@blatham,
(CAREFUL FOLKS! THIS IS A LONG ONE AND COULD TAX YOUR ATTENTION SPAN. ONCE AGAIN, AS A PUBLIC SERVICE I DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO THE THUMBS DOWN ICON --- ASSUMING YOUR ATTENTION WILL HOLD LONG ENOUGH TO VIEW IT. IF YOU NOT ONLY DON'T CARE TO READ THIS, BUT IT'S PRESENCE ON YOUR SCREEN WILL IRRITATE YOU, PLEASE AVAIL YOURSELF OF THE ICON. JUST ABOUT ALL OF THE LAME SNARKY COMMENTS ABOUT THE LENGTH OF MY POSTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN USED, BUT IF YOU HAVE A NEW AND ACTUALLY CLEVER ONE, PLEASE SHARE. THANK YOU!)
The first part is true, the second part is ridiculous. In any case, since when is a Canadian outraged about
"close to treasonous" behaviors by any American?
Regardless of what Trump says or doesn't say about Russia, it is becoming more evident every day that the FBI has become severely politicized as has US Intelligence Agencies. I would argue that this is a far greater threat to our democracy and liberty than pathetic attempts by Putin to meddle in our election.
While we're at it, though, why is it that a Canadian is so committed to leading the A2K Resistance?
These sort of expected responses just won't cut it:
"I lived in the US for X number of years and so care very much about it."
And I lived in North Carolina for 20 years and New York for 20 years before that.
New York is led by a corrupt scion of a liberal legend who had 10 times the talent of his son and twice the Mafioso ties. The cost of living and tax rates in the NY metropolitan area make it almost impossible to comfortably live there without exceptional wealth. The Upstate economy is, at best, weak and the lives of a generally conservative citizenry are determined by liberal politicians who while mocking them, confiscate their wealth through high taxes necessary to purchase the votes of government dependent Downstaters, and the support of public sector Labor Krakens. Corrupt Cuomo declares (accurately) that there is no place for conservatives in NY and is so anxious to take their guns away that he calls for stricter gun control laws in the aftermath of a NYC terrorist attack where the killer's weapon was a
truck, not a
firearm! As a result, hoards of New Yorkers (conservative AND liberals) and legions of corporations are evacuating the place...
...and for the last 30 years have headed South and Southwest, to places like Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and (God forbid!) Texas.
Back in 1985 the welcome Charlotte NC extended to me and my family as well as the 1,000 or so other families that a corporate relocation brought, a welcome that could not have been warmer. In retrospect, it turned out to be like Australians warmly welcoming rabbits to their ecologically isolated island.
People feel comfortable with the familiar and Charlotte in 1985 was not familiar to New Yorkers, but in a short period of time it won over the majority of those who made it their new home. Charlotte changed us all. Some a little, some a lot, but
we had very little impact on the nature of the city. However, we did have family and friends back in NY who we encouraged to join us in the Promised Land. At the same time, the conditions that led to our relocation had not changed and the virtues of life in the South and particularly Charlotte became more widely known in the NE. We were the edge of the migration wave, but it was a tidal wave that followed us. As their numbers grew their willingness to change diminished and their demands that the City change to accommodate them grew. In time the city did change. The sad irony is that so many of the newer arrivals were proud of it. Foolishly proud that instead of allowing Charlotte to change them for the better, they changed the city for the worse.
Although I spent more than two-thirds of my life in NY and Charlotte and am quite sure I left far more friends and family in those two places than you did in whatever US locations you inhabited, I don't get 1/10th as upset about what is going on in those two places as you do about US affairs. I've not created a thread to report daily on the transgressions of liberals in NY or NC, and I no longer consider myself an expert (if I ever was) on the culture and politics of either State.
You might argue that this is just another sign of my self-absorption, and that I should
care as much for these places as you do for America. Perhaps, but I think it far more likely that your obsession with the US is the oddity and a sign of something more than
caring.
"The US borders Canada and so I have a large stake in how your country conducts its politics."
That would be true, but you have a much larger stake in how
your country, Canada conducts its politics and yet we almost never see
any commentary from you on o the topic. I recall a few "Harper sucks" bon mots but that was about it.
Arguably, the politics and conditions in Mexico are of far more importance to Americans than those in Canada and yet when do any of your acolytes ever discuss them? You have an excuse: Mexico doesn't border Canada, but apparently, you haven't been doing a very good job expanding their vision to match yours.They're too self-indulgent to care about Mexico I suppose.
"If more Canadians, Americans, Brits, Australians and French (I hope I've covered all the Nationalities represented here) had cared about what was happening in Germany in the 1930's, WWII may have been prevented!"
How? By writing letters to their local newspapers? By seeking out German pen-pals to convince they need to resist Hitler? Clearly the reach of those who wish to contain the rise of budding tyrants has expanded since the Nazis came to power in Germany, but even still, a Candian whipping up a frenzy about the Koch brothers on A2K is not likely to move the ball down the field very far. Still you gotta try if you really care about people. Right?
"Nationality is meaningless when it comes to opposing tyrants!"
This would be true too, but my response would be
where is your opposition to all of the other tyrants in the world? If you devoted a third of the time you spend opposing Trump and the Koch brothers, to the tyrants in China, North Korea, Venezula, Iran, Sudan, Belarus, Cameroon, Rwanda, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Myanmar, Chad, Uzbekistan, Syria, Ethiopia et al (And our old friend Vlad Putin in Russia) surely you might strike a blow or two for human rights along the way. But then you wouldn't attract one-third of the attention and admiration you do with this thread.
No, I'm beginning to form the conclusion that you must be some sort of operative assigned to A2K (and perhaps elsewhere - a great many of your posts could easily be copied and pasted in other forums without any incongruency).
If I'm not mistaken, you've told us that your father was a labor organizer. That could easily have put you in touch with all sorts of leftwing contacts. Does Canada have a Communist Party? While Trump is the bogeyman du jour, it's quite clear that you see capitalist rightwingers the much greater threat and have been going on about them since well before Trump won the election.
Maybe you're a Russian operative. Not so far-fetched when you think about it, and apply the reasoning used to contend Lash is an operative. If Putin's goal is to destabilize the US and undermine the trust America has in its democratic institutions, general chaos is far more preferable than attacks and support that follow clearly defined lines based on the existing ideological division in the US. The notion that a crafty KGB fox like Putin would put all of his eggs in one basket (Trump) and a very wobbly and poorly constructed basket, has always seemed absurd. At the very least, it's not a very clever strategy.
Far more clever and effective to inflame and reinforce distrust on both sides of the divide. For all of the hyperbolic nonsense about Trump establishing a dictatorship, that will not happen. This is not to say that the US is immune from a tyrannical form of government, or for that matter that there is no scenario in which Trump might be the tyrant, but at this point in our history, our institutionalized defenses against the rise of a tyrant remain far too strong for it to happen. They are, assuredly, weakening, due far more to forces that are internal rather than external, but assuming Putin is working to erode them, it's a long-term play and not something that will happen within the next three to seven years. A truly catastrophic event that brings America to its knees could easily open the door to a tyrant and since he is currently president, Trump could be that tyrant, but he isn't intelligent or crafty enough to pull something like that off. To do so would require the support not only of the military, but the police (secret and otherwise). While he has support in the military, it's not even close to the level needed and he is currently fighting with federal police and intelligence agencies. Moreover, he has frustrated supporters by not doing much more than sniping to counter the Deep State opposition he faces. A much more crafty and powerful strongman would most likely arise and do away with Trump as the first order of business.
In any case, Putin or someone like him could never reliably predict such a catastrophe unless he was able to launch it and if he could launch it he wouldn't be currently screwing around with relatively minor meddling.
No, the much more plausible strategy is to encourage the division that is weakening our defense against tyranny and that means working for
and against both sides simultaneously. Assuming that you are correct about the Koch Brothers (it's ridiculous but let's play) and they are the extremely powerful force behind the conservative movement, we have to also assume that they pull a great many if not all of Trump's strings. Why would they be interested in any sort of deal that made Putin the puppeteer and why would Putin be willing to help them gain greater control over the American system? Let's also assume he was capable of providing them with the last piece of the puzzle, what assurance would he have that they would continue to see him as, at least, an ally, let alone their superior? Maybe you can dredge up from some leftwing conspiracy website some
evidence that the Koch Brothers are such admirers of Putin that they might be willing to sublimate their control over America to his, but it's absurd just based on the historical dynamics of power and powerful men.
Unless Putin isn't the crafty KGB fox who was capable of fairly quickly taking full control of Russia from oligarchs, reformers and organized crime in his country, he would never engage in a strategy that is as facile as the one the Resistance insists he has.
Which brings us back to you.
If, as I contend, Putin is working for and against both sides of the American divide with the intent of escalating their clash and increasing chaos in our system and society, he needs agents capable of working within and in support of each side.
It's been asserted that Lash is an operative for some particular group and Russia has been one named on more than one occasion. Her job, the theory goes, is to sow discord and despair among Democrats. Not to steadfastly defend Trump, because that would put her in the same position as oralloy and she might be ignored. Instead, it's her job to continuously undermine the credibility of the various pillars of the Resistance and especially the main one, the Democrat Party.
Your job, on the other hand, is quite obvious: Paint Trump, the GOP and conservatives in the ugliest colors possible, and stir up anger and resentment towards them from our resident leftwingers, but just as importantly, it is to stiffen the spines of conservatives residents who feel compelled to defend a man and a party they might otherwise criticize if they didn't feel it meant letting liberals feel like they won. You can only do this though with the sort of hyperbolic nonsense you constantly post, but it's brilliant. On the one hand, it's red meat for the Resistance fighters and on the other, it is inedible, rotten meat that conservatives will never agree to taste.
So it's settled, Bernie Latham is an operative working for either the forces of Western Communism (perhaps receiving a stipend from George Soros) or for today's KGB (what do they call it now?) and, by extension, Vladimir Putin!
