We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Trump’s Triumph: Billionaire Blowhard Exposes Fake Political System

Click here to access article by Mike Whitney from CounterPunch.

It's interesting to see how CounterPunch's coverage of candidate Donald Trump contrasts with mainstream media's selective coverage of the election circus that our ruling class is now performing. He is getting extensive coverage with his attacks on immigrants, women, and other sensitive political topics. However, I couldn't find any coverage of his comments that Whitney writes about in this article: Trump comments which suggests the fake nature of our capitalist political system. Instead the coverage was all focused on his critical remarks about certain women.

Perhaps Justin Raimondo's "conspiracy theory" was correct when he suggested last month that Trump's candidacy was a "false flag" operation designed to turn away voters from Republican candidates in order to elect the ruling class's favorite, Hillary Clinton, who they have been grooming for years to be president. He argues:
For the reality is that the media, far from ignoring Trump, have lavished so much attention on him that he’s eating up coverage that would otherwise go to the rest of the crowded Republican field. And that may be a clue as to what’s really going on here….

The usual “mainstream” media tactics regarding a political outsider they hate is to ignore him or her: the example of Ron Paul should suffice to make this point. Indeed, Jon Stewart pointed this out in a memorable “Daily Show” segment, and it took Paul three runs for the White House to get their attention. Trump has suffered no such fate: quite the opposite, in fact. The Donald’s every demagogic pronouncement is faithfully recorded and broadcast far and wide. Over a hundred reporters crowded into his latest appearances in Las Vegas and Phoenix. Jeb Bush, for all the many millions stuffed into his campaign coffers, couldn’t buy that kind of exposure. 
Later, Raimondo reaches this conclusion: 
Although I have no concrete proof of my theory, there’s plenty of circumstantial evidence. His ties to the Clintons, his past pronouncements which are in such blatant contradiction to his current fulminations, and the cries of joy from the Clintonian gallery and the media (or do I repeat myself) all point to a single conclusion: the Trump campaign is a Democratic wrecking operation aimed straight at the GOP’s base.

Donald Trump is a false-flag candidate. It’s all an act, one that benefits his good friend Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party that, until recently, counted the reality show star among its adherents. Indeed, Trump’s pronouncements – the open racism, the demagogic appeals, the faux-populist rhetoric – sound like something out of a Democratic political consultant’s imagination, a caricature of conservatism as performed by a master actor.

Now I realize this is a “conspiracy theory,” and, as we all know, there are no conspiracies in politics. In that noble profession, everything is completely aboveboard and on the level – right?


Like hell it is.
If this is so, the conspirators unfortunately cannot control what Trump will say simply because he is so rich and therefore powerful in a capitalist system. That's part of his appeal to voters--he is completely authentic in contrast to the others who are bought and paid for candidates.