Friday, February 24, 2017

'Toontime: Washington Fever

credit: RJ Matson
The latest mantra in the Washington echo-chamber concerns the Donald's messing about with the other autocrat on stage, Vladimir Putin. Of course he wants good relations with Mr. Putin because he owns a lot of business interests in Moscow to which his Russian counterpart could be beneficial.  That he might be the Kremlin's pawn, in US Person's opinion, is only the wishful thinking of entrenched security apparatchiks, or angry Democrats seeking avenues of attack. Clearly the Donald has upset the American "deep state"* with his willingness to consider another mode of relating to the other powerful plutocracy on the planet. Of all the policy initiatives the Donald has publicly broached, some of which border on lunacy, a new rapprochement with Russia is the only one he can support. What used to be termed 'red-baiting' is old agitprop employed to discredit your domestic opponents. Nothing new here, so let's move on.
credit: Jim Morin, Miami Herald


*In 1957 Allen Dulles, father of the modern American intelligence establishment, told a Yale audience that Intelligence occupies "a more influential position in our government than Intelligence enjoys in any other government in world." This power base in an age of global terror has greatly expanded into a government within a government that operates beyond the bounds of public knowledge or constitutional restraint over the half-century since Dulles' statement was made.