Thursday, February 9, 2017

Pepe Escobar — Will Andrew Jackson Trump Embody the Bannon Doctrine?

Historian David Kaiser, who taught at Harvard and the Naval War College, addssome necessary context. He interviewed Bannon in detail, and confirms Bannon “expected a new and even bigger war as part of the current crisis, and he did not seem at all fazed by the prospect.”
Sputnik International
Will Andrew Jackson Trump Embody the Bannon Doctrine?
Pepe Escobar

10 comments:

MRW said...

Pepe Escaobar: always provocative, insightful, and a rip-roarin' writer.

Tom Hickey said...

Agree. Broad knowledge, insight into the key issues, and also an excellent writer that can present information concisely and precisely in an engaging way.

lastgreek said...

[off topic]

Merriam-Webster Verified account‏@MerriamWebster

A "per curiam" decision is one made by the court as a whole rather than by a single justice.

via emptywheel

lastgreek said...

Exclusive: In call with Putin, Trump denounced Obama-era nuclear arms treaty - sources

In his first call as president with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump denounced a treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads as a bad deal for the United States, according to two U.S. officials and one former U.S. official with knowledge of the call.

    When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, known as New START, Trump paused to ask his aides in an aside what the treaty was, these sources said.

Trump then told Putin the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration, saying that New START favored Russia. Trump also talked about his own popularity, the sources said....


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-putin-idUSKBN15O2A5?il=0&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social

Greg said...

There is actually some stuff to agree strongly with Bannon about in my view. He has denounced Ayn Randian capitalism and the crony capitalism practiced so many places and wants a return to a what he sees as a capitalism driven by a western/Judeo/Christian ethic. How can someone on the left disagree with that? ! Where I think I part ways with him is that I see the left turn many religions made in arguing for civil rights, womens rights and other social justice topics as a positive for our western society and not just a positive socially but also a positive economically. He views them with disdain.

He has the Pope in his sights now which might prove monumentally stupid. This Pope is one of the most popular ever

Dave said...

Ok so admittedly I think I would have to read the books cited to really grasp what the author is trying to get at. My thought though is while it presents some interesting theories about the cyclical nature of history, I am concerned that those in charge of the country see themselves as agents of a broader universal, or divine plan to destroy the old order and bring in the new? Or maybe that's just Bannon, which makes me question his sanity, rather than seeing him as some bully fascist, I see him as a religious ideologue looking to fulfill his divine mission. Weird.

Bottom line, capitalism is declining. It is under attack from within, and it is only going down further. There is an apocalypse already, check out Greece, or Closer to home Detroit. The current administration is the modern version of the Palace at Versailles. Let them buy Ivankas shoe line!

No need for religious nonsense. Humans always crash their own systems. It's what we do.

Greg said...

Good comment Dave

I think you have Bannon pegged but I think he is willing to be the bully fascist if he has to be. He'll do what it takes to save western (white) civilization as he sees it.

Matt Franko said...

"No need for religious nonsense. Humans always crash their own systems."

Its just 'creative destruction'... look at Detroit they couldnt compete with the sun belt once air conditioning became efficient...

Its pure Darwin 'survival of the fittest'... 'only the strong survive'...etc...

libertarian capitalists LIKE this process... they think it should not be messed with...

Its textbook Darwin 101 in action...

No one who is believing Darwinism is true should have any problem with this...

Dave said...

Interesting Matt, I do think that there is an evolutionary component to this. I think, and I may be wrong, that evolution favors the systems that most closely mimic natural processes. Capitalisms problem, well it has many, is that it thinks it is immune to the laws of nature. That it can ignore science, and refashion it, like with Social Darwinism, in its image. This is magical thinking. Kind of like where we believe we can run out of money, as if it was a fixed natural resource.

Dave said...

I agree Greg, and of course it makes him more dangerous if he thinks he is fulfilling a universal, divine plan.