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THE ABSURD TIMES
Illustrations: Latuff on Israel building a wall around itself and young Hillary as a "Goldwater Girl" [If it was before your time, 1964 Goldwater was the "war" candidate and "negro" hater, and Johnson was the "Peace" Candidate and Civil Rights activist]
Hillary and Henry v. Bernie and You
by
Leonard Trotsky
We have an unusual situation with the publication as most of our readers are in Germany or Russia and the United States is a poor third, most of the time. Perhaps that is why we need to keep explaining what is really going on in the primaries here as they seem very confusing overseas and completely misunderstood here.
We have been asked first why we do not write this publication in German. Well, most Germans who will find their way to this publication read English far more easily than we can write in German. Too many cases and declensions to handle for one thing and the colloquialisms are extremely strange to us with our late 18th to early 20th Century study of German. As far as Russian is concerned, the Alphabet is an insurmountable barrier. So there.
Since the last edition, strange things have been surfacing, so we will also attend to them. For example, James Clapper, spymaster general, recently said that they need to monitor more than telephones as there are other input and output devices that need monitoring against attack. When he got to thermostats, we gave up on him. If the Chinese want to hack into my thermostat, I hope they manage to set it to a comfortable temperature.
Recently a group of Kurds marched on the offices of CNN. It is not clear what their purpose was. They were asked a few times, but they did not seem to know either. Perhaps they wanted some bombs and they saw a lot of bombs on CNN.
A few things need to be mentioned before the primary season news goes any further. Madeline Albright, whom we thought was dead, surfaced and pronounced that "there is a special place in Hell for women who do not support other women." Whew. At first thought, that must be a very crowded place in Hell, but she was referring to those who do not vote for Hillary in the new Hampshire Primary. This is the same steadfast moral voice who said that the death of over 500,000 Iraqi children every year because of the U.S. Was "worth it" to get rid of the "murderous dictator" Saddam Hussein. Now even some of Georgie Bush II's servants state that with all the evil things we say he did were totaled up, the same thing "happens every day" now in Iraq. I think his name was Crocker. Maddy later withdrew this and said "that's not what I meant" – ABOUT THE VOTING, NOT THE DEAD CHILDREN IN IRAQ.
The Gloria Steinem opens her mouth wide enough to say that so many young women are supporting Sanders because "that's where the boys are." Her interviewer, Bill Mahrer, asked "Do you know what you would say about me if I said something like that? Come off it."
She replied "You know me better than that, Bill," and touched him knee, I think.
Well, I guess it's better than the Palin factor. Anyone endorsed by sarah palin will finish no higher than second. This is much like the ex-Cubs factor in American baseball: whichever team has the most ex-cubs on it will loose. At any rate, Trump figured that out, I think.
So, now we will start with the sanest part of the primary season and go until it becomes too crazy for words. Hillary Clinton was attacked early on by Donald Trum as being the "worst Secretary of State in the history" of the United States. At the time, we just figured he had never heard of John Foster Dulles, but then there is also Henry Kissinger whom she praises at great length. Kissinger is the one who was behind getting rid of Sianook and making possible the Kymer Rouge in Cambodia. (Yes, he goes at least that far back.) He got rid of Allende in Chile and gave us Pinochet. He decided he should be both head of the National Security Council and Secretary of State and Pat Nixon was reputedly worried that he wanted to be first lady. He is the inspiration for Hilary. Regime change as a foreign policy. Today, Assad is the "murderous dictator" as was Gaddafy previously. All three countries today are the result.
Hillary claims to have been brought up in a rough Chicago neighborhood. It was Park Ridge, a Northwest suburb, relatively yuppie-like. Someone of her ilk would not have last ten minutes in the neighborhood I grew up in and mine was not particularly rough. Now Blagoyavitch, that was a different matter.
So now the Blacks are getting involved in the Primary and, it would seem, support Hillary. Sanders was demonstrating for civil rights before the Clintons even thought of it, but the blacks leaders are only now figuring that out. See, right after the civil rights legislation, the Vietnam war fight started. At the time, Hillary was a "Goldwater Girl". Of course, she found out that Bill was available, drove down to Arkansas, and has been a democrat ever since. Maybe even before. Again a different matter. Too complicated for American politics.
At any rate, most Americans are very tired of the political situation. Sanders therefore becomes popular. Very popular. He is also knowledgeable and concerned with Wall Street and capitalistic oppression of the people. Therefore, he will get a great deal of support, but the Democratic Party is unlikely to allow him to become its nominee.
Now, the real insanity is on the Republican side, especially the primaries. Donald Trump does not act like a typical politician, swears, throws out bigoted remarks, and is flamboyant. He does well because people of the more ignorant type, but who are just as angry with how they are treated by their government (but who are unaware that the government is owned by Wall Street) flock to him. There, of course, are others. Ted Cruz with his "moral ism" as an "Evangelical". If you ask what is an Evangelical, the answers will be varied, but "heart" and "Jesus" are always a part of it. Frankly, the most frightening character of the entire bunch is John Kasich, current Governor of Ohio, who actually seems sane enough to actually beat a Democratic party's candidate (who may well still be Joe Biden).
Now, coming up is the North Carolina primary. What comes out of that is simply too silly to observe, you will see things such as porn stars endorsing evangelicals, and so on. We will simply pass on that.
One thing to keep in mind: Russia really needs to take over Eastern Ukraine quickly before Trump suggests putting a wall around it.
This is viewer supported news
During Thursday's Democratic debate, Bernie Sanders picked up on a point that Hillary Clinton made during last week's face-off in New Hampshire about her admiration for former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. "She talked about getting the approval or the support or the mentoring of Henry Kissinger," Sanders said. "Now, I find it rather amazing, because I happen to believe that Henry Kissinger was one of the most destructive secretaries of state in the modern history of this country. … I am proud to say that Henry Kissinger is not my friend. I will not take advice from Henry Kissinger." Clinton responded that Sanders has failed to answer questions about whom he would have advise him on foreign policy. Sanders told her, "Well, it ain't Henry Kissinger. That's for sure." We get reaction from economist Jeffrey Sachs, whose recent article is headlined "Hillary is the Candidate of the War Machine," and from Congressmember Gregory Meeks, Democrat of New York and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus political action committee, which has endorsed Hillary Clinton.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, I want to go back to the debate last night in Milwaukee, when Bernie Sanders picked up on a point that Hillary Clinton made during last week's debate in New Hampshire—that is, Clinton's admiration, and his admiration for her, talking about Henry Kissinger.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Where the secretary and I have a very profound difference, in the last debate and, I believe, in her book—very good book, by the way—in her book and in this last debate, she talked about getting the approval or the support or the mentoring of Henry Kissinger. Now, I find it rather amazing, because I happen to believe that Henry Kissinger was one of the most destructive secretaries of state in the modern history of this country. I am proud to say that Henry Kissinger is not my friend. I will not take advice from Henry Kissinger.
And, in fact, Kissinger's actions in Cambodia, when the United States bombed that country, overthrew Prince Sihanouk, created the instability for Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge to come in, who then butchered some 3 million innocent people—one of the worst genocides in the history of the world. So, count me in as somebody who will not be listening to Henry Kissinger.
GWEN IFILL: Secretary Clinton?
HILLARY CLINTON: Well, I know journalists have asked who you do listen to on foreign policy, and we have yet to know who that is.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Well, it ain't Henry Kissinger. That's for sure.
HILLARY CLINTON: I—that's fine. That's fine.
AMY GOODMAN: That's Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders debating last night in Milwaukee. The significance of what Bernie Sanders raised, Professor Sachs?
JEFFREY SACHS: He's raising the basic point that when Hillary Clinton says she has experience, her experiences of regime change, that's the Henry Kissinger mode of operation. It is to back the CIA and the military-industrial complex for violent regime change. She's done it now three times, that has led to disaster: Iraq, Libya and now Syria. No responsibility. Most of it's secret, except when The New York Times gives a little bit of a public window to what's happening. That experience is a dreadful experience, and it is a significant mark against her candidacy.
AMY GOODMAN: Congressman Gregory Meeks?
REP. GREGORY MEEKS: Yes. Well, let me—first, let's go back to Libya, because I don't know where Mr. Leeds [sic] was—
AMY GOODMAN: Well, could you—could you respond, though, on this issue of using Henry Kissinger as an example?
REP. GREGORY MEEKS: Well, Henry Kissinger, I will tell you, as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I talk to all people, especially if someone has an expertise in one area or another, so that I can dissect and determine what did happen, what has happened in the past, utilize advice, take in and take out. I know that I talk to all, because that's the best way for me to make a decision, as opposed to just leaving someone out. So if I was going to be or was appointed secretary of state, I think that I would talk to as many secretaries of states that had been alive to figure—get from them what they did, when they did it, how—their advice. It's similar to when you have a transition team. And even if it's a different party, you talk to your former colleagues to find out what they did and how they did it. And sometimes, you might find a bit of advice that you could utilize, and some you may not.
And I think that what she was talking about was that, for example, one of the things that was important was the opening up of relationships and dialogue with China. It was extremely important. Just as Mr. Sanders admitted and said today the same thing: There's a huge difference when we talk and open up a dialogue with Cuba. And we would want to make sure that those kinds of things are happening. So, if—
AMY GOODMAN: I mean, interestingly, on that issue of China that Hillary Clinton raised, how important Henry Kissinger was, Bernie Sanders replied that it was about offshoring jobs, companies moving to China. Jeffrey Sachs?
JEFFREY SACHS: I think the problem for Hillary is that she has a record. She has a foreign policy record, which is not an enviable one. And she has a domestic record of going with the special interests.
AMY GOODMAN: We're going to break here and come back for another five minutes, and then I know Congressmember Meeks has to leave. This is Democracy Now!We're talking to the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus political action committee, Queens Congressmember Gregory Meeks, and Professor Jeffrey Sachs, economist, a professor at Columbia University. Stay with us.
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