tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post4003736060619287587..comments2024-03-18T19:09:18.510-04:00Comments on Mike Norman Economics: Willian Blum - The Anti-Empire Report # 159mike normanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296006882513340747noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-6468565099143588732018-08-19T15:44:24.029-04:002018-08-19T15:44:24.029-04:00Speaking of meddling, on this day in 1953 (19 Aug...Speaking of <b>meddling, </b> on this day in 1953 (19 Aug), President Eisenhower authorized the CIA to engineer the coup in Iran. <br /><br />In 1925 the U.K. had installed Reza Shah Pahlavi as king (i.e. Shah). <br /><br />In Sep 1941 the U.K. and the Soviets removed him when they invaded Iran to grab the oil. (The U.K. also invaded Iraq to get the oil.) <br /><br />At the end of WW II, the Shah’s son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became king, but at age 26 he took a hands-off approach to government. Parliament became unstable, and from the 1947 to 1951, Iran had six different prime ministers. In 1951 Iran’s parliament voted to nationalize Iran’s oil industry. <br /><br />That started the countdown to the coup of 1953, after which Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became a murderous dictator and U.S.-Israeli puppet for 26 years until he was overthrown in 1979.<br /><br />(The experience of brutal dictatorship is why Iranians emphasize that they now have an Islamic <b> Republic,</b> as opposed to a monarchy.)Konradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739209449391854796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-73891648678649784962018-08-19T14:50:04.560-04:002018-08-19T14:50:04.560-04:00“We’re still waiting for some evidence of actual R...<i> “We’re still waiting for some evidence of actual Russian interference in the election aimed at determining the winner.”</i> ~ Paul Craig Roberts <br /><br />The Russia-gate hoax serves many purposes. One purpose is to help sustain the illusion of democracy. <br /><br />For example, the claim is that Russia “meddled” in the presidential election of Nov 2016. That is, Russia supposedly swayed enough Americans to get Trump elected. Russia presumably did this by ordering Wikileaks to expose the corruption of Hillary and the DNC. (It was “evil” to expose Hillary’s evil.) <br /><br />However U.S. presidents are chosen by the 538 members of the Electoral College, not by the popular vote. <br /><br />In the 2016 election, Trump won by 77 electoral votes. Only seven Electors voted for a candidate different from the one for whom they were pledged to vote. Hillary Clinton lost five of her pledged electors, while Trump lost two. So why not subpoena all 304 electors who voted for Trump, and demand to know if they were following Russian orders? <br /><br />The reason why no one suggests this is that the Russia-gate hoax (like all hoaxes) depends on blind faith and endless repetition. A hoax can only be sustained if the masses ask no questions about it, and punish anyone who does ask questions. <br /><br />Once the blind faith has been established, lies become "true." A hoax becomes a “fact" and "common sense." Cult members smugly declare that there are “mountains of evidence” for the hoax. Any questioning of the hoax becomes “ridiculous,” and an example of “hate speech.” <br /><br />Blind faith helps people make “sense” of their miserable lives by giving them a reason to not look at reality. <br /><br />Are you having hard times? Don’t worry; Jesus is coming, and the Mueller “investigation” will yield irrefutable proof...someday.Konradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739209449391854796noreply@blogger.com