Quote (Piero Scaruffi @ "Vladimir Trump, Russia's stooge")

Trump has become the most powerful propagandist for Russia in the West. The young Putin's goal as a KGB agent was to delegitimize and discredit the USA, and that has been his agenda since seizing power in Russia. During his campaign Trump described NATO as "obsolete" (precisely what Russia wants) and attacked the European Union (just like Russia did) and hailed Britain's exit from the European Union (just like Russia did).

Trump initially denied any Russian connection but has slowly been forced to admit each and every one. Trump's campaign manager Paul Manafort worked for a pro-Russian group in Ukraine that paid millions of dollars to Washington lobbyists in 2012. Trump chose as national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was invited to dinner by Putin in person, was paid by Russian propaganda television and had meetings with the Russian ambassador during the Republican convention. Trump chose as commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, whose ties with three Russian oligarchs involved in money laundering are beyond dispute. Now nobody doubts that Trump's staff had multiple secret contacts with Russia in 2016 leading up to Russia's hacking attack against the Democratic Party. There is still one piece of the puzzle that Trump vehemently denies: that Russia has a video of Trump indulging in sex orgies during a visit to Russia. You decide: do you believe a man who has consistently lied about everything, and whose statements about Russian connections have all been proven false, a man who publicly boasted about having indulged in promiscuous sex? Incidentally, it is quintessential Putin to have someone taped during a sex orgy and then use that video for blackmail. I take bets that the video exists (the man who spoke about the existence of that video is a former British secret agent with a formidable reputation who has looked for absolutely zero publicity). And finally there's the long-standing mystery of Trump's tax returns: we already know that Trump didn't pay taxes, so why keep those tax returns so closely guarded? The rational answer is that those tax returns contain information that is so damning to potentially trigger an impeachment. Russians have always wondered where Putin launders his billions: is it possible that Trump's tax returns would help shed light on the mystery of Putin's hidden fortune?

Whatever the reason that Putin supports Trump, it is a fact that Putin achieved what the USA often tries to do to others: regime change. The USA has failed to achieve regime change in North Korea, Iran and, last but not least, Russia. Putin succeeded in causing regime change in the USA. It is obvious why last November the Russian parliament gave a standing ovation to the news that Trump had become the new president of the USA (despite losing by three million votes). In a Fox News interview with Bill O'Reilly of February 2017, Trump stated that the USA has been as much a "killer" as Russia, therefore de facto justifying Russian atrocities in Syria and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. There are dozens of statements like these in his speeches and tweets. Trump keeps justifying Russia and bashing the USA and the USA's allies. Trump attacks every institution that the West created to counter Russian expansionism, notably NATO and the European Union (Putin's most hated international institutions). Trump attacked, i.e. delegitimized, all the institutions of the US government (from the CIA to the judges) that "made America great". Putin will have succeeded whatever happens next. If Trump gets impeached for widespread corruption or for monumental incompetence, Putin still wins: his goal was to delegitimize the US democracy and to discredit the USA among its allies, and Putin succeeded on both counts no matter what happens next.

Almost every comment on foreign policy that Trump makes is simply an echo of similar comments made by Putin at one point or another. Trump has attacked NATO, the European Union, NAFTA and the USA itself just like Putin routinely does. Trump killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), one of the best trade deals ever designed, that would have dealt a deadly blow to Russia's aspirations in Asia. It would have strengthened the position of the USA in the Pacific and isolated China and Russia. The result of killing that trade deal is to isolate the USA and strengthen the position of China and Russia. Trump has given Russia and especially China an unexpected gift. Trump's USA has basically withdrawn from the Pacific Ocean and from Europe. China and Russia can expand at will. When Trump "renegotiates" NAFTA he will basically sever the USA from Canada and Mexico, who will then be easily conquered economically by Russia and China.

When Trump told the world that NATO is obsolete, he did little to strengthen the position of the USA in Europe. Europeans got the message loud and clear: from now on, you are on your own against Russia's aggressions. When Trump theatened to slap a 35% tariff on BMW cars, it did little to make Germany a stronger ally. He did a lot to make Germany less likely to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine and its role in the Syrian holocaust. Germany is now wary that the USA is not a real friend and will be left alone to face Russia's military might. Following Trump's dismissal of Ukraine's claims, nobody in Eastern Europe (the former Soviet satellites) believes that the USA would defend them from a Russian invasion. The USA is de facto out of Eastern Europe. The region that fell under US influence after the collapse of the Soviet Union is now again shifting towards Russian dominance.

Obama had offered Iran a way to become an ally of the USA in the Middle East. Trump has promised to reverse that policy. Guess who benefits: Russia will be able to strengthen its ties to Iran. The Russia-Iran axis will dominate the Middle East as Trump isolates the USA in the region. Russia shares a border with Iran and sells Iran high-tech weapons. Iran is de facto the foot soldier of Russia in Syria. They both protect the Assad regime against the pro-democracy rebels (that also used to be pro-USA before Trump insulted Muslims and banned Syrian freedom-fighters from the USA). Trump's ban on Muslims further isolates the USA in the Middle East. (I suspect that Saudi Arabia and Turkey were spared from the ban because they have been the main supporters of ISIS and Trump needs a terrorist attack in the USA to consolidate his power).

Some of these actions could be reversed by Trump's successor (assuming that Trump doesn't find a way to stay in power until he dies), but some of the consequences are irreversible: nobody in the world will trust the USA the same way it did before, and nobody will think of the USA as the most stable country in the world. Russia and China are clearly more stable and more reliable.

24 hours after the phone conversation between Putin and Trump, fighting resumed in Eastern Ukraine. A few days later, one of the most famous Russian dissidents, was hospitalized with symptoms of acute poisoning. A few days later Alexei Navalny, the only politician willing to run against Putin in the presidential elections, was found guilty of drummed-up charges and banned from running in the elections. Within one month of Trump's inauguration, Russia sent a warplane to spy on a US carrier, deployed a missile that violates pact, restarted violence in Ukraine

Putin's strategy is to weaken the USA worldwide through Trump and to strengthen Russia's ties with countries that were beginning to fall into the orbit of the USA, such as Iran and China.

Trump will be remembered for many generations as the man who caused the decline of the USA as a world power.

Quote (Voyaging @ 18 Mar 2017 23:29)

Great read esp. the parts regarding Trump's geopolitical aspirations and how they comprehensively favor Russian aspirations:


Source: http://scaruffi.com/politics/usa17.html#usa0317

Quote (Goomshill @ Mar 19 2017 12:42am)

Heres a much better read:
https://theintercept.com/2017/02/28/the-new-yorkers-big-cover-story-reveals-five-uncomfortable-truths-about-u-s-and-russia/

That ones written by an actual journalist, who is about as qualified to write music reviews as scruff-face is to cover geopolitics

Quote (Beowulf @ Mar 19 2017 01:04pm)

Another good week lined up boys

Hopefully Maddow doesn't get in the way with Trump Hotel yelp reviews or something

Quote (Pollster @ Mar 21 2017 05:58pm)

A good week for who, haha?

If I was Trump I would be furious with the Congressional GOP. They've allowed for the possibility that his entire presidency could be killed in the crib by setting up a high-stakes vote on beginning the discussion of a plan that's flaming garbage on its merits. There's just no excuse for inviting this level of risk. The House is by far and away the easiest part of this process to navigate and yet they're setting Trump up for failure, practically ensuring that he'll be haunted by one thing or another no matter the outcome.

Quote (Pollster @ 21 Mar 2017 18:58)

A good week for who, haha?

If I was Trump I would be furious with the Congressional GOP. They've allowed for the possibility that his entire presidency could be killed in the crib by setting up a high-stakes vote on beginning the discussion of a plan that's flaming garbage on its merits. There's just no excuse for inviting this level of risk. The House is by far and away the easiest part of this process to navigate and yet they're setting Trump up for failure, practically ensuring that he'll be haunted by one thing or another no matter the outcome.

Quote (Pollster @ 18 Jul 2015 12:23)

Clinton would win in an electoral landslide. I know people like to have fun discussing fringe candidates but anyone who would attempt to argue otherwise is clearly clueless regarding national and state politics. Clinton would receive at least 347 EVs, and could theoretically push into the 370s-380s if she was fortunate enough to have 6-8 months of campaigning against Trump as the Republican standard-bearer.

The amusing thing is that Trump's electoral viability is little different than most of the other Republicans running. Bush, Walker, Rubio, and Kasich are all capable of forcing a tight election and even winning in certain environments but most of the other primary candidates would fare as poorly as Trump would.