Year: 2016

Trump Fills the Swamp with Elaine Chao (Mitch McConnell’s Wife) for Transportation Secretary

by

screen-shot-2016-12-01-at-9-29-06-am

I know this is a couple of days old, but bear with me.

CNN reports:

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Elaine Chao, the former labor secretary and wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to be his choice for transportation secretary, an official briefed on the matter told CNN on Tuesday.

Chao served as secretary of labor under President George W. Bush from 2001 through 2009 — the longest tenure in the position since World War II — and has been married to McConnell since 1993. She was the first Asian-American woman to serve in a Cabinet position.

Chao also served as the deputy secretary of transportation under President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1991. Following her time in government, Chao has held a position as a distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation in addition to conducting media appearances.

Two Bushes and a Mitch McConnell, sounds like some serious swamp draining to me.

Meanwhile, you know someone’s really a threat to business as usual in D.C. when Chuck Shumer comes out with unbridled praise. As Politico notes:

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

There Will Be Swamp – Steve Mnuchin Confirms Treasury Secretary Nod

by

screen-shot-2016-11-30-at-6-35-49-am

While I’m not a Dodd-Frank fan, it’s not because it was too harsh, but because it didn’t really do much of anything. It was the typical neoliberal bait and switch, designed to look tough for public consumption, while merely making tweaks around the edges of a financial system that requires systemic, paradigm level change.

Trump’s support of repealing Dodd-Frank tells you all you need to know. A Trump Presidency will see Wall Street felons who should be in prison, running as wild and free as ever.

He will be the same thing to distressed working class whites that Obama was to the black community. A fake messiah and a shyster.

– From May’s post: Donald Trump’s True Colors Emerge as He Snuggles up to Wall Street

The fact that Steve Mnuchin was a Goldman Sachs partner is the least of my concerns when it comes to the man. Indeed, if someone wanted to create a playing card deck of sleazy Wall Street financial crisis opportunists, it’d be hard not to include Steve Mnuchin.

What exactly am I talking about? Specifically, I’m referring to the collapse of IndyMac (renamed One West), and the generous helping of government welfare Mnuchin and his partners received upon purchasing the failed banking institution. This is a financial crisis saga that is unknown to most, despite having received some extensive coverage over the past year. One of the best articles on the topic was written by David Dayen in his piece, Donald Trump’s Finance Chair Is the Anti-Populist From Hell. Here are a few excerpts:

Donald Trump’s first major staff selection since securing the Republican nomination, national finance chairman Steven Mnuchin, co-founded and manages the hedge fund Dune Capital. Not only did he make partner at Goldman Sachs, so did his father in the 1960s. With over 30 years of experience at the top levels of finance, Mnuchin was present for every recent major banking innovation, including those that brought the country to the brink of economic collapse.

Mnuchin’s presence in the campaign reveals how the qualities Trump loyalists projected on their hero don’t measure up to the truth. They have venerated him throughout the Republican primary for rejecting the dirty business of pay-to-play politics, and for populist vows to protect the ordinary worker. But in selecting Mnuchin, not only has Trump submitted to the realities of presidential campaign finance; he’s chosen one of the most notorious bankers in America to carry it out.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

Video of the Day – Bill Hicks on Flag Burning

by

screen-shot-2016-11-29-at-10-17-03-am

It’s like a ride in an amusement park and when you go on it you think it’s real, because that’s how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, round and round, it has thrills and chills, and it’s very brightly colored and it’s very loud. And it’s fun for a while. Some have been on the ride a long time and they begin to question: Is this real, or is this just a ride? And others have remembered and they come back to us and they say: Hey, don’t be afraid ever, because this is just a ride. And we kill those people.

Shut him up, I’ve got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry, my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real. It’s just a ride, but we always kill those good guys who try to tell us that and let the demons run amok. But it doesn’t matter because it’s just a ride and we can change it anytime we want. No job, no savings money, just a choice right now between fear and love.

– Bill Hicks 1961-1994

With all the hyperventilating about flag burning going on today as a result of a Trump tweet, let’s revisit the timeless wisdom of Bill Hicks.

Now here’s a another Hicks classic in case you missed it:

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

Obama Creates New Al-Qaeda Out of Thin Air to Justify His Somalia War

by

screen-shot-2016-11-29-at-7-34-28-am

An article published in The New York Times this past Sunday perfectly demonstrates how out of control and unconstitutional America’s foreign policy has become. It highlights the latest war being perpetrated by the Obama administration, which is expanding with very little scrutiny from the press or the government branch supposedly in charge of waging war, the U.S. Congress.

The latest growing battlefield is in Somalia, and it threatens to spiral out of control just like so many other undeclared war zones before it. From the NY Times:

WASHINGTON — The escalating American military engagement in Somalia has led the Obama administration to expand the legal scope of the war against Al Qaeda, a move that will strengthen President-elect Donald J. Trump’s authority to combat thousands of Islamist fighters in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation.

Is it “a move that will strengthen President-elect Donald J. Trump’s authority to combat thousands,” or is it a move that will allow Trump to also engage in endless, unconstitutional war?

The administration has decided to deem the Shabab, the Islamist militant group in Somalia, to be part of the armed conflict that Congress authorized against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to senior American officials. The move is intended to shore up the legal basis for an intensifying campaign of airstrikes and other counterterrorism operations, carried out largely in support of African Union and Somali government forces.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

Thank You and Welcome New Readers – A Liberty Blitzkrieg Mission Statement

by

screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-8-59-31-am

Being included in the now infamous, and laughably shoddy, PropOrNot hit list of so-called “Russian Propaganda” websites directly led to the most rewarding professional day I’ve had since I started blogging nearly five years ago. As soon as I saw the transparently ridiculous list and noticed that The Washington Post was giving legitimacy to it, I wasn’t outraged at all. Rather, I saw it for the blessing in disguise that it was. Being in the trenches for so many years, I have a reasonable sense of the public pulse, and I knew that thinking people would immediately see right through this pathetic mainstream media slander. I immediately assumed it would drive traffic to my site and boost my followers. However, what transpired exceeded even my wildest expectations (see: Liberty Blitzkrieg Included on Washington Post Highlighted Hit List of “Russian Propaganda” Websites).

My Twitter follower count exploded in a way I’ve never seen before, soaring by around 1,200 people in 24 hours. For some perspective, it typically takes me about six months on average to gain that many new followers. All these new people suddenly became interested in what I had to say, because I was falsely slandered by some cowardly collection of anonymous status quo hitmen.

Considering I have so many new readers in the mix, I figure this is an ideal time to rehash what I am trying to accomplish on this website. I think I have a unique perspective that can be of value to people trying to make sense of the increasingly chaotic world around them. First, a little background (for more, see: My 20 Minute Talk at the Liberty Mastermind Conference).

I had a privileged upbringing in New York City, amongst many of the world’s wealthiest citizens. I had all the advantages you might assume such an upbringing would afford, and since I was strong academically, I ended up at Duke University and then straight onto the fastest of fast tracks on Wall Street.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

Liberty Links 11/27/16

by

Must Reads Washington Post Disgracefully Promotes a McCarthyite Blacklist From a New, Hidden, and Very Shady Group (The Intercept) First Brexit Then Trump. Is Italy Next for the West’s Populist Wave? (Fantastic piece on current Italian politics, The Guardian) Sanders Statement on Carrier and Outsourcing (Bernie Sanders’ Senate Page) Net Neutrality Shouldn’t Be a Debate – … Read more

Liberty Blitzkrieg Included on Washington Post Highlighted Hit List of “Russian Propaganda” Websites

by

screen-shot-2016-11-25-at-10-42-27-am screen-shot-2016-11-25-at-10-43-15-am

I have to admit I’m quite honored to see that Liberty Blitzkrieg was recently included on a list of some of the most illustrious, impactful and successful alternative news websites on the planet. The list was created by an anonymous group of status quo crybabies who simply can’t handle the fact their beloved chosen oligarch was defeated in a democratically held election by Donald Trump (who I didn’t even support). As such, they are lashing out at alternative news outlets deemed most effective in countering the smothering and nonsensical pro-Hillary narrative tirelessly propagated by the fake mainstream news media.

The group in question calls itself PropOrNot, and self-describes in the following manner:

PropOrNot is an independent team of concerned American citizens with a wide range of backgrounds and expertise, including professional experience in computer science, statistics, public policy, and national security affairs. We are currently volunteering time and skills to identify propaganda – particularly Russian propaganda – targeting a U.S. audience. We collect public-record information connecting propaganda outlets to each other and their coordinators abroad, analyze what we find, act as a central repository and point of reference for related information, and organize efforts to oppose it. 

We formed PropOrNot as an effort to prevent propaganda from distorting U.S. political and policy discussions. We hope to strengthen our cultural immune systems against hostile influence and improve public discourse generally. However, our immediate aim at this point is to empower the American voter and decrease the ability of Russia to influence the ensuing American election.

Apparently, this is all we know so far about this shadowy organization, which is simply hilarious considering the group deems any alternative news source that does not agree with the U.S. government narrative to be either outright Russian propaganda, or “useful idiots.”

Here’s “the list:”

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

A Thanksgiving Message

by

On this special day for families across America, I want to share the timeless words attributed to Shawnee Chief, Tecumseh, which I’ve shared with readers on many past Thanksgivings. Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand that they … Read more

Why Trump Should Offer Tulsi Gabbard a Senior Role in His Administration

by

screen-shot-2016-11-22-at-10-00-32-am

Anyone who’s been reading me for more than a couple of days understands that I have serious reservations about Donald Trump. My concerns stem primarily from his authoritarian tendencies, as well as his stated disregard for civil liberties. Nevertheless, as I outlined in my post-election piece, Americans Roll the Dice With President Donald Trump, I very much want Trump to succeed, because this country needs him to succeed. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens are suffering under the weight of undue financial burdens, largely the result of an economy completely controlled by unethical and ruthless oligarchs thanks to their bought and paid for political stooges. This unholy union needs to be shattered before this country can be “made great again.”

Will Trump actually do what needs to be done? I have my doubts, but doubt isn’t going to lead to positive change. In these early months before Trump picks all of his personnel, it is imperative that we signal to him what would be acceptable behavior, and what would be considered unforgivable betrayal.

As such, from the very beginning I have advocated that Trump work closely with those forces in the opposition who actually want to make economic existence once again bearable for countless struggling Americans. Trump should ignore corporatist frauds irrespective of their political leanings (red/blue sports team colors), and unite the public along productive populist policy lines as opposed to blind, counterproductive partisan loyalties.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

Japanese Troops Deploy to South Sudan Risking First Overseas Conflict Since World War 2

by

screen-shot-2016-11-21-at-10-10-41-am

The re-miliarization of Japan has been on my radar and caused me much concern in recent years. I’ve covered the topic on several occasions, with the most recent example published over the summer in the post, Japanese Government Shifts Further Toward Authoritarianism and Militarism. Here are the first few paragraphs:

One of the most discomforting aspects of Neil Howe and William Strauss’ seminal work on generational cycles, The Fourth Turning (1997), is the fact that as far as American history is concerned, they all climax and end with massive wars.

To be more specific, the first “fourth turning” in American history culminated with the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the second culminated with the Civil War (1861-1865), while the third ended with the bloodiest war in world history, World War II (1939-1945). The number of years between the end of the Revolutionary War and the start of the Civil War was 78 years, and the number of years between the end of the Civil War and the start of World War II was 74 years (76 years if you use America’s entry into the war as your starting date). Therefore, if Howe & Strauss’ theory holds any water, and I think it does, we’re due for a major conflict somewhere around 75 years from the end of World War II. That brings us to 2020.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.