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Page added on March 19, 2018
Kunstler: If You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It
Various readers, fans, blog commenters, Facebook trolls, and auditors twanged on me all last week about my continuing interest in the RussiaRussiaRussia hysteria, though there is no particular consensus of complaint among them — except for a general “shut up, already” motif. For the record, I’m far more interested in the hysteria itself than the Russia-meddled-in the-election case, which I consider to be hardly any case at all beyond 13 Russian Facebook trolls.
The hysteria, on the other hand, ought to be a matter of grave concern, because it appears more and more to have been engineered by America’s own intel community, its handmaidens in the Dept of Justice, and the twilight’s last gleamings of the Obama White House, and now it has shoved this country in the direction of war at a time when civilian authority over the US military looks sketchy at best. This country faces manifold other problems that are certain to reduce the national standard of living and disrupt the operations of an excessively complex and dishonest economy, and the last thing America needs is a national war-dance over trumped-up grievances with Russia.
The RussiaRussiaRussia narrative has unspooled since Christmas and is blowing back badly through the FBI, now with the firing (for cause) of Deputy Director Andrew McCabe hours short of his official retirement (and inches from the golden ring of his pension). He was axed on the recommendation of his own colleagues in the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility, and they may have been influenced by the as-yet-unreleased report of the FBI Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, due out shortly.
The record of misbehavior and “collusion” between the highest ranks of the FBI, the Democratic Party, the Clinton campaign, several top political law firms, and a shady cast of international blackmail peddlars is a six-lane Beltway-scale evidence trail compared to the muddy mule track of Trump “collusion” with Russia. It will be amazing if a big wad of criminal cases are not dealt out of it, even as The New York Times sticks its fingers in its ears and goes, “La-la-la-la-la….”
It now appears that Mr. McCabe’s statements post-firing tend to incriminate his former boss, FBI Director James Comey — who is about to embark, embarrassingly perhaps, on a tour for his self-exculpating book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership.
A great aura of sanctimony surrounds the FBI these days. Even the news pundits seem to have forgotten the long, twisted reign of J. Edgar Hoover (1924 – 1972), a dangerous rogue who excelled at political blackmail. And why, these days, would any sane American take pronouncements from the CIA and NSA at face value? What seems to have gone on in the RussiaRussiaRussia matter is that various parts of the executive branch in the last months under Mr. Obama gave each other tacit permission, wink-wink, to do anything necessary to stuff HRC into the White House and, failing that, to derail her opponent, the Golden Golem of Greatness.
The obvious lesson in all this huggermugger is that the ends don’t justify the means. I suspect there are basically two routes through this mess. One is that the misdeeds of FBI officers, Department of Justice lawyers, and Intel agency executives get adjudicated by normal means, namely, grand juries and courts. That would have the salutary effect of cleansing government agencies and shoring up what’s left of their credibility at a time when faith in institutions hangs in the balance.
The second route would be for the authorities to ignore any formal response to an evermore self-evident trail of crimes, and to allow all that political energy to be funneled into manufactured hysteria and eventually a phony provocation of war with Russia. Personally, I’d rather see the US government clean house than blow up the world over an engineered hallucination.
131 Comments on "Kunstler: If You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It"
MASTERMIND on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 4:39 pm
CLogg
Where’s the Immigration Crisis? U.S. Border Patrol Reports Illegal Border Crossings At Record Low
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2017/12/05/wheres-the-immigration-crisis-u-s-border-patrol-reports-illegal-border-crossings-at-record-low/#21deecfc4b73
What Mass Immigration Wave?
https://imgur.com/a/cgKTh
Its all in your paranoid head. You should learn to question right wing political leaders and their billionaire owned propaganda networks. The problem the US and Europe has is the economy. And the right is scapegoating immigrants to blame everything on. Just like Hitler scapegoated the Jews during the great depression.
MASTERMIND on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 4:41 pm
Greg
Where are they going to get the food? From wherever the food is produced and located. And people like you fundie preppers will either have to come to the city to get your daily rations…Or you will starve to death…Or be eaten by your redneck neighbors!
Cloggie on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 4:41 pm
Millimind do I have a treat for you!
Richard Spencer extended interview with Israeli TV!
https://altright.com/2018/03/19/extended-interview-with-richard-spencer/
Davy on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 6:11 pm
Nedernazi, you are always blaming the US for your problems. This is a typical mechanism of failure. Own your problems.
Boat on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 6:23 pm
Clog
If Putin continues to make mistakes those Russian exports may be halted. Your Germany would be in deep shyt. Better build out that wind as quick as you can.
GregT on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 6:51 pm
“And when the oil crisis hits in a few the government will send the national gurad to send in food and water to the cities.”
“From wherever the food is produced and located.”
When the oil crisis hits MM, where do you believe that the national gurad will get the oil from to plant, fertilize, irrigate, harvest, and transport the food to the cities? And where do you believe that the food will be ‘produced and located’ to feed entire cities full of people after the oil crisis hits?
MASTERMIND on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 7:05 pm
Greg
When the oil crisis hits we aren’t going to run totally out of oil all of a sudden. The government will put in restrictions on gasoline purchases like back in the 1970’s..There will still be enough oil to run the machines. Just maybe not enough to drive to grandma’s house on the weekend.
MASTERMIND on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 7:35 pm
Look its clogg
https://i.redd.it/a0khhp8vnxm01.jpg
HAHA Nailed it!
JuanP on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 7:48 pm
I want to congratulate President Putin and the Russian nation on their peaceful election. I also read today that the bridge uniting Crimea to the rest of Russia will be completed ahead of time. These are great times for Russia thanks to its great president. What a contrast to the pitiful USA which has become humanity’s laughingstock. Russia keeps getting stronger and becoming more independent and self sufficient all the time. Little wonder that most Russians love President Putin just about as much as most Americans hate President Trump!
MASTERMIND on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 7:58 pm
JuanP
IEA: Russia’s oil output to reach its peak in 2020
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/IEA-Russia%E2%80%99s-oil-output-to-reach-its-peak-in-2020.html
Russia’s GDP is the size of Italy’s. Without oil and gas they are going to collapse again! No amount of ballot stuffing by Putin can refill the oil reserves! LOL
GregT on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 8:30 pm
“When the oil crisis hits we aren’t going to run totally out of oil all of a sudden. The government will put in restrictions on gasoline purchases like back in the 1970’s..There will still be enough oil to run the machines. Just maybe not enough to drive to grandma’s house on the weekend.”
Maybe you should consider moving closer to grandma’s house. Problem solved. See how easy that was.
JuanP on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 8:34 pm
Micromind, I have no respect for anyone who believes in IEA’s projections. Russia is the BIGGEST country in the world and it doesn’t need anything from anybody. I have been Peak Oil aware basically all my life. Any reasonably smart and educated person understands that we can’t keep on consuming resources at an unsustainable rate, particularly fossil fuels and some minerals. I know that Russia’s oil production will peak at some point, but Russia existed for a thousand years before they started extracting oil and will not cease to exist when its production peaks. LOL!
JuanP on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 8:44 pm
And, Micromind, your belief that the USA can win a war against Russia is unbelievably stupid and ignorant. The USA has been waging war on the Taliban for almost two decades and they are no closer to beating them than they were 15 years ago. I honestly can’t understand how you can imagine that if the USA can’t beat a bunch of illiterate peasants running around the mountains of Afghanistan in flip flops and armed with AK47s they could beat a country with the capacity to destroy the USA, and the whole world if they wanted, in less than an hour. Do you realize how demented you sound? You obviously are completely insane! LOL! I look forward to your next idiotic reply; I am greatly enjoying our exchanges. You really do the USA proud. With citizens like you the USA has no need for foreign enemies! 😉
MASTERMIND on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 9:17 pm
JuanP
What happened last time Russia peaked in oil production? They collapsed because they do not have a diverse economy. And the same thing is going to happen to them again. They are just one false flag away from getting hit with a nuclear first strike! We already have troops on Putins border and missile defense shields ready! Trump acts like he loves Putin but he will turn around and stab him in the back. Just like he does everyone else he comes into contact with..Russia has old 1980’s military equipment and no strong allies to help them. We have the UK, Europe, Israel, Japan, etc…etc..And China wont help him any they dont ever get involved in white people wars. And they know once we seize control of Russia they can just buy their oil and gas from us.
GregT on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 9:27 pm
“We already have troops on Putins border and missile defense shields ready!”
“We have the UK, Europe, Israel, Japan, etc…etc..”
What’s with the constant ‘we’ BS? If need be, they would off, you just as quickly as they would off anybody else.
They care as much about you, as they do Putin. IOW, not at all.
GregT on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 9:54 pm
“What happened last time Russia peaked in oil production?”
Russia has only been a country since 1991 MM, and they have not yet reached a peak in oil production. They are producing more oil today, than they ever have before.
MASTERMIND on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 10:12 pm
Greg
You know what the fuck i meant. They have only increased production because they opened up to free markets which brought in new enhanced oil recovery technologies. But that wont last very long! And what happened to the Soviet Union will happen to the global economy when the oil shortage hits in a few years.
https://imgur.com/a/OB1w6
https://www.amazon.com/Cold-War-Energy-Soviet-Union/dp/0692630619
MASTERMIND on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 10:15 pm
Greg
I know you want to see Russia thrive because Putin is the worlds richest man and you love authoritarians. Because you are a stupid religious fundamentalist! And a tin foil whack job who is in a “Deep State” of constant paranoia.
GregT on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 10:41 pm
“And what happened to the Soviet Union will happen to the global economy when the oil shortage hits in a few years.”
When oil shortages happen, Russia will be laughing all the way to the bank. Russia is a net exporter of both oil and natural gas.
It isn’t exactly rocket science MM. I’m sure that the vast majority of slightly above average intelligence school children could figure that one out.
GregT on Tue, 20th Mar 2018 10:48 pm
“And a tin foil whack job who is in a “Deep State” of constant paranoia.”
Let us all hope that the President elect of the United States, who vowed that he would not be controlled by the “deep state”, comes to some diplomatic agreement with the Russians.
If not, the US is burnt toast.
u on Wed, 21st Mar 2018 1:22 am
We have the UK, Europe, Israel, Japan, etc…etc..And China wont help him any they dont ever get involved in white people wars. And they know once we seize control of Russia they can just buy their oil and gas from us.
You don’t have Europe and Japan at all. Europe and Japan will only stand by your side if they would attack America, but China and Russia will not start a war.
Europe has already escaped from the empire, filling the vacuum that Trump intentionally created:
https://www.rt.com/news/387313-us-losing-leadership-eu-mogherini/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXvKH3g5k14
We are out of here.lol
Now the geopolitical game of musical chairs has begun.
Putin wants to be in Europe and the European populist Right is willing to let him in:
https://documents1940.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/paris-berlin-moscow/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPOT9ZVW0hg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i7d2mZC6rQ
Now the question is: who blinks first? Who pulls the plug on the US empire aka the West.
Cloggie on Wed, 21st Mar 2018 1:22 am
u=Cloggie
JuanP on Wed, 21st Mar 2018 8:14 am
Micromind “We already have troops on Putins border and missile defense shields ready! Trump acts like he loves Putin but he will turn around and stab him in the back. Just like he does everyone else he comes into contact with..Russia has old 1980’s military equipment and no strong allies to help them. We have the UK, Europe, Israel, Japan, etc…etc.”
You mean the troops that supposedly can’t defeat the Taliban and ISIS? The USA can’t even win wars against defenseless Third World countries and you are so delusional, stupid, and/or ignorant that you think they can defeat Russia.
Russia has nuclear submarines and drones resting on the bottom of the ocean 200 miles offshore of both US coasts as we speak. They are armed with nuclear missiles that the USA has absolutely no defenses against, not to talk about all the other new missiles that Russia has that the USA can’t stop. The USA has never won a war since before I was born. Your carriers are sitting ducks and both Russia and China could sink your fleets in minutes. The USA can’t attack Russia without getting completely destroyed itself, and if you think it can you are nothing more than a fool. And the USA has no friends at all, only minions with bought politicians that will happily turn their backs on the USA at the first chance they get. Americans are the most disliked people on the planet and if you can’t see that then you have been thoroughly brainwashed, Imaginary Neuron. I wish the USA was a good country and a positive influence on the world so that most of humanity would like it because I am a US resident, but that is simply not the case and I can’t fool myself into believing that crap because they failed at their attempts to brainwash me. There are good, very good, and excellent people that are US citizens (I interact with some of them every single day), but the USA is an evil power no matter how you cut it and the world would be a better place if they peacefully ceased to exist. Your problem is that you can’t handle the truth. Now go ahead and post another copy and paste comment that proves how thoroughly brainwashed you are. LOL! I will be back later!
MASTERMIND on Wed, 21st Mar 2018 8:26 am
Putin shows off Nukes hitting America. And crickets from Trump. Then Trump calls him and thanks him on his ballot stuffing fake victory. Either Trump is a total bitch or he has been compromised. The Cons have sold out everything they stand for for this coward. Family values, free trade, free speech, national security..etc.
https://imgur.com/a/EGyB6
JuanP on Wed, 21st Mar 2018 8:27 am
Micromind “And China wont help him any they dont ever get involved in white people wars.”
China will not allow the USA to attack, destroy, and/or conquer Russia because they know they would be next, moron. China and Russia have been pulled together by the completely insane US foreign policy and have a very symbiotic relationship. There is nothing that the collapsing USA can do about it now. The Chinese have been around for millenia and they were the most powerful country on the planet for most of history until the West attacked them . If you think they have forgiven or forgotten then you are as stupid as you sound. The Chinese are very patient and are playing a long game; they know that they don’t have to do anything other than wait for the Western collapse to follow its natural course. They are just enjoying the show and who can blame them? They know the Russians are their allies and the USA and its minions their enemies; they are not as STUPID as you are, exceptionalist. LOL!
JuanP on Wed, 21st Mar 2018 6:33 pm
Thanks to Western interference Putin is now more popular than ever! Long live Putin! Long live Russia!
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/421944-putin-election-demonized-west-victory/
MASTERMIND on Wed, 21st Mar 2018 8:06 pm
Juanp
Russian propaganda is not a reliable source. Even Snowden said the election was rigged for Putin…And Snowden can tell no lie! He gives zero fucks! Putin is one false flag away from being nuked! We already have troops on his border and missile shields to defend against anything he wants to shoot back..He is trapped like a rat and his knows it! Live free or die bitch!
MASTERMIND on Wed, 21st Mar 2018 8:08 pm
JuanP
China wants nothing to do with a war against the US and Russia. And the US is their largest customer. Who do you think buys most of the shit they produce? All they need Russia for is their oil and gas imports. Which they can just buy from us after the Regime change!
JuanP on Wed, 21st Mar 2018 8:28 pm
Nanomind “Russian propaganda is not a reliable source.”
And American propaganda is? You are hilarious! LOL!
Cloggie on Thu, 22nd Mar 2018 1:35 am
Trump congratulates Putin with his electoral victory:
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/donald-trump-verteidigt-seine-glueckwuensche-an-wladimir-putin-a-1199285.html
But that is a no-no for the globalists, who keep demonizing Putin:
https://tinyurl.com/yc8mfjud
Boris Johnson the anti-European warning against the next Hitler:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5527549/Johnson-renews-attack-Putin-evidence-MPs.html
(as always most interesting are the best rated reader comments who are against Johnson a la “put up or shut up”)
DerHundistlos on Thu, 22nd Mar 2018 11:10 pm
@ Speed Racer
Yhea, don’t let the meanies get to you. Fuck off. I asked a perfectly valid question. If he hates my country to such a degree that he’s willing to undermine the electoral process just sow division, then why?
I think you need to refocus your energies burning more couches.