by William Skink
The latest reason to gnash one’s teeth if you are hoping Democrats can avert their cataclysmic tailspin is Amanda Curtis losing to Cowboy Quist for a chance to win a Congressional seat. I was told by a commenter more involved in this stuff than I am that this head-to-head showdown represents generational tension in the Montana Democratic ranks.
I know a lot of people care deeply about this election because they are looking for any glimmer of hope that their future isn’t consigned to right-wing fascist dystopia, but I just can’t get all gung-ho to support a party that is supporting a slow-motion coup against an elected president.
The latest controversy instigated via Twitter is Trump’s accusation that Obama ordered his tower tapped. Once again hysteria over what, at first glance, appears absurd, is distracting from the very real moves Obama made to free-up the the IC (Intelligence Community) to share information:
WITH ONLY DAYS until Donald Trump takes office, the Obama administration on Thursday announced new rules that will let the NSA share vast amounts of private data gathered without warrant, court orders or congressional authorization with 16 other agencies, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security.
The new rules allow employees doing intelligence work for those agencies to sift through raw data collected under a broad, Reagan-era executive order that gives the NSA virtually unlimited authority to intercept communications abroad. Previously, NSA analysts would filter out information they deemed irrelevant and mask the names of innocent Americans before passing it along.
The anti-Russian obsession Democrats have is dangerous, and unlike Voodoo economics, it actually does trickle down to local partisans, like Nathan Kosted who posted another steaming pile at ID, titled Daines and Jeff Sessions: Moscow Love Affair:
Senator Daines is thrilled that Jeff Sessions is Attorney General.
Montanans and Americans who do not like Russian intrusion from Vladimir Putin into our elections, executive branch and governmental decision-making process probably disagree with Senator Daines.
Jeff Sessions had meetings with Russian officials, ambassadors, spies possibly and then lied about under oath at his confirmation hearing for Attorney General. This is perjury and he has recused himself from investigations into Trumps’ campaign about ties to Russians interfering in our elections.
The question is, does Daines stand with America and Montana or Russia and Sessions?
I know it seems like this Russia gambit is going to get loser Democrats a foothold back to power, but is it worth making a deal with the devil–and by devil I mean the treasonous bastards in the IC who think they can keep pulling their shadowy strings since most politicians don’t want to be assassinated like JFK?
Another Montana Democrat who likes to out-hawk Republicans but in a totally progressive way is COMBAT VETERAN Josh Manning. A recent example is Manning’s post at Cowboygirl about Trump failing his first national security test.
This failure is the infamous Yemen raid that resulted in one dead American and lots of innocent people Manning doesn’t refer to at all. Also missing is any justification for America’s role in supporting this horrific war. Instead, Manning uses statements made by Trump to take a position like this:
I am not a total hawk. I do not believe the military is a hammer that needs to hit every nail, screw, or whatever else is presented to it. But I do believe in the use of our forces as a scalpel and especially the use of those who are trained to do the elite work in a rapid and clean way that can affect real change. I have seen this up close and the success that can come if this used in the right way.
For me, the most chilling word in this statement is “clean” and it’s also the most instructive.
The insidious success of Obama’s neoliberal foreign policy is precisely what Manning is defending: using “cleaner” methods of killing to achieve essentially the same things as the clunky occupiers of the Bush regime were trying to achieve.
Now, with literal blood in the water, a cheerleader of drone strikes and clandestine death-dealing comes forward to rally Democrats around some progressive war porn.
No thank you.
As long as Democrats continue promoting increased tensions with a nuclear armed country, I will not give them a scratch from my proverbial pencil come election time.