Following the shooting, Trump's supporters claim he is a "threat to the US deep state". But in reality, he is a warmonger who appointed CIA officials and neocons to run his hawkish foreign policy.
Close friend of big oil and big animal ag (sister to big pharma); climate change denying Trump is the President of choice for these environment and health destroying industries. The idea that he's the enemy of the deep state is absurd.
He is obviously the enemy of SOMEONE, as the assassination attempt would indicate. Deep State can mean a lot of things, but one definition is that it is a group or a syndicate that will assassinate Presidents and Presidential candidates in order to influence US policy.
Trump is, of course, a hideous politician and is clearly criminal as you describe with his foreign policy record. However, he does articulate, often incoherently, policy prescriptions unpopular with the deep state - against (some) forever wars, against the offshoring of industry, hostility to NATO (at least the existing configuration), against mass migration. Also he is less likely to be compliant to the deep state compared to the usual machine politicians. Although clearly he was betrayed by many of the deep state appointees he made in his first term who plotted against him. He is also incompetent and unpredictable and unable to implement many of his actual policies consistently. However, it is, to my mind undeniable that there is enormous hostility and hatred towards him from the Democratic establishment who are closely linked with the deep state. It seems highly likely to me that they would attempt to kill him and have been fostering an atmosphere in which an assassination attempt was highly probable. That doesn't mean Trump is a hero or is likely to be a better president. But Ben you seem upset that people point out the criminality of the assassination plot.
Question: If Trump is a criminal "with his foreign policy record" then please explain what Obama and Biden are, the first who murdered-by-drone an American citizen and his 16 y.o. son and the second who caused the utterly unnecessary deaths of 13 U.S. military service members not to mention put in jeopardy the lives of we-don't-even-know-how-many U.S. civilians by Biden regime's botched mil withdrawl from AFGH.
Gail, I think you are failing prey to one of the pitfalls of social media and online forums - you respond to everything with scorn and sarcasm. I am not sure of what discussion you want to get into. Do you think Trump doesn’t have a criminal foreign policy record but Biden/Obama do? Respectfully, it’s not clear (to me) what you are wishing to discuss.
Trump is the Republican Obama. He says a lot of things that sound great, buy he's short on implementation because of his donors and the corporate money-oiled bureaucracy around him. The only change he may be capable of is more tax cuts for the wealthy. Maybe he'll stop the Ukraine proxy war, but I feel like it may be like how he took credit for finally ending the Afghan occupation. We've clearly lost and some other conflict will arise to keep defense contractors flush with printed debt money.
Republican Obama is a good comparison, clearly he offers hope that something might change to more conservative voters. But I agree the chances of any sort of change are slim. Still the obscene criminality of censoring him, charging him with non-crimes and harassing him to the point of trying to assassinate him shows how out of control and unhinged the elites running the US truly are. I agree with all of Ben's criticisms of Trump, but he is calling this an "alleged assassination attempt". Does he seriously think this was faked?
Trump is the exact OPPOSITE of Obama. Obama was hand picked, groomed and placed into his position by the corrupt DNC and the neocon Establishment (deep state if you will). Look at Obama's record. He was fast tracked into the White House, and he was the DARLING of the Establishment and MIC. He defended and supported Wall Street, made sure the bankers got their bonuses, while kicking 5.1 million FAMILIES out of their house. He is the ONLY two-term President who was at WAR every day of both terms. He attacked more countries than Bush (7 to Bush's 5). He dropped more bombs than Bush. He was a bloodthirsty ghoul who promoted Wall Treet interests at home and neocon hegemony abroad - all with that nice, smailing black face that no one could criticise.
The man won a Nobel Prize and then proceeded to set the Middle East ON FIRE, waging war on 7 countries.
Trump is the exact opposite. He was not fast-tracked; he was a GLITCH in the system. He was never supposed to win. He had a crazy idea of ending the wars, and so the media made him the warmongering crazy person - even as he brought the troops home from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia.
In short, everything you know is wrong. Thanks to the neocon DNC deep state and their minions in the media, up is down, black is white, and war is peace. Just ask yourself: how many times have you been told that the only way to achieve peace in Ukraine is to send more weapons into the conflict zone?
I disagree. I believe that Trump's alliance with RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard shows that he has turned the page: those neocons he had surrounding him in his forst Administration were foisted upon him by the "Old Guard" GOP neocons. Those a-holes only sabotaged him, and he knows it.
With RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard on his Transition Team, Trump will be able to create a cabinet that actually supports him and his goals. "Personnel is policy" and this time around, the personnel are going to be radically different from the Pompeos and Boltons of Trump 1.
Yes, Trump is a warmonger and a war criminal. But let's be honest:being a war criminal, committing war crimes and prosecuting "dirty wars" to control smaller, poorer countries is part of the Job Description for POTUS.
The one saving grace that Trump has is that he is NOT a neocon.
Neocons are by definition rabid IDEOLOGUES. Their every motivation and action is dictated by their neocon ideology: the need to maintain and expand the American Empire and protect the US position as the "world's sole superpower". This is why the rise of Russia and China and Iran cannot be countenanced.
Trump, OTOH, is most definitely NOT an ideologue. I don't believe he even has an ideology. Certainly he is not religious, and he is definitely NOT a neocon.
Trump is "transactional". He sees everything as a deal, an opportunity to come out on top in a limited exchange. That can be signing a treaty, negotiating a cease-fire or peace agreement.
He is also a narcissist and a braggart.
Those two qualities are on display every time he makes the claim that if he were President, he would "end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours."
Now, I don't believe that is possible, but I am 100% convinced that he will try.
And I do believe he is a threat to the Deep State - at least whatever part of the Deep State it was that tried to assassinate him. Certainly he is anathema to the DC establishment, because - as I said - he is not an ideologue. He is a poor steward of the Empire.
Unlike Obama and Biden, he doesn't speak the pablum of how the US "brings democracy and freedom" everywhere, and always acts with only the loftiest of moral obligations and motivations. No. When asked why he wouldn't condemn MBS for Khashoggi's murder, he replied as if he were explaining simple math to a stupid kid: he said he would not do anything "because Saudi Arabia just bought $8 billion in arms from us".
When the US pulled out of Syria but continued to occupy 1/3 of the country, Trump didn't say it was to "fight ISIS" or "defend democracy" - he said it was to "guard the oil, we have the oil, the oil is secure, we left troops there only for the oil."
Trump says the quiet part out loud and the Deep State simply cannot have that. THAT is why they want him dead.
Close friend of big oil and big animal ag (sister to big pharma); climate change denying Trump is the President of choice for these environment and health destroying industries. The idea that he's the enemy of the deep state is absurd.
Sure Trump is hideous but not sure what you have against "industry"? Produces all the stuff that keeps us alive and maintains our standard of living.
True, I've edited.
He is obviously the enemy of SOMEONE, as the assassination attempt would indicate. Deep State can mean a lot of things, but one definition is that it is a group or a syndicate that will assassinate Presidents and Presidential candidates in order to influence US policy.
no part of that power cluster is going to support a president who won’t reliably advance the interests of the oligarchic empire.
They won't support him, but they may find it difficult to kill him.
Trump is, of course, a hideous politician and is clearly criminal as you describe with his foreign policy record. However, he does articulate, often incoherently, policy prescriptions unpopular with the deep state - against (some) forever wars, against the offshoring of industry, hostility to NATO (at least the existing configuration), against mass migration. Also he is less likely to be compliant to the deep state compared to the usual machine politicians. Although clearly he was betrayed by many of the deep state appointees he made in his first term who plotted against him. He is also incompetent and unpredictable and unable to implement many of his actual policies consistently. However, it is, to my mind undeniable that there is enormous hostility and hatred towards him from the Democratic establishment who are closely linked with the deep state. It seems highly likely to me that they would attempt to kill him and have been fostering an atmosphere in which an assassination attempt was highly probable. That doesn't mean Trump is a hero or is likely to be a better president. But Ben you seem upset that people point out the criminality of the assassination plot.
Question: If Trump is a criminal "with his foreign policy record" then please explain what Obama and Biden are, the first who murdered-by-drone an American citizen and his 16 y.o. son and the second who caused the utterly unnecessary deaths of 13 U.S. military service members not to mention put in jeopardy the lives of we-don't-even-know-how-many U.S. civilians by Biden regime's botched mil withdrawl from AFGH.
Obviously criminal too
I see now that your avatar is descriptive of what you are.
Gail, I think you are failing prey to one of the pitfalls of social media and online forums - you respond to everything with scorn and sarcasm. I am not sure of what discussion you want to get into. Do you think Trump doesn’t have a criminal foreign policy record but Biden/Obama do? Respectfully, it’s not clear (to me) what you are wishing to discuss.
So you won't respond with any substance. As I thought.
Whaaat? I’m agreeing with you?
Trump is the Republican Obama. He says a lot of things that sound great, buy he's short on implementation because of his donors and the corporate money-oiled bureaucracy around him. The only change he may be capable of is more tax cuts for the wealthy. Maybe he'll stop the Ukraine proxy war, but I feel like it may be like how he took credit for finally ending the Afghan occupation. We've clearly lost and some other conflict will arise to keep defense contractors flush with printed debt money.
Republican Obama is a good comparison, clearly he offers hope that something might change to more conservative voters. But I agree the chances of any sort of change are slim. Still the obscene criminality of censoring him, charging him with non-crimes and harassing him to the point of trying to assassinate him shows how out of control and unhinged the elites running the US truly are. I agree with all of Ben's criticisms of Trump, but he is calling this an "alleged assassination attempt". Does he seriously think this was faked?
I agree, it does seem to me it was real.
Trump is the exact OPPOSITE of Obama. Obama was hand picked, groomed and placed into his position by the corrupt DNC and the neocon Establishment (deep state if you will). Look at Obama's record. He was fast tracked into the White House, and he was the DARLING of the Establishment and MIC. He defended and supported Wall Street, made sure the bankers got their bonuses, while kicking 5.1 million FAMILIES out of their house. He is the ONLY two-term President who was at WAR every day of both terms. He attacked more countries than Bush (7 to Bush's 5). He dropped more bombs than Bush. He was a bloodthirsty ghoul who promoted Wall Treet interests at home and neocon hegemony abroad - all with that nice, smailing black face that no one could criticise.
The man won a Nobel Prize and then proceeded to set the Middle East ON FIRE, waging war on 7 countries.
Trump is the exact opposite. He was not fast-tracked; he was a GLITCH in the system. He was never supposed to win. He had a crazy idea of ending the wars, and so the media made him the warmongering crazy person - even as he brought the troops home from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia.
In short, everything you know is wrong. Thanks to the neocon DNC deep state and their minions in the media, up is down, black is white, and war is peace. Just ask yourself: how many times have you been told that the only way to achieve peace in Ukraine is to send more weapons into the conflict zone?
I disagree. I believe that Trump's alliance with RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard shows that he has turned the page: those neocons he had surrounding him in his forst Administration were foisted upon him by the "Old Guard" GOP neocons. Those a-holes only sabotaged him, and he knows it.
With RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard on his Transition Team, Trump will be able to create a cabinet that actually supports him and his goals. "Personnel is policy" and this time around, the personnel are going to be radically different from the Pompeos and Boltons of Trump 1.
Yes, Trump is a warmonger and a war criminal. But let's be honest:being a war criminal, committing war crimes and prosecuting "dirty wars" to control smaller, poorer countries is part of the Job Description for POTUS.
The one saving grace that Trump has is that he is NOT a neocon.
Neocons are by definition rabid IDEOLOGUES. Their every motivation and action is dictated by their neocon ideology: the need to maintain and expand the American Empire and protect the US position as the "world's sole superpower". This is why the rise of Russia and China and Iran cannot be countenanced.
Trump, OTOH, is most definitely NOT an ideologue. I don't believe he even has an ideology. Certainly he is not religious, and he is definitely NOT a neocon.
Trump is "transactional". He sees everything as a deal, an opportunity to come out on top in a limited exchange. That can be signing a treaty, negotiating a cease-fire or peace agreement.
He is also a narcissist and a braggart.
Those two qualities are on display every time he makes the claim that if he were President, he would "end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours."
Now, I don't believe that is possible, but I am 100% convinced that he will try.
And I do believe he is a threat to the Deep State - at least whatever part of the Deep State it was that tried to assassinate him. Certainly he is anathema to the DC establishment, because - as I said - he is not an ideologue. He is a poor steward of the Empire.
Unlike Obama and Biden, he doesn't speak the pablum of how the US "brings democracy and freedom" everywhere, and always acts with only the loftiest of moral obligations and motivations. No. When asked why he wouldn't condemn MBS for Khashoggi's murder, he replied as if he were explaining simple math to a stupid kid: he said he would not do anything "because Saudi Arabia just bought $8 billion in arms from us".
When the US pulled out of Syria but continued to occupy 1/3 of the country, Trump didn't say it was to "fight ISIS" or "defend democracy" - he said it was to "guard the oil, we have the oil, the oil is secure, we left troops there only for the oil."
Trump says the quiet part out loud and the Deep State simply cannot have that. THAT is why they want him dead.
Great informative video Ben! Thank you!