Thought for the Day

[KnightHawk 2.0]

What we are seeing is a form of existential politics that we have heard from people like Netanyahu in Israel, and Donald Trump in the US. It presents politics as an Either/Or, Binary dilemma: either you are with us, or you are against us. Either you support Israel or you are against it. Either you believe Trump is the saviour of America, or America is lost.

On one level, this is Leninism, the curse of radical politics: no debate, no critique, just obedience to the leadership at all times and on all levels. In the US this is how Bannon and other figures on 'the Right' have studied what Lenin achieved, but have also taken cues from the Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci and his arguments about cultural 'direction' (Dirigere) or Hegemony, in which all political communication is shaped by singular concerns intended to produce an end, which is total power.

What this means is that, for example in Israel's case, Negotiation is Appeasement, Compromise is Surrender, and Peace Treaties a Betrayal. This is why Sharon and Netanyahu opposed the 1993 Treaty between Israel and the Palestinians, but in doing so established a devastating Either/Or, Existential structure which suggests, in theory or practice, that if 'The Arabs' are opposed to Israel, then Israel has no choice but to remove the threat, using violence/war if necessary.

In the Republican Party, the decision to move away from a co-operative to a combative relationship with the Democrats, in which the Democrats became the Enemy, with whom there could be no Negotiations, no Agreement, no Compromise, has created a Leninist dynamic in the Party which, as with the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks in the early 20th century, means that it is not enough to be a member of the Republican Party in Congress, one must demonstrate an absolute commitment to Donald Trump as the leader and the source of Authority, the hegemonic totem of the Party. No Trump = No Party. It means more time is taken up purifying the Party than dealing with day-to-day issues. Impeaching the President on bogus grounds is more important than tackling the homeless on the streets, to take one example.

And while the House may elect someone who campaigned against the Democratic outcome of the 2020 Election, in effect, campaigned then and now against the American voters, in the Senate, one single member, Tuberville, has prevented the appointment of the head of the US Navy even as US Naval warships are parked off the coast of Israel, while he and others have blocked the appointment of numerous US Ambassadors -why? Not because of some national security threat, but because Tuberville doesn't think the US military should have service policies regarding LGBTQ+ personnel, doesn't think women in the services should have abortions if pregnant, and so on. The tail is wagging the dog, and the dog is barking.

Dogma, doctrinal issues, and no regard for the wider interests of the constituents who elected them -an obsession with Trump and his bogus agenda. It doesn't concern Mr Johnson if the majority of American women want to make their own choices on their pregnancy, when he can do it for them, based on his dogmatic views; just as it doesn't matter what American parents want for their LGBTQ+ child, the Dogma will decide, and so on.

It is the rot at the root of democratic politics, and leads to the end of politics as a relationship shaped by open debate and decision making. It is not just happening in Israel and the US, and remains the greatest threat to world peace, because if 'we' cannot maintain our own democratic institutions and way of life, we go the way of Russia, China, North Korea, or the corrupt governments where narcotics and money are all that matter.

That said, there are elections in November, and next year too, so maybe the US will walk back from the brink, though it seems to me the Republican Party is a corpse with an orange wig, waiting to be interred in the graveyard of retarded political losers.

Election denier, climate skeptic, anti-abortion: seven beliefs of new US House speaker Mike Johnson (msn.com)

Well said and completely agree Stavros. The new speaker of the House Of Representatives Mike Johnson has some really messed up and despicable beliefs.

[Stavros]

"Questioned about comments and actions deemed by many to be homophobic, the new Republican US House speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, told Fox News his worldview was: “Go pick up a Bible.”"
‘Go pick up a Bible’: Speaker Mike Johnson defends anti-LGBTQ+ views | Mike Johnson | The Guardian

I would rather pick up something else, mate, if it's all the same with you...

[Stavros]

Heather Cox Richardson on the election of Mr Johnson, "the least-experienced speaker in more than a century. "
October 25, 2023 - by Heather Cox Richardson (substack.com)

[KnightHawk 2.0]

Don't be fooled by No Labels. A vote for a so-called Third Party Candidate is a vote for the MAGA King Donald-PLCPC-Trump to return to power.

[Stavros]

One of the curious facts of modern life, is how virile young men suffer memory loss when they appear in Court, as happened when Donald Trump Junior appeared in the civil trial in NYC.

He has a degree in Business, but doesn't know much about it, least of all accounting.

He signed all those documents, but seems never to have asked what it was that he was signing, thus
" accountants were responsible for ”[putting] together a document of this nature” and denied taking part in the preparation of a statement of financial condition from 2017."
Don Jr. Has a Conveniently Fuzzy Memory of Trump Org Finances: “I Leave It to My CPAs” | Vanity Fair

And yet he signed it. Would he sign any document involving millions of dollars and not ask 'What am I signing here?' -and more to the point, what does a Chief or any Executive do when they go to the office?


Don't remember. Not me, guv. Anyone put a dollar on Eric and Ivana Marie taking the same position?

What a great job! Executive indeed: wake up, shower and shave, get dressed, maybe a 'power breakfast', chauffeur driven car to the office, and then what? Sit back while the accountants do all the work, then deny any involvement -other than those pesky signatures, which I believe in Law means confers responsibility on the same people who can't remember a damn thing, and it seems, don't much care either.

But they love screaming at the press, and spending all that luvly money.

[Stavros]

Where do all those Communists graduating from Harvard and Yale go, what jobs do they get?

Whatever, Trump is going to set up an American Academy, free of charge....and the academic credentials?

DJT- 'I have a degree in Business Administration from Trump's American Academy'
Judge-'How would you define book-keeping?'
DJT- 'Er, gimme a minute...shelves?'

Trump floats idea for ‘American Academy’ years after his Trump University scandal cost him $25m (yahoo.com)

[KnightHawk 2.0]

One of the curious facts of modern life, is how virile young men suffer memory loss when they appear in Court, as happened when Donald Trump Junior appeared in the civil trial in NYC.

He has a degree in Business, but doesn't know much about it, least of all accounting.

He signed all those documents, but seems never to have asked what it was that he was signing, thus
" accountants were responsible for ”[putting] together a document of this nature” and denied taking part in the preparation of a statement of financial condition from 2017."
Don Jr. Has a Conveniently Fuzzy Memory of Trump Org Finances: “I Leave It to My CPAs” | Vanity Fair

And yet he signed it. Would he sign any document involving millions of dollars and not ask 'What am I signing here?' -and more to the point, what does a Chief or any Executive do when they go to the office?


Don't remember. Not me, guv. Anyone put a dollar on Eric and Ivana Marie taking the same position?

What a great job! Executive indeed: wake up, shower and shave, get dressed, maybe a 'power breakfast', chauffeur driven car to the office, and then what? Sit back while the accountants do all the work, then deny any involvement -other than those pesky signatures, which I believe in Law means confers responsibility on the same people who can't remember a damn thing, and it seems, don't much care either.

But they love screaming at the press, and spending all that luvly money.

Not surprising at all Donald-Loudmouthed Jackass-Trump Jr pulled the old he can't remember defense in court,his defense isn't going to fly and will be blown to smithereens by New York State Attorney General Letitia James. Donald-LMJA-Trump Jr. knows he's screwed.

[KnightHawk 2.0]

He Is Dangerous: Over last eight years The MAGA King Donald Trump has shown who he is,by hijacking and corrupting the Republican Party and reshaping it into his own image,and being elected president with foreign help,and spent his entire term stoking fear and division and hateful rhetoric againist anybody who don't believe his despicable views,or anyone who dared to stand up to him,and embracing authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jung Un. And his enablers in Congress and Senate enabling his erratic behavior,and spread false claims about the 2020 Presidential Election,and incited an insurrection on Wednesday January 6th 2021 to stop the certification of the election,in an attempt to remain in power. And a second Trump Term would be a hell of alot worse than the first,because it will be the end of Democracy and the rise of Authoritarianism under a Trump presidency.

[Stavros]

Surprise Surprise! Eric Trump can't remember stuff, and anyway he left the financial statements to the others. As for those emails and the signatures....maybe someone in his office wrote them. Did either of those sons of the almighty ever ask how much money was coming in and where it came from? They sure as hell like spending it. In the UK Executive Officers are responsible for the conduct of the Company, I assume this is also true in the US -isn't that one reason Executive Officers are paid millions a year? Or is the case that they have decided the trial is a waste of time and they can say anything they like as the guilty verdict is a foregone conclusion, and they will spend the next 5 years in appeals?

Eric Trump testifies he wasn’t aware of dad’s financial statements | AP News

[MrFanti]

"Should the U.S. Stop Paying for the U.N.?"
https://www.newsweek.com/are-we-real...pinion-1840836
https://www.newsweek.com/rep-luna-it...pinion-1840266