Category Archives: U.S. Politics

Culture, Economics, France, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

French Right and American Right: a Never Requited Love…………….

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“Le Pen, who inherited leadership of the party from her father, has worked to shed the Front’s image as a racist fringe movement and move it more toward the mainstream, even as the French government itself tacks toward the right on immigration. All the same, she seems to be slipping in the polls after several weeks where it looked like she had a good shot at making the second round. It will be interesting to see what other U.S. politicians follow Paul’s lead and take the chance to meet with her. Even if GOP candidates might like her stances of immigration and Islam, they probably won’t see eye-to-eye on economics……….”

American right-wingers get excited about some French rightists, thinking they are of the same ideology of “no regulation, cutting taxes, eliminating the government, giving corporations a free reign”.
Yet the most right-wing French politicians often are to the left of the most liberal Democrat in the United States. Even Nicolas Sarkozy, once touted as a right-winger, is to the left of most Democrats in the US Senate in matters of economic policy, social programs, and especially health care. They are usually anti-immigrant and hostile to their Muslim compatriots, but they have no intention of ever gutting the social programs that the French people have come to enjoy, like retirement and an extensive public health program. In France, as in all of Europe and all industrial countries, health care is considered a human right, as it should be in the US as well. That is why American right-wingers usually keep their distance from their “leftist” French namesakes. That is why this courting will never get anywhere: besides it is unpatriotic and unseemly for a right-wing American Teabagger to be seen hobnobbing with someone with a French accent. It is just a ‘so un-American’ thing to do, possibly even anti-American in some quarters.
Cheers
mhg


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Corruption, Finance, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, Wall Street

Goldman Sachs America: Bipartisanship in Corruption, Political Cannabis ………

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“Months before MF Global teetered on the brink, federal regulators were seeking to rein in the types of risky trades that contributed to the firm’s collapse. But they faced opposition from an influential opponent: Jon S. Corzine, the head of the then little-known brokerage firm. As a former United States senator and a former governor of New Jersey, as well as the leader of Goldman Sachs in the 1990s, Mr. Corzine carried significant weight in the worlds of Washington and Wall Street. While other financial firms employed teams of lobbyists to fight the new regulation, MF Global’s chief executive in meetings over the last year personally pressed regulators to halt their plans. The agency proposing the rule, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, relented………….”

Who said there is no bipartisanship in the U.S. Congress? There is in fact a lot of it, but it is not used to help the American people. Look at Goldman Sachs: how many federal government potentates, of both parties, have come from that vampire venerable institution? Not to mention other financial institutions. Jon Corzine (good Blue Northeast Democrat) used to be chairman of Goldman Sachs, before he decided to purchase the state of New Jersey as a senator, then as a governor. Robert Rubin was a honcho of Citibank (Citigroup) before he joined the Clinton administration. And there have been many others.
Then there is the money, lobbyist money, political cannabis, “Texas Weed” as I might call it. The money unites both parties in a bond of unprecedented bipartisanship. There is something that is noble about lobbyist money, corporate money: nothing could bring these two major parties together like lobbyist money. Nothing like bipartisanship based on free markets and the freedom of corporate expression (the latter courtesy of, a gift of, the Supremes).

Cheers
mhg


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Turkey, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

The American Right, NATO, and World Government…………

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The American right wing has always expressed suspicions, nay abhorrence, at what was often called “world government”. They were always unilateralists, when not isolationists. Odd how they are eagerly adopting multilateral action, by NATO and not the UN. Yet NATO is now a form of world government, ruling the whole world, with the exception of China and India and Iran and some pockets in Latin America. NATO can almost unilaterally start wars and interfere in other countries. Yet the American right wing now wants more of this kind of “international” government (Ron Paul excepted). Selective wold government. Could it have something to do with the fact that NATO is a rich man’s “Golf club”? Of course there is the small matter of Turkish membership, but the Turks got in when they were needed during the early Cold War. They are expendable now that the old cold war has ended. Just as they became expendable to Europe once the Soviet Union fell.
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Iraq, Middle East, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

New Twist on a Newt Gingrich Trek to Colonial Mesopotamia: the Romney Factor………

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Republicans, and Ed Koch and Joe Lieberman, are pissed that Obama is pulling out of Iraq. None of them is pissed that the Iraqis want the Americans out: they are pissed that the Americans are doing what the Iraqis want. In the old days this was called “colonialism”, when a Western guest force, usually uninvited, overstayed their welcome. The Americans had to fight several years with help from NATO the French (Lafayette and all that) to achieve what the Native Americans (aka Indian tribes) never did: get rid of the British colonial power.
Now the Republicans are all opining that the United States should stay in Iraq. The great veteran of financial and downsizing wars, Mitt Romney, and that other veteran of office wars (and other office affairs) Newt Gingrich are up in arms. As are other GOP candidates.
Now I had suggested here earlier that Mr. Gingrich should head to Mesopotamia, along the border with Persia, with a view to spending some quality time as guest of the mullahs in Iran. I thought that would shore up his foreign policy credentials, if not his credibility. I am amending my earlier suggestion now. I am suggesting now that it is a good idea if Mr. Gingrich would take Mr. Romney along on his trek. To make it easier, they can each take along their hairdressers, sort of like the old colonial masters used to take along their hairdressers, butlers, cooks, shoe-shiners, etc. Mr. McCain also tempted me by showing ire at Mr. Obama for obeying the Iraqi people’s wish that US troops leave their country, but since he is not a candidate, I shall not make any suggestions.
Some Arabs, especially some potentates on my Gulf, are also pissed at the U.S. withdrawal, mainly because the American occupation was like a stick they could use against the Iraqis. Now they don’t have that stick to discredit the Iraqi elections. I would suggest that Gingrich also take a couple of the ‘princes’ along on his trip.
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Iraq, U.S. Politics

On New Hampshire, Nevada, and Newt Gingrich’s Trek in the Middle East………

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Sad to report that it looks like, as of today, that Newt Gingrich’s proposed (by yours truly) hiking trip to the Iraq-Iran border is on hold, possibly looking remote, and not just in a geographic sense. The campaign is heating up and Newt is making a show of being in the thick of it (he is not, of course).

“On the heels of Jon Huntsman’s threat to boycott the Nevada caucuses because of the calendar move-up, Newt Gingrich makes the same stand-by-the-Granite-State pledge. “As a citizen, I have always supported New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary………”
“Mr. Gingrich unveiled a “21st Century Contract With America” in Iowa, hoping to capture the spirit of the 1994 version, which helped propel Republicans into the majority in Congress……”
 

I think not: he is not going to capture any spirit, unless it come in a bottle. Even if he doesn’t go for his suggested hike (suggested by yours truly) he ain’t never coming back. Even if he goes and evades the Iranian border guards and returns safely (as anybody who is not a Republicans candidate for president hopes). Politically he is toast, won’t get elected for a dog-catcher, not even in Georgia. That’s okay, all this will up his speaking fees, helping people overcome insomnia.
Still, things can change. I‘ll try to post follow ups on this in the coming days.
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Finance, U.S. Politics, Wall Street

Goldman Sachs Nation: the Ugly Brave New World of American Education………

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“With Goldman’s Foray Into Higher Education, A Predatory Pursuit of Students and Revenues. Education Management Corp. was already a swiftly growing player in the lucrative world of for-profit higher education, with annual revenues topping $1 billion, but it had its sights set on industry domination. So, five years ago, the Pittsburgh company’s executives agreed to sell its portfolio of more than 70 colleges to a trio of investment partnerships for $3.4 billion, securing the needed capital for an aggressive national expansion. One of the new partners brought an outsized reputation for market savvy, deep pockets and a relentless pursuit of profits — the Wall Street goliath, Goldman Sachs. After the deal closed and Goldman became a partner, employees soon noticed a drastic shift in culture. Longtime admissions managers were replaced, ushering in an era in which recruiters were endlessly hounded by supervisors about hitting weekly enrollment targets. The admissions staff nearly tripled, requiring expanded floor space to accommodate a sales force of more than 2,600 across the country. Management handed down revamped telemarketing scripts designed to prey on poor and uneducated consumers………….” The Huffington Post

Interesting to see if Goldman Sachs would hire the graduates of their own “for profit” colleges? America has the best college and university education in the world, but this ugly trend, with strong lobbying and Republican support in Congress, is threatening to create a generation of educated zombies. Tea Party Zombies.
Interesting how everything Goldman gets involved in these days leads to some disaster for the public good. Someone once described it as a “leech”, but that was only tow years ago. Now I learn that it is worse: it not only sucks blood, it also sucks out something even more important for society.
Cheers
mhg


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Algeria civil war, Iran, Middle East Nuclear, nuclear Iran, Sanctions, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Quoting Frank Sinatra: Was the Iranian ‘Plotter’ Entrapped?………….

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“And all at once it seems so nice
The folks are throwing shoes and rice
You hurry to a spot that’s just a dot on the map
And then you wonder how it all came about
It’s too late now there’s no gettin’ out
You fell in love, and love is the tender trap…………..” Frank Sinatra (The Tender Trap)

“The question now is: Can the claim possibly be true? Before addressing the question, let me first emphasize that there is almost nothing that the Tehran hardliners might do that could surprise me………… Having said that, however, I must state that at this point, I am highly skeptical about the entire episode. In fact, the more I learn about the claim and the indictment, the more I think this may be a classic case of entrapment on the part of the FBI/DEA agents, of the kind that has happened too many times in the past in the United States to be ignored. But let us analyze the claim carefully to see whether it is plausible at all. Hence, for the sake of argument, let us assume that the claim is true. The question is, What would the hardliners have gained, had they succeeded? As I see it, nothing but more trouble and intense international pressure, not to mention the further wrath of the United States and Saudi Arabia………One may argue that the targets of the operation were Saudi Arabia and Israel. But this seems even more absurd. If the IRI really intends to harm Saudi Arabia, due to the increasing tension with the Riyadh government, why should it try to do it here in the United States and in Washington?……….. As for attacking the Israeli Embassy in Washington, that appears even more absurd…………Thus, at this point, I find the claim that the IRI was involved in the plot highly unlikely. The more information that becomes available, the more it appears like a frame-up of Manssor Arbabsiar, a classic case of entrapment………….”
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Iran, Mujahideen Khalq, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Politics

No Eliot Ness: Mr. Freeh, Prince Bandar, Iranian Mullahs, Cult Money, Hoover and MacArthur…………

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Louis Freeh, former chief of the FBI, currently reportedly sort of lobbyist for Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, advocate for Iranian exile cult Mujahideen Khalq (MEK, MKO), opining on the organization and its ruling dynasty of several decades, Masoud and Maryam Rajavi. In the New York Times.
Hoping to replace the repressive theocratic mullahs with a shadowy dictatorial cult based on a husband-wife dynasty, with deep pockets.

Here is what Harper’s Magazine said about Mr. Freeh:
“Louis Freeh: What some people will do for money. Former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh says $2 billion that flowed from a British arms manufacturer to U.S. bank accounts controlled by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, then Saudi ambassador to the U.S., was not a bribe, but was instead part of a complex barter involving the exchange of Saudi oil for British fighter jets………… Richard Clarke, a top counter-terrorism advisor to Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, and others said they have concerns about Freeh’s defense of Bandar. “Someone who characterizes himself as a U.S. patriot and national security advocate ought not to be on the side of someone blackmailing………”

Tsk, tsk. J Edgar Hoover, for all his alleged oddities, would never do that, become an agent for some absolute medieval potentate. Nor would Eliot Ness. But the princes have deep pockets. The Mujahideen Khalq, whose leadership lives in luxury in Paris, coincidentally also seem to have deep pockets. Deep enough to pay fat speaker fees to the likes of: Rudy Giuliani, Gen. Hugh Shelton, Bill Richardson, Howard Dean, Gen. Wesley Clark, Ed Randell, et al.
(Can you imagine Generals MacArthur and Eisenhower and Bradley doing this lobbying shit for potentates and shadowy cults? Hell, even Scarlett O’Hara wouldn’t do that).
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Iraq, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Update on Suggested Newt Gingrich Hike in the Middle East…………

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Update about that possible Newt Gingrich hiking trip to the northern Iran-Iraq border. It might also help identify him if he takes his hair-dresser along. Oh, and the TV make-up kit: that is an important identification tool, unless he wants to go incognito. All that will also help identify him once the mullahs decide to release him sometime after November 2012 (not that he has a chance, but the mullahs want to relive their Reagan-Carter 1980 glory days).

Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Iraq, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Update on Suggested Newt Gingrich Hike in the Middle East…………

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      BFF

Update about that possible Newt Gingrich hiking trip to the northern Iran-Iraq border. It might also help identify him if he takes his hair-dresser along. Oh, and the TV make-up kit: that is an important identification tool, unless he wants to go incognito. All that will also help identify him once the mullahs decide to release him sometime after November 2012 (not that he has a chance, but the mullahs want to relive their Reagan-Carter 1980 glory days).

Cheers
mhg


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