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Video of the Day – Bill Hicks on Flag Burning

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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:

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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:”

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

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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.

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

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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.

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What’s the Truth About Steve Bannon?

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The demonization of Stephen K. Bannon from all angles as soon as he was named Trump’s chief strategist was unlike anything I can recall. It was even worse than what the media said about Trump throughout his campaign, which immediately made me wonder — is this guy really as horrible as they say?

If I, someone who reads news constantly, can’t be sure what to make of Bannon, how is it possible that millions of Americans on Twitter and Facebook could be so sure he’s a “white nationalist” and anti-Semite? The simple answer is that the media told them so, which is extremely dangerous. As such, I decided to start reading as much as I could about Bannon.

Unlike 90% of these overnight Steve Bannon experts, I had already read the lengthy 2015 Bloomberg article on him, This Man Is the Most Dangerous Political Operative in America. I remember finding it so interesting that I tweeted it out to my followers, imploring them to take a read. I can’t recall the details of the piece, but I remember my major takeaway was that this man is a force to be reckoned with. Of course, reading one article about Bannon a year ago gives you very little real knowledge about him. As such, given all the recent scrutiny, I went on a hunt for both pro and anti-Bannon articles. I figured I might be able to come to some sort of better, although naturally still quite imperfect, conclusion.

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Brilliant, Must Read of the Day – ‘You Are Still Crying Wolf’

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Scott Alexander has just penned what is perhaps the most brilliant, and important, post-election article I have read. It’s titled, You Are Still Crying Wolf, and here are the first few paragraphs:

[Content warning: hate crimes, Trump, racism. I have turned off comments to keep out bad people who might be attracted by this sort of thing. Avoid sharing in places where this will attract the wrong kind of attention, as per your best judgment. Please don’t interpret anything in this article to mean that Trump is not super terrible]

[Epistemic status: A reduction of a complicated issue to only 8000 words, because nobody would read it if it were longer. I think this is true but incomplete. I will try to discuss missing parts at more length later.]

I.

A New York Times article from last September that went viral only recently: Crying Wolf, Then Confronting Trump. It asks whether Democrats have “cried wolf” so many times that nobody believes them anymore. And so:

When “honorable and decent men” like McCain and Romney “are reflexively dubbed racists simply for opposing Democratic policies, the result is a G.O.P. electorate that doesn’t listen to admonitions when the genuine article is in their midst”.

I have a different perspective. Back in October 2015, I wrote that the picture of Trump as “the white power candidate” and “the first openly white supremacist candidate to have a shot at the Presidency in the modern era” was overblown. I said that “the media narrative that Trump is doing some kind of special appeal-to-white-voters voodoo is unsupported by any polling data”, and predicted that:

If Trump were the Republican nominee, he could probably count on equal or greater support from minorities as Romney or McCain before him.

Now the votes are in, and Trump got greater support from minorities than Romney or McCain before him. You can read the Washington Post article, Trump Got More Votes From People Of Color Than Romney Did, or look at the raw data (source).

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Trump made gains among blacks. He made big among Latinos. He made gains among Asians. The only major racial group where he didn’t get a gain of greater than 5% was white people. I want to repeat that: the group where Trump’s message resonated least over what we would predict from a generic Republican was the white population.

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Zerohedge Included in What NY Magazine Calls ‘Extremely Helpful List of Fake and Misleading News Sites’

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Before I get into the meat of this article, I want to remind you of a few paragraphs I wrote back in the August post,  Questioning Hillary’s Health is Not Conspiracy Theory:

As I look at the landscape in 2016 to-date, I observe emergent signs that alternative media is finally beginning to take over from the legacy mainstream media when it comes to impact and influence. The mainstream media (unlike with John McCain in 2008), had decided that Hillary Clinton’s health was not an issue and chose not to pursue it. Many in the alternative media world took a different position, and due to mainstream media’s failure to inform the American public for decades, the alternative media drove that issue to the top of the news cycle. That’s power.

This is an incredibly big deal, and the mainstream media intuitively knows what it means. It means a total loss of legitimately, prestige and power. All of which is well deserved of course.

So here’s the bottom line. 2016 represents the true beginning of what I would call the Media Wars. Alternative media is now capable of driving the news cycle. Mainstream media now has no choice but to fight back, and fight back it will. It will fight back dirty. This is going to get very ugly, but by the time the dust has settled, I think much of the mainstream media will be left as a shell of its former self.

With Hillary’s loss, the mainstream media and its distressed and discredited allies are in a panic like we have never seen before. They understand that alternative voices now influence the public as much, if not more so, than the mainstream press, and they are now out to destroy those voices. The way they are going about this is by placing anti-establishment voices under the blanket umbrella of “fake news,” or in the case of Twitter, they just seem to purge people they don’t like from the platform altogether.

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Draining the Neocon National Security Swamp? Don’t Count on It

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Now that things have gotten serious, it’s time for Donald Trump to kiss the ring.

Since clinching the Republican nomination, Trump’s true colors have started to emerge. He named a former Goldman Sachs partner to run his fundraising efforts, he named petty authoritarian, gangster wannabe Chris Christie to run his transition team, and he chose “everyone’s a terrorist” Rudy Giuliani as his planned head of the domestic gestapo, the Department of Homeland Security. He’s also been endorsed by Orc King Sheldon Adelson, who said he was prepared to spend $100 million to get him elected. Now he’s off to kiss the blood-soaked hands of Henry Kissinger.

– From the May 17, 2016 post: Donald Trump Will Meet War Criminal Henry Kissinger Tomorrow

Two names continue to be bandied about regarding Trump’s anticipated Secretary of State choice, neither of which are good. Those names are Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton. Rather than “draining the swamp,” this is more akin to me reliving either my 1990’s NYC childhood, or the post-9/11 neocon bonfire known as the George W. Bush administration.

For starters, John Bolton is about as reprehensible as you get, as Rand Paul so perfectly outlined in an Op-ed published earlier today over at Rare. Here’s some of what he wrote:

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