Bill Barr is covering up for Donald Trump - and posing a dire threat to democracy
By Thom Hartmann A...
Bill Barr is covering up for Donald Trump.Trump's first national security adviser, General Michael Flynn, had a phone call with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, just after President Obama had imposed sanctions on Russia for interfering in the 2016 election on behalf of Trump. Flynn "urged Mr. Kislyak in a phone call not to escalate tensions with a retaliatory move against the United States-perhaps by kicking American diplomats and spies out of Russia." Flynn denied that the call was about sanctions, but it has become pretty clear based on new reports that what took place was "a back-channel discussion with a top Russian official that might lead to the new Trump administration gutting the sanctions its predecessor put in place to punish the Russians."
In any other time, a national security adviser who acted this way would be considered a traitor.
But not in Bill Barr's America.
Read more here.
-Thom
Comments
#2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Flynn
Makes you wonder what all of the other retired Generals do.
#3
@Legend
Thanks for the wikipedia link.
Now I am wondering not only what other Generals may be doing, but also how many registered Democrats (!) may also be doing something similar.
More specifically wrt WA state, any particular candidates who are worthy of voting (preferably from all political parties, even minor ones)?
#4
Bill Barr is Trump's Roy Cohn. End of story. Oh, does this future-history leave out the part where our 244-year-old, constitutionally-limited, representative, democratic republic was completely destroyed in only three and a half years? And after Trump had promised to surround himself with the "best people" too, and who even had a red hat (like a Redcoat) that said, "Make America Great Again." Who woulda thunk?
Of course, with several waves of the deadly Republican thought-virus infecting the body politic over the decades since Nixon, whom Trump emulates, our democracy-in-name-only was already teetering on the edge of death long before Trump the Mad ascended the throne. He just gave us the final push.
#5
@deepspace
"democracy-in-name-only": How much "in name", depends on the extent of (platonic) idealism assumed for "democracy".
EU, Russia , China and others imitate USA style "democracy" with varying degrees of success and assimilation. (Even Saudi Arabia "granted" recently the "right" to women to drive cars (Wow!)(https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/24/world/middleeast/saudi-driving-ban-anniversary.html))
Historically the progress of civilization has been bumpy (ups and downs). Whether the current decline of USA "democracy" is a historical dip or the final stretch before we pass the baton, remains to be seen. The city-state of ancient Athens had just one dip. But in other cases (ancient, Egypt, Roman empire, and i think China) there were more than one "low points".
Obviously i will not live long enough to find out ..... (for better or for worse)
#6
"History never repeats itself but it often rhymes." Historical comparisons are certainly apt, up to a point. Alas, we are in uncharted waters and no longer have the luxury of time. The sand in the hourglass allotted for the Homo sapien experiment in evolution and democracy is fast running out ...and we will have destroyed ourselves.
So, is that our future history?
#7
@deepspace
Thanks for the "rhyme". It reminded me something that i read looong time ago, presumably this "Thus our instincts certainly cause us to believe the sun will rise to-morrow, but we may be in no better a position than the chicken which unexpectedly has its neck wrung."
(href=http://www.personal.kent.edu/~rmuhamma/Philosophy/RBwritings/ProbPhiloBook/chap-VI.htm> ).
Thanks also for the link for our (possible) "future history" (interesting oxymoron by itself). I may be misinterpreting the "movie", but i think it arrives at an "agnostic" conclusion, having "described" two "limiting" scenarios per "dimension" (technology, AI, envoronment, politics etc). Does the "wheel" stand for simple "mathematical" probabilities? Does it represent the so called "free will"? (Does something like the latter REALLY exists? And if yes, has any one heard of "collective free will"? (collective in the meaning of "everybody together")). Even if chance (probabilities) decides for the fate of Universe, the "movie" had a more optimistic conclusion (imho of course) than the first part of your note. However, extrapolating so far into "future history" is prone to suffer from a significant "extrapolation error".
For those who believe in evolution (Darwin style) "humans" (or "hu-mans") are not (most probably not) the end of "evolution". So, it is not likely that homo sapiens will bring a ("good" or "bad") end to the Universe (or even to our galaxy). It will likely be some other "species' " "glory" (and problem) to do so.
#8
Very interesting. Yeah, our little spit of time and space doesn't seem all that significant, considering the immensity of the universe, and the strong likelihood of a "multiverse." The probabilities do become seemingly endless the further one extrapolates into the future, trying to apply the known to the unknown.
Hopefully, as we evolve, scientific curiosity and moral consciousness will prevail over ignorance and selfishness -- a straightforward path that will lead to a better future for all life to thrive. Maybe that is our humble contribution in the grand scheme of things.
Meanwhile, in a physical world set in a present timeframe, all we can do with the senses available to humans (and horses) is to understand our surroundings and circumstances as much as possible. When the great "wheel" of time stops during those still moments of the day, suspended between what has been and what will be -- a timeless state where life actually lives -- there exists that pivotal, creative instant when all things are possible, the consequence of every past action that meets every potential future, if only we realize it.
Subconscious deep reflection, sometimes called daydreaming, is a common phenomenon wired into the brain, involving an inexplicable sense of wonder and free association that scarcely leaves a mark on memory but appears to be a main driving force in problem-solving, which scientists have yet to explain adequately.
Hence, performing the critical actions right now at this point in the march of time is all that really matters. Good or bad, what we do today determines tomorrow, so our aim should be true -- to observe reality as much as our intelligence will allow, both individually and collectively, and then learn the lessons. They might be hard, maybe impossible, but the passion to understand everything around and within us, including that which can never be fully comprehended, is the greatest strength of our species.
With the scientific method, we must honor the cause and effect of outward, observable reality and then act accordingly to achieve meaningful results. Perhaps, in a moral sense, in the subjective world, behavioral karma has an equal imperative. Making an individual free choice is, like a hologram, a smaller reflection of a larger action -- a collective consciousness that will determine the ultimate fate of our species and the tree of life on Earth.
"We all do better when we all do better." - Paul Wellstone
#9
@deepspace
With minor exceptions of a couple of words, here and there (i.e. “Hopefully as we evolve….”), … all that really what matters…), I fully concede (assuming that I am not misinterpreting you) with what you have written. I find it an excellent (ok, very very good) description of what is happening and perhaps what has been happening for a long time. The scientific method coupled with the “desire” to “understand” is perhaps the only way forward. Of course, neither “desire” nor “understand” are scientifically well-defined, but every effort to refine them improves the scientific method itself resulting in yet another (small?) step forward.
Back to “reality”: I did not know Paul Wellstone (that tells you how little I know about USA politics) till I watched your video, although I think I have some recollection of the plane accident. Unfortunately, I will not be able to vote for him, but there may be some other people like him that may be worth “testing” (i.e. voting them in office). Any ideas for WA state?
By the way the "We all do better when we all do better.", seems to me like “A=A” the well known tautology of one of the basics laws of logic. Of course, one may counter-say that “A is A, unless A is imagined/misinterpreted as something else”. (To which I have no answer.)
#10
When America learned that Richard Nixson had committed treason to become president, sabotaging LBJ’s Vietnam peace talks in 1968, the outrage lasted a few days, but was then quickly forgotten.
When America learned that the Reagan campaign had comitted treason by cutting a deal with Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini to deliver spare parts and weapons if they’d only hang onto the hostages until Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter, the outrage lasted a few days, but was then quickly forgotten. pack up & moving management
LBJ lied to us about the Gulf of Tonkin he’s today remembered for the Great Society, the Civil Rights Act and Medicare.
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
Mueller's favorite place to pray (written about in "Prophet's Way"), and the roof of the room where the Last Supper is reputed to have happened.
From Cracking the Code:
"Thom Hartmann ought to be bronzed. His new book sets off from the same high plane as the last and offers explicit tools and how-to advice that will allow you to see, hear, and feel propaganda when it's directed at you and use the same techniques to refute it. His book would make a deaf-mute a better communicator. I want him on my reading table every day, and if you try one of his books, so will you."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Right through the worst of the Bush years and into the present, Thom Hartmann has been one of the very few voices constantly willing to tell the truth. Rank him up there with Jon Stewart, Bill Moyers, and Paul Krugman for having the sheer persistent courage of his convictions."
From Screwed:
"I think many of us recognize that for all but the wealthiest, life in America is getting increasingly hard. Screwed explores why, showing how this is no accidental process, but rather the product of conscious political choices, choices we can change with enough courage and commitment. Like all of Thom’s great work, it helps show us the way forward."
Ok. Let's accept it as a fact that neither Barr nor Flynn are adequate for their assignments. Among known republicans whom should we recommend as their replacements, so that our society benefits as much as possible, while at the same time minimizing "collateral damage"?