitutional--and we should pray that he doesn’t take us into World War III. But the last thing in the world we should be doing--at least the last thing Christians should be doing--is making him out to be a “modern John the Baptist” and the like.

No wonder so many people think Christians are stupid.


Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

Come on! Venezuela? Now we're considering the use of military force against Venezuela. You Trump supporters haven't got a shred of integrity left. And it looks like the good soldier, Pence, our next president, is in on it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/na ... d126f648ec

Trump says he won’t rule out military response to Venezuela

President Donald Trump walks out with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and national security adviser H.R. McMaster to speak to members of the media following their meeting at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., Friday, Aug. 11, 2017. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press)

By Jill Colvin and Joshua Goodman | AP August 11 at 10:28 PM
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that he wouldn’t rule out military action against Venezuela in response to the country’s descent into political chaos following President Nicolas Maduro’s power grab.

Speaking to reporters at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, Trump bemoaned the country’s growing humanitarian crisis and declared that all options remain on the table — including a potential military intervention.

“We have many options for Venezuela and by the way, I’m not going to rule out a military option,” Trump volunteered, adding, “A military operation and military option is certainly something that we could pursue.”

Trump’s comment mark a serious escalation in rhetoric for the U.S., which has up until now stressed a regional approach that encourages Latin American allies to escalate pressure on the Maduro regime. Hours before Trump’s comments, a senior administration official speaking on condition of anonymity stressed that approach while briefing reporters on Vice President Mike Pence’s upcoming trip to the region later this week.

farmerchick
captain of 1,000
Posts: 2141

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by farmerchick »

Hey Silver,
We've been given a great distraction. I just want you to know my favorite poster of all time has returned and He will make America great again with or without Trump........ yep, its spirit of truth\burning sword\adoni has returned....... This development is really exciting......... so now we don't need to worry about anything except mocking and scoffing.......I know I should curb my excitement..... but it's so hard.... scoff scoff scoff.... mock mock mock.... lol.... the dull boring news of the day is nothing comparable to this......... lol America is already getting greater!!!!!

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

Trump supporters. Did you know the interesting little factoid explained below? If so, and you still support this murdering president how exactly do you rationalize that in your mind?

http://theantimedia.org/us-killing-more ... han-obama/

The US Is Killing Far More Civilians in Syria Under Trump Than Under Obama
August 19, 2017 at 3:20 pm
Written by American Herald Tribune

(AHT) — On Friday, the pro-opposition “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently” activist group released an infographic claiming that 946 civilians had been killed and 1000 others had been injured as a result of US-led coalition airstrikes since the beginning of Raqqa city battle on June 9, the South Front reported.

The Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently also claimed that US-led coalition warplanes had conducted 1267 airstrikes on targets in Raqqa city so far.

At least 30,000 civilians are still trapped inside Raqqa city, according to the Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently infographic.

Meanwhile, local sources from Raqqa city claimed that US-led coalition airstrikes had killed no less than 100 civilians in the last 72 hours. US-led coalition warplanes allegedly conducted 53 airstrikes on Raqqa city in the last 48 hours.

Airwars has also released it’s own estimates of the civilian casualties in Raqqa.

Airwars is a collaborative, not-for-profit transparency project aimed both at tracking and archiving the international air war against so-called “Islamic State” and other groups in Iraq, Syria and Libya.
Airwars researchers tracked 175 civilian casualty events – just 6% less than the all-time-high seen in June. This represented 90% of all incidents in both Iraq and Syria during July. However, likely civilian deaths from Coalition actions in Syria still fell by 29% compared to June. According to Airwars’ current assessments, between 294 and 456 non-combatants were likely killed in Syria during July. The estimates show 780 civilians killed by US-led coalition in June and July.

The majority of these incidents took place in Raqqa, where the SDF made slow but important gains amid fierce resistance from ISIS and heavy air support from the coalition. A 32% decrease in munitions fired in Raqqa also saw likely civilian deaths fall by 33% in the governorate.

Meanwhile, July saw a 41% rise in casualty events allegedly perpetrated by the Russian Air Force in Syria, where 65 incidents were tracked during the month. The majority of these events occurred in Deir Ezzor and Raqqa governorates. Yet despite this escalation in Russian actions, there were still three times as many casualty events attributed to the Coalition in Iraq and Syria as there were to Russia in Syria. This is now the seventh consecutive month that Moscow’s own bombing campaign has been overshadowed by casualty events reportedly the responsibility of the US and its allies.

By AHT Staff

Silver
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Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

Warmongers! Yes, let's keep sending more and more troops to the "Graveyard of Empires" because repeating a failed strategy always works. Sackcloth and ashes.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/08/20/trum ... day-night/

Trump to Announce New Afghan War Strategy Monday Night
Mattis, a Proponent of Escalation, 'Very Comfortable' With Decision
Jason Ditz Posted on August 20, 2017

While President Trump made public the fact that a decision on Afghan War policy was made during Friday’s Camp David meeting,his administration still hasn’t provided any specific information on what exactly that decision was, apparently saving that for a Monday night speech.

Afghanistan has been among the most contentious issues within the Trump Administration, with Pentagon officials, and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster favoring a large escalation, but Trump and some others skeptical that such a deployment is going to accomplish anything 16 years into the conflict.

The firing of Stephen Bannon ahead of the meeting may hint at the pro-escalation side getting an advantage, and Defense Secretary James Mattis, whose unhappiness with a cap of 3,900 additional troops was the reason for the meeting, declared himself “very comfortable” with the final decision, again suggesting the hawks may have won out.

Trump had tried to delegate the decision to Mattis outright, but did so on condition the escalation would be no more than 3,900 more troops. Though it’s unclear exactly where they landed, many reports suggested the Pentagon’s “options” largely assumed 5,000 or more troops being sent.

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Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

When things are serious, politicians lie. Of course, Trump, the murderer, tells lies even when things aren't serious.

http://original.antiwar.com/Matthew_Hoh ... ghanistan/

Trump’s Turn To Lie About Afghanistan
by Matthew Hoh Posted on August 21, 2017

There has never been progress by the U.S. military in Afghanistan, unless you are asking the US military contractors or the Afghan drug barons, of whom an extremely large share are our allies in the Afghan government, militias and security forces, there has only been suffering and destruction. American politicians, pundits and generals will speak about "progress" made by the 70,000 American troops put into Afghanistan by President Obama beginning in 2009, along with an additional 30,000 European troops and 100,000 private contractors, however the hard and awful true reality is that the war in Afghanistan has only escalated since 2009, never stabilizing or de-escalating; the Taliban has increased in strength by tens of thousands, despite tens of thousands of casualties and prisoners; and American and Afghan casualties have continued to grow every year of the conflict, with US casualties declining only when US forces began to withdraw in mass numbers from parts of Afghanistan in 2011, while Afghan security forces and civilians have experienced record casualties every year since those numbers began to be kept by the UN.

Similarly, any progress in reconstructing or developing Afghanistan has been found to be near existent despite the more than $100 billion spent by the United States on such efforts by the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR). $100 billion, by the way, is more money than was spent on the Marshall Plan when that post-WWII reconstruction plan is put into inflation adjusted dollars. Oft repeated claims, such as millions of Afghan school girls going to school, millions of Afghans having access to improved health care and Afghan life expectancy dramatically increasing, and the construction of an Afghan job building economy have been exposed as nothing more than public relations lies. Often displayed as modern Potemkin Villages to visiting journalists and congressional delegations and utilized to justify continued budgets for the Pentagon and USAID, and, so, to allow for more killing, like America’s reconstruction program in Iraq, the reconstruction program in Afghanistan has proven to be a failure and its supposed achievements shown to be virtually nonexistent, as documented by multiple investigations by SIGAR, as well as by investigators and researchers from organizations such as the UN, EU, IMF, World Bank, etc.

Tonight, the American people will hear again the great lie about the progress the American military once made in Afghanistan after "the Afghan Surge", just as we often hear the lie about how the American military had "won" in Iraq. In Iraq it was a political compromise that brought about a cessation of hostilities for a few short years and it was the collapse of the political balance that had been struck that led to the return to the violence of the last several years. In Afghanistan there has never even been an attempt at such a political solution and all the Afghan people have seen in the last eight years, every year, has been a worsening of the violence.

Americans will also hear tonight how the US military has done great things for the Afghan people. You would be hard pressed to find many Afghans outside of the incredibly corrupt and illegitimate government, a better definition of a kleptocracy you will not find, that the US keeps in power with its soldiers and $35 billion a year, who would agree with the statements of the American politicians, the American generals and the pundits, the latter of which are mostly funded, directly or indirectly, by the military companies. It is important to remember that for three straight elections in Afghanistan the United States government has supported shockingly fraudulent elections, allowing American soldiers to kill and die while presidential and parliamentary elections were brazenly stolen. It is also important to remember that many members of the Afghan government are themselves warlords and drug barons, many of them guilty of some of the worst human rights abuses and war crimes, the same abuses of which the Taliban are guilty, while the current Ghani government, and the previous Karzai government, have allowed egregious crimes to continue against women, including laws that allow men to legally rape their wives.

Whatever President Trump announces tonight about Afghanistan, a decision he teased on Twitter, as if the announcement were a new retail product launch or television show episode, as opposed to the somber and painful reality of war, we can be assured the lies about American progress in Afghanistan will continue, the lies about America’s commitment to human rights and democratic values will continue, the profits of the military companies and drug barons will also continue, and of course the suffering of the Afghan people will surely continue.

Matthew Hoh is a member of the advisory boards of Expose Facts, Veterans For Peace and World Beyond War. In 2009 he resigned his position with the State Department in Afghanistan in protest of the escalation of the Afghan War by the Obama Administration. He previously had been in Iraq with a State Department team and with the US Marines. He is a Senior Fellow with the Center for International Policy.

Silver
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Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

Our unjust war with North Korea did not go away.

Once more, for the stubborn Trump supporters, McMaster is CFR. People make policy. Your defense of Trump is as traitorous as McMaster's implementation of CFR policy.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/08/20/whit ... rth-korea/

White House Continues to Talk Up ‘Preventative War’ Against North Korea
McMaster Seen Leading Advocates of Attacking North Korea Outright
Jason Ditz Posted on August 20, 2017

While there has been a concerted effort from some members of the Trump Administration to downplay the risk of an imminent nuclear war with North Korea, the possibility of such a conflict is still palpable, with White House officials openly talking about launch a “preventative war” to resolve the situation.

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster is seen as one of the leading advocates of this idea, which seeks to avoid the question of how much of a threat North Korea will pose in the future by just attacking them outright now, consequences be damned.

But this position also fits neatly into President Trump’s own “fire and fury” narrative, and Trump has repeatedly given the impression in recent weeks that he considers attacking North Korea out of the blue a viable option, albeit one of many that are under consideration.

South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in has tried to reject this idea, insisting South Korea has an inherent right to “veto” any US war against North Korea. Yet Defense Secretary James Mattis and other US officials have consistently dodged that question since Moon made the claim, and are mostly couching the war as about the US, as opposed to defending South Korea.

This casts a big shadow over the new US military exercises in South Korea this week, with North Korea openly warning that they are watching for any reckless escalation during the operation, and that they believe the war could quickly go nuclear if the exercise turned into “actual fighting.”

Such a US sneak attack under the guise of military drills would likely be condemned region-wide, but the even bigger problem is that, no matter how the US decides to start this war, doing so will have massive fallout for the region, and particularly for South Korea.

Silver
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Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

Because nothing says winning like continuing to implement the same old failed policies in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history. I guess being American these days means nothing more than giving the government the right to kill you any time they want to. That's right, Mr. Marmalade, just load our youth in planes and send them off to die in the Graveyard of Empires. Thank you very much for stealing them away from us and for stealing their dreams away from them although I distinctly remember you saying some nonsense DURING THE CAMPAIGN about less intervention in foreign affairs. You stuck to the NWO Script For First Time Presidential Candidates so well, Mr. Marmalade.

But wait, there's more!!! If you act now, the government will not only steal your flesh and blood, they'll also keep it all a secret from the public. That's right, you Trumpsters. The government, in its wisdom, has decided to stop telling us how many troops they're sending overseas. Great!!! We can be betrayed in ignorance now. What a relief.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/08/21/trum ... ghanistan/

Trump Declares Open-Ended War in Afghanistan
Trump Abandons 'Instinct to Withdraw'
Jason Ditz Posted on August 21, 2017Categories NewsTags Afghanistan, Trump
In his Monday night speech on the Afghan War, President Trump committed the US to an essentially open-ended escalation of the conflict without any specific limitations, while granting commanders broader authority to unilaterally target “the enemy.”

President Trump stressed that his first instinct was to withdraw. He added that “historically I like following my instincts.” However, he said that “decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the oval office.” He added that he’s committed to “an honorable and enduring outcome” worthy of the longest war in American history and the large number of dead.

What that outcome looks like, or how specifically he plans to get there are anyone’s guess. Fox News reported that White House sources told them before the speech that Trump was going to announce 4,000 more troops for Afghanistan.

But President Trump said that the US strategy would be secret, saying the US is removing any timetables for ending the war in Afghanistan. He said that he will not talk publicly about troop numbers in Afghanistan or plans for ongoing military activity there. While arguing that “America’s enemies must never know our plans.”

Trump’s secrecy also means the American public will have no idea how the Afghan War is being prosecuted.

This mirrors the decision to make troop levels in Iraq and Syria officially secret, but is also a much broader commitment. He set the stage for general escalation of an Afghan war that, over the past 16 years, has shown itself to endure through more or less any escalation conceivable. In committing to continue that war until victory, Trump effectively made the war permanent.

Trump presented continuation as both about 9/11, and about how opposed he is to the 2011 US withdrawal from Iraq, each presented as a reason not to withdraw, but seemingly each an excuse that’s never going to not stand in the way of ending the war.

The broad message of Trump’s speech seemed to be that the US wasn’t aggressive enough in Afghanistan so far, criticizing President Obama for “micromanaging” the conflict. Trump said he believes that US military victories come from “judgement and expertise of wartime commanders.”

Trump gave some lip-service to economic aid for Afghanistan, particularly pushing India to “do more.” But he insisted that the US had abandoned nation-building, declaring “we are not nation-building again, we’re killing terrorists.”

This declaration also gives the impression of a permanent war, claiming 20 distinct terrorist organizations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and vowing to lift restrictions on “our warfighters.” He vowed that “no place is out of the reach of American might.”

Ultimately, an escalation of 4,000 troops and a re-commitment to the status quo likely would’ve been much milder than what Trump appears to be proposing. Trump’s determination to keep troop levels secret leaves the door open to a series of endless escalations down the road, which the American public are liable to never hear about.

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Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-2 ... ocon-trump

In Angry Tweetstorm, Ron Paul Lashes Out At "Neocon" Trump

Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Aug 21, 2017 10:32 PM
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Roughly around the time Trump started his Afghanistan speech, Ron Paul tweeted out a cautiously optimistic note: "Hoping for the best in tonight's @realDonaldTrump speech but fearful that foreign intervention is only going to get worse. #Afghanistan." Alas it was not meant to be, and over 20 tweets later in what proved to be the angriest tweetstorm of the night, Ron Paul had come to a conclusion: Trump is now nothing more than the latest neocon, one whom even Lindsey Graham applauded.

Below is a chronological rundown of Ron Paul's progressively angier tweets, as he was live commenting on Trump's speech:

Hoping for the best in tonight's @realDonaldTrump speech but fearful that foreign intervention is only going to get worse. #Afghanistan
Steve Bannon brakes removed. Neocons feeling their oats.
The military personnel are the victims of bad foreign policy.
Sad that these wars the politicians argue for are unconstitutional yet we are told we are over there defending the Constitution.
Mr. President it's too bad you do not follow your instincts.
Planned in Afghanistan? What about Saudi Arabia??
What's wrong with rapid exit? We just marched in we can just march out.
So far very discouraging. Sounds like pure neocon foreign policy.
The promoters of war win. The American people lose. #Afghanistan
Remember: there was no al-Qaeda until our foolish invasion of Iraq based on neocon lies.
The American people deserve to know when we are going to war and MUST give you permission through their representatives in Congress!
Emphasis on Pakistan just means the war going to be expanded!
Emphasis on military alliance with India may well lead to more vicious war between nuclear states Pakistan and India. Smart?
Terrorism is one thing, but what about massive collateral damage? Killing civilians creates more terrorism. Round and round we go.
Shorter Trump: "Afghanistan: give us your minerals!"
Nothing new. More of the same. Obama was wrong. This is NOT the good war. Sooner we get out the better.
More killing is not the road to peace.
The emphasis on the "grave danger" of terrorism is greatly exaggerated. But more intervention surely creates more terrorism.
How many Americans are really sitting around worrying about an Afghan terrorist coming over and killing them?
So many of our problems are self-inflicted by a deeply flawed foreign policy. US troops - and the family members - suffer the consequences.
Big issue of the night: US expanding the war into Pakistan. Could precipitate more conflict between nuclear India and Pakistan.
If Americans are tired of 16 year war, how will they feel about another decade or two? When will they wake up?
Our ultimately "hasty" departure from Vietnam finally ended a lot of grief. Even if it came way too late.
Beware! @LindseyGrahamSC loves Trump's speech! Why are arch-neocons celebrating so much? Very telling!
There's nothing hasty about ending America's longest war. @POTUS bowed to military-industrial establishment; doubled down on perpetual war.
Based on Trump's speech, Ron Paul's concerns are well founded. Then again, as we await Breitbart's response to Trump's adress one thing is certain: Steve Bannon will not be happy with what "neocon" Trump said tonight, even if the WaPo and NYT are now on "mute" mode when it comes to NSA-sourced, anti-Trump scoops.

And while there is a distinct possibility that tomorrow night, when addressing his increasingly shaky core support base, Trump will change his mind, with two generals whispering in his ear constantly to determine US foreign policy even as two ex-Goldmanites now write domestic US policy, it is quite likely that the Trump who was unveiled tonight, is the Trump that will stay with the US population for the indefinite future. And if for some reason the "new and improved" Trump slips and fades away again... well there's always the Mueller "Russia collusion" probe in the background keeping the president on his toes.

Update: Here's Breitbart's take, as expected.
Liar liar.jpg
Liar liar.jpg (58.53 KiB) Viewed 1352 times

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Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by Silver »

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/ ... -home-from

OPINION | Sen. Rand Paul: 16 years on, it's past time to bring our troops home from Afghanistan
BY SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY.), OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 08/21/17 06:15 PM EDT 724

The Trump administration is increasing the number of troops in Afghanistan and, by doing so, keeping us involved even longer in a 16-year-old war that has long since gone past its time.

The mission in Afghanistan has lost its purpose, and I think it is a terrible idea to send any more troops into that war. It’s time to come home now.

Our war in Afghanistan began in a proper fashion. We were attacked on 9/11. The Taliban, who then controlled Afghanistan, were harboring al Qaeda, and after being warned, and after an authorization from Congress, our military executed a plan to strike back. Had I been in Congress then, I would have voted to authorize this military action.
But as is typical, there was significant mission creep in Afghanistan. We went from striking back against those who attacked us, to regime change, to nation-building, to policing their country for them. And we do it all now with an authorization that is flimsy at best, with the reason blurred, and the costs now known. We do it with an authorization that was debated and passed before some of our newest military personnel were out of diapers. This isn’t fair to them, to the American people, or to a rational foreign policy.

The Afghanistan war going beyond its original mission has an enormous cost. First and most important is the cost to our troops. Deaths, injuries and unnecessary deployments causing harm to families are certainly the most important reason as to why you don’t go to wars that aren’t necessary.

Then comes the taxpayer. We have spent over $1 trillion in Afghanistan, and nearly $5 trillion on Middle East wars in the past 15 years. Would we not be better off with $5 trillion less in debt or using these funds in other, more productive ways?

Nation-building should not be our job, and it has consistently been a fool’s errand for us, particularly in this region. There is no reason to believe we can do it in Afghanistan, and certainly no reason to believe we can do it without a permanent, costly presence in the country.

So I strongly disagree with the administration’s actions here. I’ve spoken to the president, and I know he wants to end this war. We’ve all heard him say it. But talk won’t get it done. Although I’ve been informed that the president rejected larger expansions of troops than the one announced this week, that’s not good enough. He should have rejected this one and stuck to his principles. He knows this war is over, and he – unlike the last two presidents – should have the guts to end it for real, on his watch.

Regardless of the argument over the number of troops, I also will insist my colleagues take up a larger argument over the power to declare war. I believe we have allowed the executive to exercise far too much power in recent years.

This is one of the reasons I objected just before the recess when the Senate moved to consider the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). I have an amendment that I will insist be considered that would repeal the 2001 AUMF on Afghanistan. That AUMF is outdated, overcome by events, and provides a feeble bit of cover for people who still want to be there.

If the president and my colleagues want to continue the war in Afghanistan, then at the very least Congress should vote on it. I’ll insist they do this fall, and I’ll be leading the charge for “no.”

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ExtraCelestial
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Re: Read it well, Bush/Obama/Trump Supporters

Post by ExtraCelestial »

A user mentioned WHY? all these presidents have been sloughed into the same category of killers, etc. In the same breath, the same user stated secret combos. IMO, when POTUS is placed into office, he will be immediately caught up into a secret combo, likely with a Master Mahan level handler. If they dont enter into their secret combo, they and/or their families will be killed off, and threatened appropriately under the oaths sake. After they submit to these terms, they are controlled and managed under the oath to further Satan's work on the earth (gold, silver, armies, navies..... For instance, imagine all the promises that are made by all parties when vying for POTUS and then none of them commit to those promises or cant, because it doesnt fit into the planned narrative that Satan has over this nation. For someone, anyone, to think that Secret Combos are not abound across the world; especially within the US Gov, they should carefully consider their understanding of Moroni's promise centuries ago. Satan is no idiot and know if he controls the US government, he controls the world plain and simple. I try really hard not to over complicate politics and to peel back the layers of crap that surround and shroud Satan's dominion.

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