If the Empire is an illness, I fear that the patient (country) is irreversibly infected with propaganda so much so, that it would choke off any last effort to breathe in the truth. All empires are born, develop, grow, mature and decay --- but this one, in particular, is in the middle of an interregnum (where the future truth cannot be fertilized and past lies cannot be acknowledged). It is this period which signified our sheer demise.
It seems logic and morality are no longer useful debate tactics, when the powers that be seem to have all the personal character of rabid zombies.
While I certainly wish RFKJr. the best and hope he is the next president, the fact is that the greatest danger to our current necrotic ruling class are themselves. It seems evident they will do anything, not only to remain in control, but possibly even more importantly, from their perspective, prevent anyone that might hold them to account from gaining effective power. For obvious reasons.
Up to, it would seem, nuclear war.
Yet it does seem the ground is break away from under them. Not only in this country, but across the West, including Israel. The wave has crested.
The gist of which is that our elites have wrapped themselves in this narrative bubble, of the superiority of the West, to which facts and reality must eventually bow down.
Like spendthrift heirs to a fortune, our second rate leaders simply cannot conceive of a world outside their bubble. They live in the Garden and the rest of the world is a jungle.
Safe to say, the rest of the world is realizing the Alpha dog is looking weak and they sense the Big Shift coming.
What we, while in the West, but effectively watching from the sidelines, need to start discussing isn't the details of this collapsing world order, but the world we want to see rise from it and can be a part of.
One that understands the power of the ecosystem, of all the different cultures well rooted into all the various regions and circumstances, in which we are apart of. Not one world global order, with the rest of the world falling in line, as pale images to our supreme culture.
Structure matters. Whether it's culture, or biology. It seems the polarity of the sexes is too provincial for these creatures. It should be noted the sexes predate the split between flora and fauna, but bacteria reproduce asexually and it is only at that most basic stage can all of life function at the same level. And that seems to be the level to which they would like to see the rest of us, while they keep their yachts, mansions and jets.
Though they will find in the coming years, their armored Mercedes will be no protection, when the cartels have RPG's and their estates and security services won't matter, when the gangs have armed drones. Welcome to the 2020's.
How very good to see you reading and commenting. Thank you.
May I impertinently ask, yet none more time, that you send your email addfress and telephone number to pl@patricklawrence.us? It would be useful to connect.
Thank you Patrick. I do like opinionating from the sidelines.
Though the real job is repairing old farm machinery and as frustrating as it can be, as constant, minor reality checks, keeps me sane. Which seems hard to do, in this world.
I haven't read your work long enough to be 100% sure who you're referring to as the other "presidential aspirant who argue(s) against the proxy war in Ukraine, who oppose(s) empire and the grotesque war machine that supports it, who think(s) Americans are greatly, urgently in need of Washington’s attention" who liberals "cast as a criminal".
I would think the answer is Cornel West. But odds are high you meant Trump.
Trump says he's anti-Ukraine war, but isn't he pro-China war?
I confess I was a Democrat. Thoroughly brainwashed, I watched MSNBC in 2020 like a drug. I was *very* wrong to vote for Biden. (The crushed railworker strike imploded my dream world.) I would never vote for Biden again, nor any other Democrat.
That being said, how can we actually believe that Trump would end the war in Ukraine? Yes, hearing him talk about it is wonderful. Music to my ears.
But didn't Trump say many good things foreign policy-wise, but did a lot of bad things?
Yes, let's Trump credit for not starting another war and for setting a date to bring troops back from Afghanistan. But his administration ordered the assassination of the Iranian Soleimani. If the US wasn't so dangerous, Iran would've responded to that. So war was only avoided because Iran knew retaliation meant devastation.
Do you really believe that Trump would stop the military machine this time?
Cornel West is ignored by the mainstream media for the same reasons RFK Jr is smeared. But a lot of Americans are sick of *both* Democrats and Republicans. Even if you don't agree with third party voting, Cornel West should still be mentioned as an anti-war presidential candidate. He needs to be part of the vocabulary of American elections, if only as a protest against the corporate state that seeks to suppress actual American democracy.
Thanks (to you and Robert) for posting this excellent analysis on The Scrum. Of late, however the denigrating of the term 'Liberal' seems to have become somewhat of a simplistic empty narrative replacement description for what fairly recently seemed more aptly described as NeoLiberal behavior. From my view the uncivil coupling of NeoConservative and NeoLiberal political practitioners speaks more adroitly to our present governmental folly and disarray.
R.F.K. Jr. may well make an excellent replacement for either Biden or especially Kamala Harris.👀
Kennedy's statements were factual. To portray it as antisemitism is a travesty. It wasn't. Why does the MSM basically kiss the ass of a certain race. The Holocaust was terrible and shouldn't be forgotten. but there has been many other genocides that were just as bad. I guess money talks!!!!!
It is long overdue to publicly state and restate that we have been and are in the middle of largest US conspiracy ever.
Conspiracy led by Hillary DNC team (including St. Obama, Pelosi, Biden, Schiff, etc.) and Deep State (FBI, CIA, NSA, etc.) and also select RINO GOP collaborators.
The unprecedented and on-going CONSPIRACY includes
• Russia-gate 5-year hoax and major election interference,
• coup in Ukraine and attempted coup against elected US president,
• Hunter laptop premediated lies, silencing of US president in social media and resulting stealing of 2020 election,
• protection of Biden and Biden’s family major corruption,
• Jan. 6 armed insurrection set-up (with almost ten dead according to AOC),
• Building a major censorship apparatus led by CIA and FBI executives in State media, Internet, major universities and technology giant firms – that is still maintained
• Persecution, prosecution, and silencing leading 2024 presidential candidates who are opposing the US War uni-party
Are you concerned about the candidacy of Dr. Cornel West, who is steadfast against the proxy war in Ukraine, who opposes empire and the grotesque war machine that supports it, and who thinks Americans are greatly, urgently in need of Washington's attention? Hmm?
Wonderful article! I am having trouble understanding the last paragraph -- "It was an old trick of mine during my correspondent years to use events as mirrors: If Prime Minister Lee or Watanabe did this, what prompted his action?" Is that Lee of Singapore you're referring to? Who is Watanabe? How did the "mirror" technique work with these world leaders?
Well, Patrick, I have to agree with you about our corrupt politics. We keep coming up a day late and a dollar short. To make matters worse, I was reading on RT (as well as MoA) the suggestion that Russia would beat the US/UK/EU/NATO. To make matters worse, you read about it here first. Mr. Auerback originally suggested that the Ukraine would be NATO's Waterloo. As Mr. Merryman suggests you really should take a look at today's MoA and finally, you shouldn't worry about Farhad Manjoo too much. In case you didn't realize it, he's a Salon dot com alumnus that left them a decade or so ago. He wrote a tech column - computers, electronics and the like. In short, engineering not science.
Did he provide any proof that the Chinese are trying to develop ethnically targeted bioweapons? Or any offensive bioweapons?
I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese are interested in this research as a defensive posture, given the use of bioweapons against them in WWII (by the Japanese) and Korea (by the Americans). And yes, offensive and defensive capabilities are hard to disentangle.
But for the same reason, I am dubious that they would actively develop offensive bioweapons since it would be pretty repulsive to its own population and everybody else in the world. Americans may not have awareness of this topic but it's a pretty big deal in China and the rest of the world.
The president's son is an unrepentant junkie who barely had a hard day in his life. RFK Jr's father and uncle were assassinated and in his youth he despaired and went off track. I trust a man who went through that and came out the other end strong and directed -- he turned himself into an extremely effective environmental lawyer with hundreds of victories against massive polluters. He dares to challenge big pharma and their poisonous medications.
What good has Joe Biden ever done for the world? Or Hillary Clinton? Or Donald Trump? Or GW Bush? Or Bill Clinton? Obama? These were all power-hungry and corrupt liars who experienced none of the suffering RFK Jr went through and yet still decided to start wars and kill millions of people for nothing while strip-mining the American people.
We used to understand that hardship can make one strong. The soft, easy lives of our Boomer leaders did them and us no favors. RFK Jr is a real, decent person. Millions of Americans have struggled with opiate addiction and if anything, I think his experience might endear him to people even more since many have family members who went through something similar. Well, everyone but you, sitting in your opaque glass house handing out judgment like some Puritanical preacher from the 1700s. Wisdom not your strong suit, huh?
He can't alienate Jewish American voters to get elected. They are a key part of the Dem base and they vote. Judge him based on the character he has displayed in his actions during his life and his general approach, not to the words he speaks on every hot button issue in US politics. If he came out strong for Palestinian rights he would not just alienate Jewish Dems but many others as well, including many Repubs that might cross the aisle to vote for him.
What he does in office may be an entirely different thing but you have to understand: for us Israel is a sensitive topic even though, in the main run, it doesn't really matter to us. We're funny (stupid?) that way.
Jewish voters are less than 2% of the US public and they are largely concentrated in coastal (aka "safe") states.
Even if every last Jew in California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts were to vote Team R for president, Team D would still carry each of those states by a landslide. Florida is sort of the exception, but it would still require a monumental defection from a political party that Jewish people have been remarkably loyal to over the decades.
It's not just Jews, as I wrote, it's also Evangelicals and many others. Most Americans, almost instinctively and for various reasons and feelings, have an affinity for Israel. And don't forget that Jews have an inordinate influence over the media and entertainment industries in the US. Our influence goes far beyond our numbers. The Israel/Palestine question is, as they say, a third-rail in US politics. I support Palestinian rights and the end of apartheid in Israel. If I was running for office I would keep my views to myself and after getting elected would subtly push for change. For the existing Jewish overclass, the Holocaust was the best thing that ever happened: it inoculates them from criticism on any issue and paints them with an aura of saintly suffering. As a Jew I find it troubling. We should all be assessed on what we do, not our ancestry or history that, frankly, at this point we have nothing to do with. Over 60 million people died in WWII. I'm tired of being singled out for special status. I find it facile and potentially dangerous.
The evangelical vote is actually not as uniform as you might think and a guy like RFK Jr, who has a strong faith, could peel off a significant if limited number from Trump. But I'm not just talking about them: the vast majority of Americans feel positively about Israel and don't want to hear it criticized too much, whether Dem, Repub or the biggest block these days: independent.
Not sure why you said that last but I didn't for a second think you were in any way antisemitic. I'm probably more comfortable with criticism of Israel and Jews than most non-Jews I know. I think there is a lot to criticize. I also think there's a lot to praise. I try not to lump people too strictly into groups. I also don't equate Jewish and Israel. Israel is a state, and as such has an entirely different nature from people. Criticizing Israel, to me, does not equate with antisemitism. They can overlap but this knee-jerk assumption that any critique of Israel as a state must be antisemitic, again, does neither Israel nor Jews any favors. Cheers.
Well out, Patrick...
If the Empire is an illness, I fear that the patient (country) is irreversibly infected with propaganda so much so, that it would choke off any last effort to breathe in the truth. All empires are born, develop, grow, mature and decay --- but this one, in particular, is in the middle of an interregnum (where the future truth cannot be fertilized and past lies cannot be acknowledged). It is this period which signified our sheer demise.
Thank you for your time and writing.
It seems logic and morality are no longer useful debate tactics, when the powers that be seem to have all the personal character of rabid zombies.
While I certainly wish RFKJr. the best and hope he is the next president, the fact is that the greatest danger to our current necrotic ruling class are themselves. It seems evident they will do anything, not only to remain in control, but possibly even more importantly, from their perspective, prevent anyone that might hold them to account from gaining effective power. For obvious reasons.
Up to, it would seem, nuclear war.
Yet it does seem the ground is break away from under them. Not only in this country, but across the West, including Israel. The wave has crested.
Moon of Alabama did an interesting commentary on this; https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/07/ukraine-sitrep-reality-is-defeating-the-war-narrative.html#comments
The gist of which is that our elites have wrapped themselves in this narrative bubble, of the superiority of the West, to which facts and reality must eventually bow down.
Like spendthrift heirs to a fortune, our second rate leaders simply cannot conceive of a world outside their bubble. They live in the Garden and the rest of the world is a jungle.
Safe to say, the rest of the world is realizing the Alpha dog is looking weak and they sense the Big Shift coming.
What we, while in the West, but effectively watching from the sidelines, need to start discussing isn't the details of this collapsing world order, but the world we want to see rise from it and can be a part of.
One that understands the power of the ecosystem, of all the different cultures well rooted into all the various regions and circumstances, in which we are apart of. Not one world global order, with the rest of the world falling in line, as pale images to our supreme culture.
Structure matters. Whether it's culture, or biology. It seems the polarity of the sexes is too provincial for these creatures. It should be noted the sexes predate the split between flora and fauna, but bacteria reproduce asexually and it is only at that most basic stage can all of life function at the same level. And that seems to be the level to which they would like to see the rest of us, while they keep their yachts, mansions and jets.
Though they will find in the coming years, their armored Mercedes will be no protection, when the cartels have RPG's and their estates and security services won't matter, when the gangs have armed drones. Welcome to the 2020's.
John.
How very good to see you reading and commenting. Thank you.
May I impertinently ask, yet none more time, that you send your email addfress and telephone number to pl@patricklawrence.us? It would be useful to connect.
Pleased to see you on Substack.
P.L.
Thank you Patrick. I do like opinionating from the sidelines.
Though the real job is repairing old farm machinery and as frustrating as it can be, as constant, minor reality checks, keeps me sane. Which seems hard to do, in this world.
I haven't read your work long enough to be 100% sure who you're referring to as the other "presidential aspirant who argue(s) against the proxy war in Ukraine, who oppose(s) empire and the grotesque war machine that supports it, who think(s) Americans are greatly, urgently in need of Washington’s attention" who liberals "cast as a criminal".
I would think the answer is Cornel West. But odds are high you meant Trump.
Trump says he's anti-Ukraine war, but isn't he pro-China war?
I confess I was a Democrat. Thoroughly brainwashed, I watched MSNBC in 2020 like a drug. I was *very* wrong to vote for Biden. (The crushed railworker strike imploded my dream world.) I would never vote for Biden again, nor any other Democrat.
That being said, how can we actually believe that Trump would end the war in Ukraine? Yes, hearing him talk about it is wonderful. Music to my ears.
But didn't Trump say many good things foreign policy-wise, but did a lot of bad things?
Yes, let's Trump credit for not starting another war and for setting a date to bring troops back from Afghanistan. But his administration ordered the assassination of the Iranian Soleimani. If the US wasn't so dangerous, Iran would've responded to that. So war was only avoided because Iran knew retaliation meant devastation.
Do you really believe that Trump would stop the military machine this time?
Cornel West is ignored by the mainstream media for the same reasons RFK Jr is smeared. But a lot of Americans are sick of *both* Democrats and Republicans. Even if you don't agree with third party voting, Cornel West should still be mentioned as an anti-war presidential candidate. He needs to be part of the vocabulary of American elections, if only as a protest against the corporate state that seeks to suppress actual American democracy.
That Team D is so intent on a smear campaign is most instructive.
@ Patrick Lawrence🎯
Thanks (to you and Robert) for posting this excellent analysis on The Scrum. Of late, however the denigrating of the term 'Liberal' seems to have become somewhat of a simplistic empty narrative replacement description for what fairly recently seemed more aptly described as NeoLiberal behavior. From my view the uncivil coupling of NeoConservative and NeoLiberal political practitioners speaks more adroitly to our present governmental folly and disarray.
R.F.K. Jr. may well make an excellent replacement for either Biden or especially Kamala Harris.👀
Very good article sir and will be linking it tomorrow @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/
Kennedy's statements were factual. To portray it as antisemitism is a travesty. It wasn't. Why does the MSM basically kiss the ass of a certain race. The Holocaust was terrible and shouldn't be forgotten. but there has been many other genocides that were just as bad. I guess money talks!!!!!
It is long overdue to publicly state and restate that we have been and are in the middle of largest US conspiracy ever.
Conspiracy led by Hillary DNC team (including St. Obama, Pelosi, Biden, Schiff, etc.) and Deep State (FBI, CIA, NSA, etc.) and also select RINO GOP collaborators.
The unprecedented and on-going CONSPIRACY includes
• Russia-gate 5-year hoax and major election interference,
• coup in Ukraine and attempted coup against elected US president,
• Hunter laptop premediated lies, silencing of US president in social media and resulting stealing of 2020 election,
• protection of Biden and Biden’s family major corruption,
• Jan. 6 armed insurrection set-up (with almost ten dead according to AOC),
• Building a major censorship apparatus led by CIA and FBI executives in State media, Internet, major universities and technology giant firms – that is still maintained
• Persecution, prosecution, and silencing leading 2024 presidential candidates who are opposing the US War uni-party
Mr. Lawrence,
Are you concerned about the candidacy of Dr. Cornel West, who is steadfast against the proxy war in Ukraine, who opposes empire and the grotesque war machine that supports it, and who thinks Americans are greatly, urgently in need of Washington's attention? Hmm?
Wonderful article! I am having trouble understanding the last paragraph -- "It was an old trick of mine during my correspondent years to use events as mirrors: If Prime Minister Lee or Watanabe did this, what prompted his action?" Is that Lee of Singapore you're referring to? Who is Watanabe? How did the "mirror" technique work with these world leaders?
Well, Patrick, I have to agree with you about our corrupt politics. We keep coming up a day late and a dollar short. To make matters worse, I was reading on RT (as well as MoA) the suggestion that Russia would beat the US/UK/EU/NATO. To make matters worse, you read about it here first. Mr. Auerback originally suggested that the Ukraine would be NATO's Waterloo. As Mr. Merryman suggests you really should take a look at today's MoA and finally, you shouldn't worry about Farhad Manjoo too much. In case you didn't realize it, he's a Salon dot com alumnus that left them a decade or so ago. He wrote a tech column - computers, electronics and the like. In short, engineering not science.
Did he provide any proof that the Chinese are trying to develop ethnically targeted bioweapons? Or any offensive bioweapons?
I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese are interested in this research as a defensive posture, given the use of bioweapons against them in WWII (by the Japanese) and Korea (by the Americans). And yes, offensive and defensive capabilities are hard to disentangle.
But for the same reason, I am dubious that they would actively develop offensive bioweapons since it would be pretty repulsive to its own population and everybody else in the world. Americans may not have awareness of this topic but it's a pretty big deal in China and the rest of the world.
He's not a junkie anymore and the hepatitis was alledgedlly cured.
The president's son is an unrepentant junkie who barely had a hard day in his life. RFK Jr's father and uncle were assassinated and in his youth he despaired and went off track. I trust a man who went through that and came out the other end strong and directed -- he turned himself into an extremely effective environmental lawyer with hundreds of victories against massive polluters. He dares to challenge big pharma and their poisonous medications.
What good has Joe Biden ever done for the world? Or Hillary Clinton? Or Donald Trump? Or GW Bush? Or Bill Clinton? Obama? These were all power-hungry and corrupt liars who experienced none of the suffering RFK Jr went through and yet still decided to start wars and kill millions of people for nothing while strip-mining the American people.
We used to understand that hardship can make one strong. The soft, easy lives of our Boomer leaders did them and us no favors. RFK Jr is a real, decent person. Millions of Americans have struggled with opiate addiction and if anything, I think his experience might endear him to people even more since many have family members who went through something similar. Well, everyone but you, sitting in your opaque glass house handing out judgment like some Puritanical preacher from the 1700s. Wisdom not your strong suit, huh?
He can't alienate Jewish American voters to get elected. They are a key part of the Dem base and they vote. Judge him based on the character he has displayed in his actions during his life and his general approach, not to the words he speaks on every hot button issue in US politics. If he came out strong for Palestinian rights he would not just alienate Jewish Dems but many others as well, including many Repubs that might cross the aisle to vote for him.
What he does in office may be an entirely different thing but you have to understand: for us Israel is a sensitive topic even though, in the main run, it doesn't really matter to us. We're funny (stupid?) that way.
Jewish voters are less than 2% of the US public and they are largely concentrated in coastal (aka "safe") states.
Even if every last Jew in California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts were to vote Team R for president, Team D would still carry each of those states by a landslide. Florida is sort of the exception, but it would still require a monumental defection from a political party that Jewish people have been remarkably loyal to over the decades.
It's not just Jews, as I wrote, it's also Evangelicals and many others. Most Americans, almost instinctively and for various reasons and feelings, have an affinity for Israel. And don't forget that Jews have an inordinate influence over the media and entertainment industries in the US. Our influence goes far beyond our numbers. The Israel/Palestine question is, as they say, a third-rail in US politics. I support Palestinian rights and the end of apartheid in Israel. If I was running for office I would keep my views to myself and after getting elected would subtly push for change. For the existing Jewish overclass, the Holocaust was the best thing that ever happened: it inoculates them from criticism on any issue and paints them with an aura of saintly suffering. As a Jew I find it troubling. We should all be assessed on what we do, not our ancestry or history that, frankly, at this point we have nothing to do with. Over 60 million people died in WWII. I'm tired of being singled out for special status. I find it facile and potentially dangerous.
Evangelicals and adjacent already are going to vote Team R, and they are a notoriously disciplined voting bloc.
And believe me when I say that I accept no truck with antisemitism.
The evangelical vote is actually not as uniform as you might think and a guy like RFK Jr, who has a strong faith, could peel off a significant if limited number from Trump. But I'm not just talking about them: the vast majority of Americans feel positively about Israel and don't want to hear it criticized too much, whether Dem, Repub or the biggest block these days: independent.
Not sure why you said that last but I didn't for a second think you were in any way antisemitic. I'm probably more comfortable with criticism of Israel and Jews than most non-Jews I know. I think there is a lot to criticize. I also think there's a lot to praise. I try not to lump people too strictly into groups. I also don't equate Jewish and Israel. Israel is a state, and as such has an entirely different nature from people. Criticizing Israel, to me, does not equate with antisemitism. They can overlap but this knee-jerk assumption that any critique of Israel as a state must be antisemitic, again, does neither Israel nor Jews any favors. Cheers.
There is a reason that Team D doesn't target white evangelicals, whom they never will reach. The excuses that they make for Trump are astounding.
The second paragraph wasn't really aimed at you so much as the kneejerk accusers of antisemitism.