For quite some time, I have suspected that Putin was living in the past – quite specifically, the Cold War. His "State of the Nation" speech today confirmed that. Most news outlets are pointing out two major features of the speech: 1. Putin blaming "The West" for the
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Scripturient: Milton Was Wrong
In 1644, the English poet and pamphleteer John Milton wrote an impassioned defence of free speech (or, more factually, against censorship of print and in favour of restriction-free publication) called the Areopagitica. It was subtitled A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: There’s a Reason They Called it MAD.
They were all the rage in my day. Tactical nuclear weapons, mini-nukes, or “those little bags of instant sunshine.” Somewhere around here I’ve got a then-“secret” field manual laying out how these weapons were to be used in the event of a massive Soviet invasion of western Europe. All eyes
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Living With Trump in the Age of Entropy. We Have to Figure This Out and Soon.
The Washington Post carried this message of warning from Steve Bannon in February, 2017: Bannon dismissed the idea that Trump might moderate his positions or seek consensus with political opponents. Rather, he said, the White House is digging in for a long period of conflict to transform Washington and upend
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Disaffected Lib 2018-06-08 13:26:00
There is no proof that Donald Trump is working for Vlad Putin but Obama’s national security advisor, Susan Rice, writes that Putin couldn’t have wished for a better stooge. Mr. Putin’s objectives are plain: to restore Russia to global greatness at the expense of the United States and to divide
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Taking Democracy for Granted. We’re Probably On This Road Too.
Andrew Sullivan has a thought-provoking essay in New York Magazine about how we’re killing off liberal democracy and not just in Poland or Hungary or the United States either. This elite condescension toward challenges to their power stems, philosopher John Gray recently argued, from a fundamental and demonstrably false assumption that
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: I Hope Bob Mueller Has a Sense of Humour
There are some things that just get better with age. That includes scandals. They need time to soak and simmer. Yesterday it was Manafort (plus one) and Papadopoulos. Trump began yesterday running for cover, focused on distancing himself from Paul Manafort. His former campaign manager’s foibles had nothing to do
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: So Much for Democracy
We now know that Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by well more than 2.5-million ballots. Perhaps as many ballots again were not counted due to Republican efforts to disqualify eligible voters. – Strike One. We now know that investigations by the Central Intelligence Agency determined that Russia
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: How the Leader of the Free World Became the Leader of the Global Right Wing.
AmeriKa’s president, Donald Trump, will not be the leader of the free world. He will, however, be the leader of the global right wing. Across Europe, the radical right is embracing the next US leader as one of their own. Donald Trump validates their ugly bigotry, racism and xenophobia. He
Continue readingWe Pivot: Stop Giving Trump Chances To Be Civil
He won’t. We already gave him two. His whole campaign: many of us wrote him off as a lark. I imagined only 30-35 million people would vote for such a clown. Until I realized that we can’t underestimate clowns. But … [Read more]
Continue readingLeDaro: Trump to Receive First Intelligence Briefing Today
Normally a presidential candidate receiving a classified intelligence briefing is not big news, it has been done for decades. However with Donald Trump… can he be trusted? Will he blurt out information at a rally when he goes “off script”? How soon w…
Continue readingLeDaro: Trump to Receive First Intelligence Briefing Today
Normally a presidential candidate receiving a classified intelligence briefing is not big news, it has been done for decades. However with Donald Trump… can he be trusted? Will he blurt out information at a rally when he goes “off script”? How soon will Putin get his intelligence briefing given Trump’s
Continue readingLeDaro: Trump to Receive First Intelligence Briefing Today
Normally a presidential candidate receiving a classified intelligence briefing is not big news, it has been done for decades. However with Donald Trump… can he be trusted? Will he blurt out information at a rally when he goes “off script”? How soon w…
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Could Syria Become the 21st Century Sarajevo?
There were plenty of proxy wars during the Cold War only back then the principals had enough sense to avoid direct clashes. That was then, this is Syria where today we find the rival superpowers circling each other inside the same phone booth. You could search the world over and
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Austerity’s Silver Lining – Arms Race Update
A couple of headlines this morning got me thinking that the West’s embrace of austerity might not be all bad. Of course it’s probably just wishful thinking. The first article concerns a refreshingly nuanced and balanced lecture delivered by former US ambassador to Russia, Jack Matlock. In a lecture at
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Meanwhile, In Our Vast, Undefended North…
The latest issue of Foreign Policy magazine is devoted to espionage, spying, and the magazine reports that today’s Ground Zero of spying is the Arctic. For the countries that border the Arctic Ocean— Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway, and Denmark (through its territory of Greenland)—an accessible ocean means new opportunities. And
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Putin Signs Military Pact with Argentina
Well this is bound to piss off David Cameron. Badboy Vlad Putin has inked a military pact with Argentine president Christina Fernandez backing her country against Britain over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) dispute. “The new agreement on military collaboration and data protection will enable the considerable increase of practical cooperation
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: You’ll Never See Vlad Putin the Same Way Again
If there’s one guy who doesn’t get any slack from the Western media, it’s Russian strongman, Vlad Putin. We vilify Putin at every turn and, while he certainly brings some of it down on himself, we make sure to depict ourselves as the guys in the white hats while we
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Okay, Canada. Prepare To Be Probed.
What a moment to be stuck with a navy so horribly neglected that it can’t put a single task force to sea. Now that the Harper government has left us with our pants down in the Arctic, Vlad Putin has placed Russia’s Northern Fleet and paratrooper units on full alert
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