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May
23
2017

America Has Become a Total Joke
Michael Krieger

I’ve stopped calling what our government has done a cover-up. Cover-up suggests a passive activity. What they’re doing now I call aggressive deception.

– Former Senator Bob Graham, co-chair of Congress’s 9/11 Joint Inquiry

This country is becoming a total joke and it's not merely because of Donald Trump. While he's certainly becoming a key player in our national embarrassment, this country's decent into a reckless Banana Republic has been a long time coming.

Let's take stock of where things stand in mid-2017. Our opposition Democratic Party (Hillary in a leather jacket yelling about Russia) is a joke. Our corporate media is a joke. Our foreign policy is a joke. Our economy is a joke. Our justice system is a joke. It's all a joke, and it might even be somewhat humorous if it wasn't so incredibly dangerous.

Today's post will focus on Trump's recent visit to Saudi Arabia, a revolting spectacle which I could barely bring myself to follow. It all started Saturday morning as I tried to enjoy a beautiful day with my growing family and parents who were in town for a visit. My day was more or less ruined upon witnessing the appalling scene of Trump and his top advisors dancing with the rulers of the terrorist sponsoring state of Saudi Arabia while clutching swords. I'm sorry for doing this to you, but in case you missed it.

Then there was the speech. It was an inspiring display of soaring oratory if empty platitudes and belligerent neocon foreign policy is your thing. On various occasions Mr. Trump alluded to the fact that the U.S.-Saudi alliance was a “partnership based on shared interests and values.” Which got me thinking…which of the following was he referring to exactly.

Or perhaps it's just a partnership based on oil and imperial ambitions. Nah, don't be a conspiracy theorist.

It's remarkable the transformation Trump's undergone since winning the Presidency. You know, kind of like what happened to Mr. “Hope and Change” after he won. Funny things tend to happen to people once they capture the throne.

That said, Trump's transformation has been particularly brazen (and public), which has led many of us to wonder what happened to this guy…

Turns out daddy's money still works after all, with Trump happily groveling for more during his trip. For example, just before he mentioned the recent Saudi arms deal in his speech, Trump introduced it by saying he has “even more blessed news” to share. Not a joke.

Who will actually benefit from all this “blessed news”? We get a hint from CNBC‘s headline this morning.

Specifically:

Defense stocks took off on Monday after President Donald Trump signed a nearly $110 billion weapons deal with Saudi Arabia. The deal will be worth $350 billion over 10 years.

Shortly after market open, Lockheed Martin was up about 2 percent, Raytheon was up more than 1.4 percent, Northrop Grumman climbed 1 percent and General Dynamics was up about half a percent. All four stocks reached new highs.

It seems arming the Saudis to unleash further horror and humanitarian suffering in neighboring Yemen (and throughout the region), is very good for business.

Blessed are the arm dealers, for they shall inherit the earth.

Meanwhile, Trump ended his Saudi speech by blasting Iran for its terrorism. I suppose somebody forgot to show him the following graphic showing country of origin for terrorist attacks on American soil.

For more on how elements of the Saudi state were involved in the 9/11 attacks, see:

Meet the Lawyer Who’s Suing Saudi Arabia for Financing the 9/11 Attacks

The 28-Pages Are Way Worse Than I Thought

While the above is cringeworthy enough, perhaps the most grotesque, ignorant and disturbing part of the visit came to us via comments from billionaire financier and current Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. In a CNBC interview earlier today he was downright jubilant when describing the fact there were no protesters in Saudi Arabia to disrupt the adults present while they plotted their next moves of regional domination as they cuddled glowing orbs. He was also downright mesmerized by a couple of bags of dates given to him by Saudi security.

From MarketWatch:

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Monday he was heartened by the absence of even a single protester during President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia over the weekend.

Ross noted:

I think the other thing that was fascinating to me, there was not a single hint of a protestor anywhere there during the whole time we were there, not one guy with a bad placard.

CNBC anchor Becky Quick attempted to point out that Saudi Arabia bans all political protests, but Ross did not let that spoil his good mood.

“In theory that could be true. But, boy, there was certainly no sign of it, there was not a single effort at any incursion. There wasn’t anything. The mood was a genuinely good mood. And at the end of the trip, as I was getting back on the plane, the security guards from the Saudi side who’d been helping us over the weekend all wanted to pose for a big photo-op. And then they gave me two gigantic bushels of dates, as a present, as a thank you for the trip that we had had. That was a pretty from-the-heart, very genuine gesture. It really touched me.”

Translation: Why can't we do the same thing in America.

Indeed, I'm sure a few ceremonial mass beheadings here at home will certianly improve the national mood.

In theory.

Meanwhile, I'll just leave this right here.

America is already a Banana Republic and it's only going to get worse.

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In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

 

My name is Michael Krieger, and I am the creator and editor of Liberty Blitzkrieg. I’m originally from New York City.

As far as my academic and professional background, I attended college at Duke University where I earned a double major in Economics and Spanish. After completing my studies in 2000, I took a job at Lehman Brothers where I worked with the Oil analyst in the Equity Research Department. In 2005, I joined Sanford C. Bernstein where I served as the Commodities Analyst on the trading floor. About halfway through my time there, I started to branch out and write opinions on bigger picture “macro” topics that no one else at the firm was covering. These opinion pieces were extremely popular throughout the global investment community, and I traveled extensively providing advice to some of the largest mutual funds, pension funds and hedge funds in the world.

I loved my job, but as time passed I started to educate myself about how the monetary and financial system functions and what I discovered disgusted me. I no longer felt satisfied working within the industry, and I resigned in January 2010. At that point, I started a family investment office and continued to write macro pieces on economic, social and geopolitical topics. That summer, I drove cross country for six weeks and ultimately decided to leave the crowded streets of Manhattan for the open spaces of Boulder, Colorado, where I currently reside.

In the years that followed, I gradually recognized that my true passion centers upon writing on issues of significant societal importance given the extremely challenging times we live in. This realization culminated with me losing interest in financial markets and eventually launching this website in early 2012.

 

 

 

 

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