TWO POLITICAL CLOWNS RING DOWN THE CURTAIN

The political circus of 2016 is winding down and the clowns are doing their best to make it all seem relevant as they engage in mock battle trading insults and innuendoes while many of the spectators, including myself, sense the Republic is in its final death throes. Our great 240 year experiment in Democracy is coming to a close as the plutocracy asserts itself through Citizens United and only the corporate media and clowns perform as the circus tent comes down: Allen L Roland, PhD

 

 

Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage: H.L. Mencken

 

 

Donald Trump is all about harnessing citizen anger and disaffection with politics and the establishment ~ but both Clinton and Trump are card carrying members of the plutocracy and establishment which destroys the true validity of this so-called Presidential contest as well as the perception of either as an agent of change.

 

The only true change agent in this political theater of 2016 is Jill Stein, who I supported and voted for ~ so I share the feelings and words of Viggo Mortensen, in his endorsement letter to Jill Stein, as the clowns ring down the final curtain of the big show.

 

 

Why I am voting for Jill Stein

I’ve been scolded by friends and strangers, sometimes mildly and sometimes with disdain, for supporting Jill Stein in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Some of the attacks I've received publicly and privately have been surprisingly angry and patronizing. I’ve been told that I’m a patsy for Donald Trump, that I’m naïve, misinformed, elitist, ignorant, and worse.

This has been an unusually carnivalesque election so far, from the primary season through to the “main event”, with a premium on vitriol and mendacity, dominated by a frequently disheartening lack of profundity and objectivity from the mainstream media.

This is the poorest two-candidate race for the presidency that I have ever witnessed the corporate media/political Establishment attempt to ram down the throats of the U.S. electorate.

So, why am I voting for Jill Stein?

I previously supported Bernie Sanders because he was, on many levels, a welcome voice speaking truth to power, drawing attention to rampant institutional economic inequality, racism, corruption in the electoral system, and the urgent need to address climate change. Like a lot of people, I was disappointed when Sanders lost the Democratic Primary race to Hillary Clinton.

I hoped at that point that he might join forces with Jill Stein and the Green Party, but he declined that unique opportunity.

Bernie never spoke to the all-important issues of U.S. economic and military imperialism the way that Jill Stein has consistently done, but he was a credible voice for change in many other areas. He made his choice to get on the Hillary Clinton Democratic Party bandwagon because he appeared to feel that it would be the best way to prevent a Trump presidency.

I understand and respect his stance, shared by many other well-intentioned and thoughtful people, but I believe it is short-sighted. It is not enough to simply say “I tried, I voted for Bernie in the Democratic Primary, but now I have to get in line behind Hillary.”

The powerful few who control national politics and the mainstream media by virtue of their overwhelming economic advantages are counting on supporters of Bernie Sanders and other political alternatives to now support the two Establishment candidates.

They are counting on no real change happening in the way this country is run and how average citizens are represented. At some point the system has to be overhauled, and the weeds have to be pulled out by the root. I do not want to reach the end of my life and have to accept that I did not vote my conscience as a citizen when it mattered most.

Democracy is not a fixed thing; it is an ongoing process that must be nurtured, pruned, and actively encouraged to grow or it will gradually cease to yield meaningful progress.

Times are changing and people all over this land - especially younger voters, who are the future of our republic's continuing democratic experiment - are awake and paying attention. They did not go to sleep when Bernie Sanders largely gave up the fight for significant change in our political-economic system.

Like many that supported Bernie, I trust Hillary Clinton about as far as I can throw Donald Trump.

Jill Stein is the only candidate with a serious plan to halt climate change and switch to 100% renewable energy by 2030.

She’s the only candidate, now that Sanders is out of the race, with a plan to release students from impossible levels of debt.

She’s also the only candidate who is talking seriously about Black Lives Matter, institutional racism, and police brutality ~ and she has realistic and workable plans to address these social problems.

She is also taking a stand against unexamined military overspending and the irresponsible and often criminal misuse of those who volunteer to serve in our country’s armed forces.

She eloquently draws attention to the patriots who are forced to fight in illegal, immoral, unnecessary, and unwinnable wars. As she has unflinchingly pointed out, "This results in a multitude of deaths, injuries (both mental and physical) and presents a crisis of conscience situation for many in combat. Following discharge, veterans are much more likely to commit suicide, become homeless, become dependent on drugs or alcohol, and have significantly higher rates of divorce, spousal and child abuse.”

Jill Stein knows that these are problems that have not been honestly addressed, and that it is extremely unfair that those willing to give the ultimate sacrifice for their country are not properly supported or taken care of. Unlike Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, she will never deploy troops into unnecessary or illegal combat.

She cares deeply about our country being truly exemplary - in action and not just in high-sounding words uttered by our political leaders - as a member of the family of nations. For these and other positions that Jill Stein and her running mate Ajamu Baraka hold, I strongly recommend that voters take the time to have a look at the website jill2016.com and follow Jill Stein and the Green Party on social media.

You may agree or disagree with Jill on some points, but I sincerely believe that you are doing your conscience a disservice if you ignore her well-considered and constructive proposals.

So, why am I voting for Jill Stein?

Because I have done my best to inform myself about the many important issues that face our country, because I am following my conscience as an engaged citizen and a passionate supporter of the democratic process.

Because now is the time, not later, because I will not be intimidated by those who operate out of fear of significant change, because I will not be dissuaded by those who are understandably nervous about thinking long-term, about standing firm in the eternal battle for socio-economic justice and true political freedom in this country.

Because I am proud to be part of an ongoing, centuries-old democratic experiment that ought to always stand for fairness, compassion, and strength based on common sense and human decency at home and abroad.

Because all we need to do to help it thrive is to embrace it and cultivate it to the best of our abilities in a conscious effort to eliminate the real obstacles to liberty and justice for all."   Viggo Mortensen

As Jill and Ajamu often say, "We can create a new world. These goals ~ these imperatives ~ are not in our hearts, they're not in our dreams. They’re in our hands.”

And as Chris Floyd correctly writes ~ "So yes, this has been a campaign like no other ~ but mostly because it has brought the systematic decay of the Republic into the sharpest possible relief, and has shown, more clearly than before, that the neoliberal-militarist ascendency offers no hope for a better life, a better world; indeed, that it offers nothing at all ~ except more violence, more bitterness, more ruin, more degradation for us all"  See article ~ http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45785.htm

A national political campaign is better than the best circus ever heard of, with a mass baptism and a couple of hangings thrown in: H. L. Mencken

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Allen L Roland, PhD

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/two-political-clowns-ring-down-curtain.html

 

Heart centered spiritual consultant and advisor Allen L Roland can be contacted at allen@allenroland.com Allen is also a lecturer and writer who shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com. He is also featured columnist on Veterans Today and is a featured guest on many radio and Television programs.

CHRIS HEDGES ENDORSES JILL STEIN

The politics of fear is ruling this Presidential election and it's time for our conscience and self-respect to take over and erode fear in the process. There is no better reminder in this process than Chris Hedges whose activist voice to power echoes those of Amy Goodman and others, including myself, who know that this is our moment in 2016 and our conscience and self-respect, not our fears, must be our guide: Allen L Roland, PhD

 

“Just remember,' a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel told me as he strapped his pistol belt under his arm before we crossed into Kuwait, 'that none of these boys is fighting for home, for the flag, for all that crap the politicians feed the public. They are fighting for each other, just for each other.”
~ Chris Hedges, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning

 

On a realistic note ~ there is only one party (the War party) ~ there is only one candidate ~ there is only one choice because in the New World Order, there is no choice for it has already been decided by the global establishment ~ all the rest is kabuki theater presented for our entertainment ~ but there are still pockets of truth although their voices have been muted by the corporate media. Chris Hedges is one of those voices as is Amy Goodman and Abby Martin ~ see Abby's take on Hillary Clinton; Video / 24 minutes ~ http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2016/10/26/abby-martin-exposes-what-hillary-clinton-really-represents/





On a much lighter note ~ kindly allow me to digress for a few hilarious moments and offer Lionel Nation's take on the total absurdity of this latest Clinton Weiner gate email scandal ~ You Tube / 30 minutes ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA61YSmLUTc

Returning to the subject at hand ~ the following are excerpts from a public endorsement letter from Chris Hedges to the   STEIN/BARAKA HEADQUARTERS ~

"My reporting and writing, which has taken me to many parts of America, has convinced me that the traditional mechanisms of reform, including the two major political parties, have been captured by corporate power.

We no longer live in a functioning democracy, but a system the political philosopher Sheldon Wolin calls “inverted totalitarianism.”

We will step outside this system and build alternative movements, including alternative political parties, or see the rise of a Christianized fascism, of which the Trump campaign is the dress rehearsal.

It is imperative that you join me in contributing to the Stein/Baraka presidential campaign and vote for Jill and Ajamu in the upcoming election. There is no longer any genuine threat from Donald Trump that can be used as an excuse to vote for Hillary Clinton.

The current policies of austerity and endless war, of wholesale surveillance, of Wall Street fraud and abuse, along with a refusal to enact a massive green energy program to save our environment, will by 2020 ensure the rise of a far-right candidate endowed with a discipline and political skill that eludes Trump.

If Jill and the Green Party can get 5 percent of the vote we will have $10 million in federal funds in 2020 and broad, nationwide ballot access. This election is about building the momentum for this historical moment.

The time for resistance, genuine resistance, is now. We must step outside the political mainstream. We must, like Greece and Spain, invest in movements and parties to reverse our corporate coup.

We must dismantle the neoliberal policies and imperial adventurism that have laid waste to our civil liberties and are destroying the nation and the planet.

Don’t be ruled by fear this election. Be ruled by your conscience."

Chris Hedges

 

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Allen L Roland, PhD

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/chris-hedges-endorses-jill-stein.html

 Heart centered spiritual consultant and advisor Allen L Roland can be contacted at allen@allenroland.com Allen is also a lecturer and writer who shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com. He is also featured columnist on Veterans Today and is a featured guest on many radio and Television programs.

THE DEBATE WE SHOULD HAVE ~ TRUMP , STEIN AND CLINTON

The true progressive voice that should be heard in the 2016 sham Presidential debates is Jill Stein who through the magic of video and the assistance of Amy Goodman joins the debates as the only true progressive and anti-establishment voice of the people and instead of throwing mud offers concrete political proposals and solutions versus the political posturing of a deeply tarnished Clinton and the incompetent bullying of political pretender Trump as well as a vivid glimpse of what could have happened in a true democracy: Allen L Roland, PhD

 

'The truth about American politics is this: disguised by the theatrics of squabbling Democrats and Republicans, Washington governs according to limits prescribed by a fixed and narrow consensus. The two main parties collaborate in preserving that consensus. Doing so requires declaring out-of-bounds anything even remotely resembling a fundamental critique of how power gets exercised or wealth distributed.'  ~ Andrew Bacevich

 

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton faced off Monday night in one of the most anticipated debates in U.S. history. The debate was held at Hofstra University on Long Island and moderated by NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt.

 

Throughout the 90-minute, often antagonistic, debate, Clinton and Trump sparred on everything from foreign policy to trade deals to personal stamina. But third-party candidates, including Libertarian Gary Johnson and the Green Party’s Jill Stein, were excluded from the debate stage under stringent rules set by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which is controlled by the Democratic and Republican parties.

 

For a more balanced approach, Democracy Now aired excerpts from the presidential debate and got response from Green Party presidential nominee Dr. Jill Stein in a special expanded debate ~ and she answers the same questions that were asked of Trump and Clinton and elevates the conversation in the process. But Stein also has the courage to ask the questions that others are avoiding such as the Five Separate Immunity Deals In the Clinton Email Scandal ~ see Jonathan Turley article; https://jonathanturley.org/2016/09/27/searching-for-answers-in-the-land-of-the-immunized-fbi-discloses-five-separate-immunity-deals-with-clinton-officials-and-contractors-in-email-scandal/comment-page-1/

EXCERPT:

HILLARY CLINTON: Well, I hope the fact checkers are turned upping ~ turning up the volume and really working hard. Donald supported the invasion of Iraq.

DONALD TRUMP: Wrong.

HILLARY CLINTON: That is absolutely~

DONALD TRUMP: Wrong.

HILLARY CLINTON: ~ proved over and over again.

DONALD TRUMP: Wrong.

HILLARY CLINTON: He actually advocated for the actions we took in Libya, and urged that Gaddafi be taken out ~ after, actually, doing some business with him one time.

AMY GOODMAN: Jill Stein?

DR. JILL STEIN: So, this is another example of why we need to open up these debates, because mostly they are arguing ~ Secretary Clinton and Donald Trump are arguing about their record and who said what, when, and when did they take various positions. We’re not discussing the fundamental fact that we have a catastrophic failed policy of regime change, of a foreign policy based on economic and military domination, which is blowing back at us big time. If we want to have peace at home, we need to achieve peace abroad. And in the words of Martin Luther King, "Peace is not simply the absence of violence: It is the presence of justice."

So, let’s look at our foreign policy. What have these regime change wars accomplished? They’ve cost us $5 to $6 trillion since 9/11, which comes out to about $50,000 per American household. Tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers have been killed and maimed, over a million people killed in Iraq alone. And what do we have for all of this? What we have to show are failed states, mass refugee migrations, which are tearing apart the Middle East and Europe, for that matter, and worse terrorist threats. They are not getting better. They only get worse with each turn of the cycle of violence.

So, we need a new kind of offensive in the Middle East, what we call a peace offensive in the Middle East. And it begins with a weapons embargo. Since we, the United States, are supplying the weapons directly or indirectly to all parties, all combatants on all sides, and we are the major supplier of weapons to the region, as well as around the world, it’s clear that we have enormous power here to initiate this weapons embargo and to work, in fact, with the Russians to achieve it also, because they, too, are paying a price that they cannot afford for these failed wars. In addition, we need to put a freeze on the bank accounts of those countries, largely our allies, who are continuing to fund terrorist enterprises. Hillary Clinton’s own leaked emails as secretary of state identified the Saudis as still the major funder, even many years after 9/11, still the major funder of terrorist Sunni jihad enterprises. We got this started. We can put it to a stop.

AMY GOODMAN: And that does it for Part 1 of our "Expanding the Debate" special. Many stations are running our full two-hour special. For those that aren’t ~ you can go to democracy now.

Must See expanded debate YouTube video ~ 25 minutes http://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/27/expanding_the_debate_jill_stein_debates

 

There is only one candidate who sounds and acts presidential and is representing the American people and not special interests ~ that candidate is Jill Stein and she'll get my vote on November 2nd because I deserve a true choice and will not settle for the lesser of two evils.

 
A vote for the Green Party is not a protest gesture ~ it is a vote for a platform of peace, social justice and a livable planet, and against the War Party of Lies. Bernie sold out on the progressive movement he launched because he didn't trust the power of the people nor, for that matter, his own progressive voice against the establishment.

 

In essence, Donald Trump is the ultimate false flag candidate put in place by the establishment to further dumb down the political process, avoid the truly important issues of the day, entertain the masses as a grade D political reality show ~ and thus ensure a Clinton victory as the obvious lesser of two evils.

 

Allen L Roland, PhD

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-debate-we-should-have-trump-stein.html

 

Heart centered spiritual consultant and advisor Allen L Roland can be contacted at allen@allenroland.com Allen is also a lecturer and writer who shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com. He is also featured columnist on Veterans Today and is a featured guest on many radio and Television programs

BIDEN DELIVERS MESSAGE TO TURKEY ~ IT'S NOT PERSONAL , IT'S STRICTLY BUSINESS

Click on photo to enlarge

"Apathy is the glove into which evil slips its hand"

 

It was a scene straight out of the Godfather as US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Turkey to announce that we would directly support NATO member Turkey's incursion into northern Syria, while in July Turkey's President Erdoğan barely survived a military coup, which is widely believed to have enjoyed US support. Biden’s reversal was at the same time a double-cross of the Kurdish forces which the US had promoted as its proxies in the Syria conflict. This brings to mind a famous scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, where Michael reassures his crime family before assassinating a police captain ~ “It's not personal, it's strictly business.” : Allen L Roland, PhD

 

 “A country that demands moral perfection in its foreign policy will achieve neither perfection nor security”
~ Henry Kissinger

 

In a classic example of American Foreign policy, whose moral integrity greatly resembles a Kissinger inspired American crime family ~ we literally threw Turkey's president Erdoğan under the bus with a thinly disguised US supported coup and then rapidly shifted gears once the coup obviously failed.  However, the failed coup was seemingly supported by the CIA, with the failure also being coordinated with President Erdogan ~ thus making it an intelligence op which was meant to fail and mislead public opinion which it most certainly did. Of course, the real objective is Iran ~ in that regard ~ as Michel Chossudovsky states ~ US military policy consists of creating conditions  for America’s staunchest allies (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel) to confront Iran, and act indirectly on behalf of US interests and “do the job for us”.

 

WSWS aptly describes the Godfather analogy on August 27th ~

"The Godfather is, indeed, an appropriate reference point for a discussion of the planning and execution of US foreign policy. Its global operations are directed by a cabal of intelligence agents, acting in the interests of the financial and corporate elite, whose operations have an essentially conspiratorial and criminal character. Outside of and beyond any democratically controlled decision-making, these forces overturn governments and start wars to further the sordid commercial and geo-political aims of American imperialism" as Biden essentially told Erdoğan" "don't take our recent actions personally, it's strictly Business".

 

See Godfather scene ~ YouTube video / 4 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by5YzWJ9W4U

 

Which brings us to our business which is essentially War, Drone assassinations, Regime change and Weapon sales as part of an out-of-control Military/Industrial/Congressional complex ~ all operating under the cloak of American exceptionalism.



WSWS elaborates; "Thirteen years after the invasion of Iraq, which resulted in the deaths of at least a million people, some 4.4 million Iraqis are internally displaced, with over a quarter million forced to flee the country. Questions of foreign policy are not decided, much less deliberated, within the framework of elections. Nowhere in the 2016 presidential race is there a serious debate, for instance, on the character of the US alliance with Turkey or the consequences of launching a de facto NATO invasion of Syria. Congress holds no hearings or votes. It neither seeks nor desires to play a serious role."

The only anti-war peace candidate still standing is Jill Stein who most likely will be denied a place at the Presidential debates and is now marginalized to a lone voice in the impending political darkness. Note in 1988, Democrats and Republicans teamed up to create a corporation called the Commission on Presidential Debates. They set out to deceive Americans by using an official-sounding word like “commission” in their name. The League of Women Voters immediately withdrew its sponsorship of the presidential debates because the demands of the establishment parties would ~ in its own words ~ “perpetrate a fraud on the American voter."

 We are obviously almost beyond the moral point of no return as WSWS explains; "The launching of a NATO invasion of the Syrian war zone brings ever closer a direct clash with nuclear-armed Russia, which is militarily supporting the Damascus regime ~ Nobody should believe that the criminal cabal that runs US foreign policy will proceed with any more deliberation or caution in launching a war whose body count will be in the hundreds of millions, if not billions, than it does in plotting wars in which “mere” millions of lives are squandered."    See WSWS article ~ http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/08/27/pers-a27.html

 

Department Homeland Security Police Tank with militarized police

 

Our political leaders are all apparently committed to war, especially Hillary Clinton, and we as a nation have become a total security police state immersed in apathy and fear as the 15th anniversary of 9/11 draws near.

 

This thinly disguised New World Order committed to Military might was obvious in Hillary's recent speech to the American Legion convention last Wednesday as reported by WSWS ~  " Hillary Clinton’s speech to the American Legion convention Wednesday was a full-throated declaration of the right and responsibility of the United States to control the world by military force. Clinton pledged to keep the US the dominant global military power, to uphold the military alliances through which US imperialism controls Europe and the Far East, and to wage war unilaterally if deemed necessary, regardless of world opinion"   See article http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/09/02/pers-s02.html

 

Gordon Duff,  senior editor Veterans Today sums it up our current state of national apathy where evil has thrust its eager hand ~  "America is much more than a police state and far more a “total surveillance state” than even the harshest critics imagine."

 

Duff elaborates;  "What we are saying is this, a monstrosity beyond imagination is there already, waiting to be triggered, one beyond party politics, beyond the concerns of religion or ethnicity.

During seven years of the Obama presidency, something happened that is not being discussed, not even by Obama’s political enemies. Bush era clamp downs on individual freedom after 9/11 have been not only carried forward, but have been pushed on to levels unimagined.

That this was done under a liberal democratic president is unthinkable. Even more unthinkable, however is that Obama’s political enemies not only don’t think he went far enough, they are attacking Donald Trump as well for being, and this is the truth of it, “weak on tyranny and dictatorship.”

See VT article ~ http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/08/31/neo-us-while-no-one-was-looking/

 

Evil has indeed slipped its hand into our protective glove of national apathy ~ for the criminal cabal that controls US foreign policy and its wars cannot be stopped until we, the people, realize that this strictly criminal business as usual approach has become deeply personal; that the war machine no longer serves us, and that peace begins with each one of us ~ much like my first anti-war 1970 bumper sticker proudly proclaimed ~  PEACE BEGINS WITH ME.

 

“The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.”  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

 

 

Allen L Roland, PhD

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/biden-dellivers-message-to-turkey-its.html

 


Heart centered spiritual consultant and advisor Allen L Roland can be contacted at allen@allenroland.com Allen is also a lecturer and writer who shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com. He is also featured columnist on Veterans Today and is a featured guest on many radio and Television programs

AMERICA'S DARK SIDE IS HILLARY'S CROSS OF IRON

 

A leaked Hillary Clinton email confirms that the Obama administration, with Hillary at the helm,  orchestrated a civil war in Syria to benefit Israel.  See story ~ https://www.transcend.org/tms/2016/08/clinton-email-we-must-destroy-syria-for-israel/

 

America's Cross of Iron speech was immortalized by President Eisenhower in 1953 as well as his farewell address to the nation in 1961 and he correctly predicted that with the accelerated rise of the Military/Industrial complex ~ mankind would eventually be hanging on a cross of Iron. That speech brought into focus  America's dark side military/Industrial/ Congressional complex as well as the stark reality of the election of a proven and committed War president in 2016 as well as the ominous realization that we have now firmly come face to face with the dark side of our consciousness: Allen L Roland, PhD   

 

“There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own Soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”   Carl Jung

 

It was 1957/58 when I became a naval aviator and by 1961 I was an integral part of America's military/Industrial complex as an all-weather Interceptor fighter pilot stationed on the USS Ranger patrolling the South China Sea.

 

By 1962, when I left active duty and became a weekend warrior, I was beginning to question our military posture with the advent of the Vietnam War and most certainly after Kennedy's assassination in 1963.

I began to feel a new appreciation for Eisenhower's words of peace as well  as his forbidding warning in 1953.

 

Eisenhower's Cross of Iron Speech / YouTube / 3 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04P4zPzspuI

 

By 1970 the country had seemingly lost hope and its moral bearings with the loss of key political and spiritual leaders ~ JFK assassinated in 1963,

RFK assassinated in June, 1968 and MLK assassinated in August, 1968

 

Richard Nixon was sworn in as president in January 1970 but the country had never fully recovered from the loss of JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King, Jr ~ we were in a state of moral apathy and perfect fodder for Nixon and Kissinger to manipulate our collective fears by bombing Cambodia and then Nixon increased domestic spying.

 

The rest is history, with successive Presidents but also an ever expanding Military/Industrial/Congressional complex ~  so now let's fast forward to the Obama years and in particular Hillary's role as secretary of State regarding the bombing of Libya and the fate of Gaddafi ;

'Alter Egos' Dissects Hillary Clinton's Tenure As Obama's Secretary Of State

April 25, 2016 1:31 PM ET

Heard on Fresh Air

by Mark Landler|

Mark Landler of The New York Times discusses Clinton and Obama's contrasting views on America's role in the world. Clinton, Landler says, was often the hawk, more willing to intervene with force.

GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. Let's get back to the interview FRESH AIR contributor Dave Davies recorded with Mark Landler, author of the new book "Alter Egos: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama And The Twilight Struggle Over American Power." Landler covered Clinton when she was President Obama's secretary of state and Landler was covering the State Department for The New York Times. Landler is now a White House correspondent for The Times.

DAVIES: As you read the book, you realize what tough decisions these people faced, one of them being whether to intervene in Libya militarily against Moammar Gadhafi's forces when they were moving against the opposition in that country following the Arab Spring. Take us through that debate. How did these players state their cases?

LANDLER: Well, this was a very good illustration of the kind of role that Hillary Clinton could play in some of these great debates over war and peace. Again, as I said earlier, she was traveling around Europe during this period hearing from the Europeans, hearing from Arabs, neighbors of Libya of how bad the situation was and the risks killing of real atrocities in Benghazi. Gadhafi had promised to hunt down the rebels house by house like rats. So that was the kind of backdrop, and that was the message that Clinton was getting.

Back in Washington, President Obama was characteristically reluctant. He didn't view Libya as a core strategic interest of the United States in the way, perhaps, that France and Britain did in Europe. And he was backed up, in this case, by his defense secretary, by Bob Gates who also didn't view it as enough of a reason to get involved in yet another war in the Middle East.

But Hillary Clinton made a very strong case. She wasn't alone in making that case. Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. made that case as did Samantha Power, who at that time was an NSC official who thought a lot about human rights issues. And so he was - he the president - was being faced by these fervent proponents of a military intervention to avert this genocide in Benghazi.

But it was really Hillary Clinton who carried the day who made the most persuasive case dialing into a White House meeting from Europe where she had just met with one of the heads of the rebel government who told her how bad things were, and also she was able to cobble together support from enough Arab countries that she felt that the U.S. had enough legitimacy to take part in this mission.

And so this was a critical moment where she really, I think, carried the day over Gates and others, and then in turn set the stage for a military intervention that has, of course, had an extremely bloody aftermath with lots of misgivings and second-guessing on President Obama's part, and one that's even shadowed her into her current election campaign - lots of questions asked about whether Libya was worth it, was it mishandled, did the U.S. not go in afterwards the way we should have? So these are all questions that played out of that fateful decision.

DAVIES: Yeah, you know, the president's maxim, don't do stupid stuff, partly reflected, you know, his view of the Iraq War where the United States went in without a plan for what would happen once Saddam Hussein was deposed.

In Libya, there was no plan for the United States to move in with much of anything, right? And Obama was clearly concerned about that. What happened after Gadhafi fell?

LANDLER: Well, this in effect, Obama was trying to learn the lessons of past interventions, you know, both positive and negative. During the Clinton years, the U.S. waited a long time before intervening in Srebrenica, and there was a terrible slaughter there.

In Iraq, the U.S. intervened full force, went in and really occupied the country with all the mayhem that played out there. So in a way, the president was trying to learn these lessons and get intervention right, intervene to avert a slaughter, a mass killing but not send in tens of thousands of troops or American advisers, not attempt to rebuild the nation of Libya.

The problem was by not doing that, there was an enormous security vacuum in Libya when Gadhafi finally fell and lots of militias some with ties to al-Qaida or ISIS basically swept into that vacuum and turned Libya into, you know, a very lethal place, a place that's really awash in guns and feuding militias and fighting.

And so as the president has looked back on this experience, I think he views it very much as kind of confirming all his worst suspicions. He told Bob Gates it was a 51 - 49 decision whether to do this, and he's been very frank in the aftermath that, you know, he regrets the way it played out."

                   *                  *

And here is War Hawk Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton laughing and stating "We came, We saw and He died" when former Libya head of State Muammar Ghaddafi was brutally assassinated which is certainly not compassionate or presidential and most unsettling to our dictator friends and most certainly Clinton foundation donors ~ see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtH7iv4ip1U

THE ISRAEL CONNECTION AND CLINTON ALLEGIANCE

Sean Adl-Tabatabai / Your News Wire – TRANSCEND Media Service reports on August 8, 2016 ~ that  the new recent Wikileaks release shows the then Secretary of State ordering a war in Syria in order to overthrow the government and oust President Assad, claiming it was the “best way to help Israel”.

Newobserveronline.com reports:

"The document was one of many unclassified by the US Department of State under case number F-2014-20439, Doc No. C05794498, following the uproar over Clinton’s private email server kept at her house while she served as Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013.

Although the Wikileaks transcript dates the email as December 31, 2000, this is an error on their part, as the contents of the email (in particular the reference to May 2012 talks between Iran and the west over its nuclear program in Istanbul) show that the email was in fact sent on December 31, 2012.

The email makes it clear that it has been US policy from the very beginning to violently overthrow the Syrian government ~ and specifically to do this because it is in Israel’s interests."  See Transcend article ~ https://www.transcend.org/tms/2016/08/clinton-email-we-must-destroy-syria-for-israel/

 

And speaking of the Clinton Foundation ~ with help from Jonathan Turley and Doug Childers.

"The Clinton Foundation has been the subject of long-standing allegations of questionable donations and reporting. It is also viewed by many critics as a massive shadow campaign structure that employed aides and funded Clinton trips

However, the most serious allegation was a type of pay-to-play scheme where foreign and domestic donors gave money in the hopes of currying favor or gaining access to the State Department.

Now, Judicial Watch has released dozens of emails that were deleted improperly by the Clinton staff, but contain non-personal communications.

Among the recovered emails are communications showing interventions for donors at the State Department, including one on behalf of a convicted money launderer. The relative lack of coverage on both the proof of the improper deletion of such emails and the pay-for-play concerns is astonishing ~ and magnify concerns that mainstream media has been giving such controversies minimal coverage."

See Turley article ~  https://jonathanturley.org/2016/08/11/recovered-emails-show-clinton-foundation-officials-intervening-for-donors-and-aides-with-state-department/

James Grimaldi, Pulitzer Winning Journalist (WSJ)  gives a detailed report to Democracy Today and Amy Goodman on the obvious conflicts of interest with the Clintons and Clinton Foundation ~ many while Hillary was Secretary of State.  See Video Report ~ http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/37217-did-companies-and-countries-buy-state-deptartment-access-by-donating-to-clinton-foundation

With the help of Doug Childers regarding the spiritual meaning of these developments  ~ I’ve only done a cursory reading of articles on the Clinton Foundation, but I’m not as informed as I could be. But the list I’ve gotten from sources I respect is that the Foundation is a criminal money-making, money-laundering, bribery based organization posing as a humanitarian operation ~ but, for all intent and purposes, it appears to be another highly visible slow speed chase by the Feds.

 

I did read about how the Clintons went into Haiti and made a fortune under the pretense of doing service, of which they did very little. And I know about Hillary helping the Haiti government negotiate a poverty minimum wage of thirty something cents an hour instead of the sixty-something cents an hour representatives of the Haitian people were trying to get. And I’ve been reading and hearing lately that the Clinton Foundation connections have infiltrated into every branch and aspect of the U.S. government and other governments as well.

 

The upshot being that no one dares to go after them because if they go down they’ll take much of the government with them. You probably know that the head of the FBI who declined to charge Hillary for the email fiasco was a board member, I think, for the Clinton Foundation or some branch of it.

 

So my understanding is that the Clinton Foundation is an unparalleled phenomena in all the above respects, a kind of vast parasitic organization feeding off of the total corrupt system we currently have. The revelations of this past year have been truly astounding ~ particularly by WikiLeaks ~ I’ve never seen anything like it.

 

But my spiritual sense is that it is the necessary revelation of the shadow that precedes a collective awakening that has to happen for things to change. As such, Donald Trump is a false flag distraction to humor, feed and distract the public and Main Stream press as well as  protect the Clinton foundation from close scrutiny.

 

As Andy Borowitz satirically writes in the New Yorker : "Clarifying his position on a key national-security issue, Donald Trump said on Friday that as President he would be willing to use nuclear weapons, ' but meant it only in a sarcastic way.'"

 

In that sense, Trump is not a threat and should not be taken seriously but should be seen only as a distraction, perhaps encouraged by the Clintons themselves ~ and it will become obvious, as Maureen Dowd explains today in the New York Times, that the GOP already has the perfect candidate for President;

"All these woebegone Republicans whining that they can’t rally behind their flawed candidate is crazy. The G.O.P. angst, the gnashing and wailing and searching for last-minute substitutes and exit strategies, is getting old.

They already have a 1-percenter who will be totally fine in the Oval Office, someone they can trust to help Wall Street, boost the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, cuddle with hedge funds, secure the trade deals beloved by corporate America, seek guidance from Henry Kissinger and hawk it up ~  unleashing hell on Syria and heaven knows where else.

The Republicans have their candidate: It’s Hillary."
           

You know Jung’s saying that “enlightenment...is about making the darkness conscious"  ~ or more palatable and it's obvious the Clintons have made the darkness more than obvious with their deceptive track record, fabrications and Clinton Foundation.

 

It appears that everyone in political power has their price and can be marginalized such as the recent silencing of Bernie Sanders by the Clinton Machine and his subsequent purchasing of a $600,000 vacation home on Lake Champaign ~ after endorsing Hillary for President ~ connect the dots and realize we are sinking fast in a moral toilet.

 

As the collective awareness of all that has been and continues to be revealed, including our dark side, a shift in the collective psyche of America is occurring that will be decisive ~ and a new consciousness will eventually fuel a dynamic activism that can eventually topple the global corporate/military state that has been running things from behind a closed curtain for decades.

 

That curtain is slowly opening but unfortunately we may have to live with the dark side of Hillary's cross of iron ~ much as you must embrace fear to transcend it ~ before we can truly embrace the light at the end of that dark tunnel as well as our place in a Unified Field of love and soul consciousness that lies not only beyond time and space but also beneath our deepest fears ~ and whose principle property is the universal urge to unite which we continue to ignore at our collective peril.

 

There are other clear strident voices which must be heard before November 4th and hopefully that includes the Green Party's Jill Stein whose progressive voice must be heard at the upcoming Presidential debates ~ see www.Jill2016.com

 

But before the dawn of a new age must come the darkness of apathy and despair ~ for we are all now unfortunately hanging from and bearing the consequences of the Bush, Obama and now Clinton cross of Iron. And for all intent and purposes, there is only one party ~ The War party.

 

 

"The day will come when, after mastering the ether, the winds, the tides, gravity, we shall master the energies of love, for God. And then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have made fire his servant."  Teilhard de Chardin, The Evolution of Chasity (unpublished)

 

 

Allen L Roland, PhD

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/americas-dark-side-is-hillarys-cross-of.html

Heart centered spiritual consultant and advisor Allen L Roland can be contacted at allen@allenroland.com Allen is also a lecturer and writer who shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com. He is also featured columnist on Veterans Today and is a featured guest on many radio and Television programs