Month: October 2016

by William Skink

I know it’s controversial to assert that terrorism is a geopolitical tool used by America to destroy non-aligned countries, but it’s the truth. It’s less controversial to assert this historically because it’s now a proven fact that America supported the terrorists that evolved into Al Qaeda during the late 70’s and 80’s in Afghanistan. The goal back then was to draw Russia into a quagmire, thus draining Russia’s military might. The terrorist attack on 9/11, in this context, can be seen as blowback.

The cognitive dissonance occurs these days when the same assertion is made regarding ISIS. But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to deny that today’s American regime under the Democratic leadership of Obama has been arming terrorists to destabilize non-aligned nations, like Libya and now Syria.

The rise of ISIS was in no way a surprise development to U.S. intelligence agencies. The now infamous DIA report from 2012 proves that by stating the following:

“THE WEST, GULF COUNTRIES, AND TURKEY [WHICH] SUPPORT THE [SYRIAN] OPPOSITION… THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A DECLARED OR UNDECLARED SALAFIST PRINCIPALITY IN EASTERN SYRIA (HASAKA AND DER ZOR), AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE SUPPORTING POWERS TO THE OPPOSITION WANT, IN ORDER TO ISOLATE THE SYRIAN REGIME…”

Well, what happened in the subsequent years? America’s ally and NATO member, Turkey, helped facilitate clandestine petrol sales to finance ISIS while countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia armed the jihadists to take out Assad as part of a larger sectarian war against Iran.

By using these proxy forces, America gets to achieve its geopolitical goals without the nuisance of American soldiers coming home in body bags. But there’s been a problem, and that problem, simply put, has been Russia.

Now that the veneer of diplomacy has been dispensed with, it would appear the gloves are coming off. And with that, the careful maintenance of the false narrative that America wants to fight ISIS is truly beginning to unravel.

Today Mike Whitney has a very important article up at Counterpunch, titled Did I say that? State Department Official Admits Ties to Terrorist Groups. Here is the quote Whitney claims exposes the truth of America’s relationship with its terrorist tools, spat out as a threat to Moscow by the State Department’s John Kirby:

“Extremist groups will continue to exploit the vacuums that are there in Syria to expand their operations, which could include attacks against Russian interests, perhaps even Russian cities. Russia will continue to send troops home in body bags, and will continue to lose resources, perhaps even aircraft.” Kirby added that if the war in Syria continues “more Russian lives will be lost, more Russian aircraft will be shot down.”

Pretty brazen, huh. How can apologists for America’s despicable foreign policy spin this? Or do they even think they have to anymore?

Naturally, Russian officials are taking this threat seriously. Here are some statements in response to this overt threat. First, from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Rybakov:

“We cannot interpret this as anything else but de facto support for terrorism. These poorly veiled invitations to use terrorism as a weapon against Russia shows the political depths the current US administration has stooped to in its approach to the Middle East and Syria.”

And here is another response, this one from FM Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

“And those [acts of terrorism] will be perpetrated by ‘moderate’ [Syrian opposition groups]?…Just the ones that Washington has been unable to separate from Al-Nusra for as long as six months?”

“[What about] Terrorist attacks in France, America and other countries; the beheadings of people of all nationalities by Islamic State militants in Syria – is this all kind of a different paradigm? Perhaps another ‘parallel reality?”

Sadly, I think Americans are too distracted by domestic electoral politics and conditioned by very effective propaganda to see this State Department threat for what it is. The campaign to demonize Russia has been ongoing for years now, and will only escalate now that diplomacy has been officially stopped and a shooting war with a nuclear-armed Russia gets closer to becoming a reality.

Putin, despite the demonizing campaign, has actually been a critical bulwark against more extreme elements within Russia who see the provocative encroachment of NATO and the extremely threatening placement of “defensive” missile systems in Eastern Europe as signs that America is preparing for a war with Russia. How can Putin sell diplomacy domestically after this reckless threat from the State Department? If the answer to that question is he can’t, then a hot war just got that much closer to starting.

This is fucking insane, and Americans seem incapable of understanding the dynamics developing. We are too consumed with 3am tweets from a billionaire with a toddler’s temperament to see the gloves heaped on the floor and the dangerous proximity to a war that could drastically impact our ability to survive on this planet if the nukes start flying.

Ok, now go back to talking about Veeps and tweets, America. Ignorance truly is bliss.

by William Skink

I didn’t watch the understudies to America’s two most unpopular presidential candidates debate tonight because fuck politics. Instead I’ve been busy working on bringing more poems to life with music and images.

I wrote the poem Cosby Goes to Cuba over a year ago, then posted it on 4&20 Blackbirds. The poem consistently got traffic, and probably still does, though I am no longer privy to those statistics.

My process for creating these little capsules of creative content is constantly evolving. Now that I have a baseline understanding of Pro Tools and Final Cut, the possibilities truly seem endless. And overwhelming.

If my lack of singing ability in this piece grates on your senses, just know there is a great clip at the end between “Theo” and “Dr. Huxtable” about how to get Theo’s woman back. Poetry, according to the advice dispensed by the serial rapist actor who plays Dr. Huxtable, Bill Cosby, is not the way to go.

I disagree, Billy. Here’s the video:

by William Skink

There is no more taking the high ground from Montana Democrats. Instead they prefer to swim in the gutter with the rest of the political filth that pollutes our political discourse. Any moaning and gnashing of teeth at how mean Republicans can be evaporates into the general noise of mud slinging.

From that noise I was recently criticized by progressive scold, Pete Talbot, for using labels, specifically “liberal do-gooder”. I think if I want to be more skilled at deploying labels to damage opponents, I should take notes from Pete’s Democrats, because that seems to be all they are capable of doing–labeling and fear-mongering for votes.

The latest political labeling Democrats used through their mouthpiece blog, Moogirl, wasn’t even against a Republican. It was against Caron Cooper, who made the cardinal sin of running as an independent after her initial run as a Democrat was challenged by nepotism-loving party insiders in the form of Pat Noonan. In yesterday’s post, JC pointed out the family ties that make Noonan, for some, so odious:

Caron’s Dem opponent in the PSC race is none other than Pat Noonan. If the name Noonan doesn’t strike a bell, his uncle and political mentor Art has been a longstanding stalwart with the MT Dem party, including stints as a legislator, head of the MT Dem Party, working for Pat Williams and John Melcher, and deputy FWP Director.

But the icing on the cake is Art Noonan’s latest work as advisor and lobbyist for NorthWestern Energy. So yeah, if his nephew gets on the PSC, he’ll be lobbied by his uncle, who coincidentally is a director for AWARE, where Pat recently worked. Nepotism runs deep in the Dem party, and the Noonan family. They’ll take Caron out however they can.

For those not paying attention to the latest details of this drama, Moogirl literally labeled Cooper with hashtags, which is what prompted the ill-advised complaint that was recently thrown out. Here is Cooper from a recent comment:

An anonymous Montana Cowgirl blogpost provides the mud – by making up Topic Tags that link me to “Racist Views” and “Porn.”

This is a classic means of shaping and framing an issue that has been used by the political establishment since the era of mean-spirited gridlock began.

So porn is now an issue at the national level, with Trump’s soft-core champagne cameo, and locally, with a partisan blog trashing a capable woman unnecessarily. Is this how you want to win, Democrats?

Usually capable women are touted by Democrats, because identity politics. But not this time around. Instead they are trashing and smearing a woman because she chose to run as an independent after MT Democrats made it clear they were backing the legacy candidate despite his conflict of interest regarding his family connections.

Democrats are in trouble, locally and nationally, and they genuinely don’t seem to understand why. Maybe it’s their presidential candidate, consigning half the electorate to her basket of deplorables, then mocking millennials living in their parents basement. Maybe it’s the smug success of political correctness that disparages anyone who doesn’t think like a coastal liberal.

If Democrats want to get a clue, there is a book I just got that would do them good. It’s by Arlie Russell Hochschild, and it’s called Strangers In Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. Here is a link to an interview with Hochschild on Democracy Now.

Educate yourselves, Democrats. Your labels and smug arrogance aren’t working anymore. Or don’t, because it probably won’t matter. Diplomacy in Syria is officially off, and the financial contagion from Germany could be the trigger for the next economic collapse that was baked into the cake 8 years ago when Obama sold us all out to Wall Street.

by William Skink

I’m not sure why Caron Cooper thought to go after an anonymous blog for attacking her spoiler candidacy for the PSC. This is just how Democrats roll when you buck the party, and this week Cooper’s complaint against Moogirl was tossed out. To find out why Moogirl went after Cooper in the first place, this comment from Turner at Moogirl is insightful:

I haven’t been following the legal kerfuffle, but Caron Cooper is clearly the most highly qualified candidate for PSC. The trouble with her is that she isn’t a party-line Democrat. Montana Cowgirl promotes toe-the-line Democrats not progressives like Caron. They should be questioning our Democratic candidates about their positions on a number of issues important to progressives, such as the Dakota Access Pipeline next door in North Dakota. State Dems say they’re for Native American rights but have nothing to say about the Sioux having their sacred burial grounds dug up by a fossil fuel company. And they’re not upset, apparently, by witnessing government goons throwing Native folks in jail for protesting this desecration and attack on the environment. I know Montana Dems get a lot of money from the fossil fuel industry and the unions that are in bed with this industry, but shouldn’t they care a little about ordinary people, the sort of people Caron Cooper cares about?

Obviously Cooper has some support, but the move to file a complaint against an anonymous blog comes off as a political miscalculation, because now a victory for free speech can be touted by Moogirl.

I’m going to join celebrating this victory for free speech because, as a blogger who sometimes takes on a party that engages in petty gutter politics, my constitutionally protected right is important to me.

If, for example, I wanted to write a post about my first hand knowledge of a state representative’s unethical behavior during her tenure at a local nonprofit, I’d like to do so without the fear of retaliation.

So yeah for free speech! It’s an important right that requires vigilant effort to protect.

*UPDATE

Cooper has responded to Moogirl in a comment, which I will reproduce here:

Okay, so, as an independent PSC candidate, I rock the boat enough to make the Dems seasick.

They engage in a mud-slinging contest in which everyone is wearing masks except me.

An anonymous Montana Cowgirl blogpost provides the mud – by making up Topic Tags that link me to “Racist Views” and “Porn.”

This is a classic means of shaping and framing an issue that has been used by the political establishment since the era of mean-spirited gridlock began.

Here’s how it’s done:
1. What is the [Democrats/MT Cowgirl’s] core value? A Dem win of the PSC–District 3 race.
2. Who or what threatens that core value? Me
3. What’s the best way to attack and destroy the threat? Pen and post an anonymous attack blog linking my name to “Racist Views” and “Porn.”

In doing so, the Dems have shown their hand: Their highest priority in the PSC race is win the schoolyard game of “capture the flag” for their team. And they are doing it knowing full well that their “best player” took campaign donations for his House races from folks he hopes to regulate on the PSC: Northwestern Energy, Montana Dakota Utilities, Century Link, and Burlington Northern-Santa Fe.

Really, it’s the same-old same-old that prompted me to run as an Independent for the PSC in the first place.

So, anyone up for a non-partisan chat about what’s best for Montana ratepayers?