The GOP is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russian Government

Russia declared War on Ukraine and the feckless American Right just recovering from their Canadian Trucker Tyranny Erections doesn't know exactly how to respond so it's a mishmash but, what became immediately apparent was just how thoroughly corrupted and enthralled the American Right is to Vladimir Putin.

As the song goes,
He's everything they want
He's everything they need

All it took for Republicans to fall for Putin was when Vlad affected a steely-eyed stare down with President Obama.  In that moment, Conservatives realized Putin embodied everything they wanted in a leader; a "christian", capitalist, white ethno-nationalist, authoritarian homophobic, murderous bureaucrat.

Of course, the Republican Party began their flirtation with Vladimir Putin under the W(orst POTUS Ever) Maladministration, then fell in love when Vlad infiltrated and purchased the NRA and Republican officials with Russian petrodollars but, finally gave themselves completely over to him when Vladimir Putin helped steal the 2016 Presidential Election.  

Even the GOP-led Senate was forced to admit conclusively that Russia, the FSB and Vladimir Putin explicitly aided Trump in stealing the 2016 election. 

The Republican Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vladimir Putin.  And every Republican knows it, 

“There’s …there’s two people, I think, Putin pays: [California Representative Dana] Rohrabacher and Trump … [laughter] … swear to God,” Kevin McCarthy said. 

House Speaker Paul Ryan immediately responded: “This is off-the-record … [laughter] … NO LEAKS … [laughter] … alright?!”

On July 4th, 2018 GOP Traitors from all across the United States; Richard Shelby (Ala.), Steve Daines (Mont.), John Thune (S.D.), John Kennedy (La.), Jerry Moran (Kan.), John Hoeven (N.D.), and Rep. Kay Granger (Texas), spent Independence Day in Moscow's Red Square effusively groveling and paying Homage to Vlad Putin.  

Despicable Tucker Carlson and Faux News immediately set the tone for their unthinking followers. Lawyers, Guns, and Money have covered Tucker Carlson and his menagerie of war apologists so I will send you there. Carlson's shameless 'Vladimir Putin never called me a racist' is especially vile when you realize it's a rip-off of Muhammed Ali's famous speech denouncing the Draft and the Vietnam War, with the immortal speeches, the Vietcong never called me the N-Word.

The best thing about Tulsi "Putin's Present" Gabbard is she has openly shown herself to be everything I said she was years ago; a violent lying fascist, who loves War, and pretended to be a progressive to undermine the Left and the Democratic Party from within.  The Neo-Tankie Brocialists over at Naked Capitalism continue to talk about the boners she gives them as they support Putin's War Crimes.  Tulsi Gabbard's love missives to Vladimir Putin are way worse than any tiktok "If I was your mother" love poem by former actress Annalynn McCord.

Traitor Trump continues to remain a loyal vassal to Putin repeatedly and effusively expressing his admiration and jealousy at Putin's smarts.

On-line phony progressives remain a mass of gibbering goo belching out their nonsense about Imperialism and then repeating the FSB and GRU propaganda about Ukraine history, about NATO, about "denazification".  Glenn Greenwald has been completely idiotic and schizophrenic until you realize he's a paid Putin propagandist.  I see two other Putin owned Propagandists Matt Taibibi and Edward Traitor Snowden have gone silent after repeatedly claiming there would be no attack by Russia.

The Grotesque Old Putin (GOP) Party yearns to be able to wield power like a ex-KGB Colonel.  If conservatives had their druthers they would right now empower Police and the Military to round-up an massacre every Non-MAGA they could find.  The simple truth is conservatives love Vladimir Putin because they wish they could emulate his murderous actions.

 

What's ironically hilarious is whenever Republicans and conservatives fall in love with a Dictator they imbue them with fantasy powers. Conservatives pretend Putin is an all powerful Moriarty level super-genius.  So Putin scoring 8 goals in a Russian Federation hockey game or claiming to be an olympic level Judo and Sambo fighter is no different than the rightwing claims of Trump's prowess and powers.  Republicans love nothing as much as they love false strength.  Look at all the fantasy toughness they applied to that ignorant tub of orange goo Trump.  Trump doesn't sleep!  He's the hardest working President ever!

But nothing makes Republicans sicker than losing. Republicans have groveled like worms to Putin, have dreamed of asking Spetsnaz forces to parachute into DC to aid the Proud Boys in the next Jan6th style insurrection and seeing Russian forces fail to conquer Ukraine turns them into sniping jackals 

So, while the Republican Party and conservatives want to support Russia, the incompetence of the Russian military, spirited defense by the Ukrainian people and the showmanship of their President Volodmyr Zelensky has conservatives attempting to backtrack and set up a new narrative where they don't support a loser.

What's especially heinous is the Republican response to President Biden's leadership of NATO.  Joe Biden has been judicious and steadfast in keeping the alliances response tight and measured, while slowly ramping up pressure.  Even Condoleezza Rice expressed admiration for Joe's leadership and flatly told Faux News she didn't think keeping NATO together was possible after the damage Traitor Trump had done.

There is so much more I could write about this illegal Russian War of Aggression and the buffoonish response from Americans but, it's still likely, Russia will be able to conquer Ukraine, despite all the missteps, mistakes, faulty thinking, unrealistic assumptions and worldwide multi-phased pressure.  But, it's likely Covid decimated (literally) the Russian War Machine and either way massive damage has been done to the legend of Putin and the image of a renewed unbeatable Red Army.

Am I wrong about Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald?

Is the goal the elimination of the Military-Industrial-Surveillance State? Or is it something else?

Having attended the Socialism 2013 Conference (June 27-30 at the Crowne Plaza in Rosemont, Illinois) I was able to hear Glenn Greenwald, the Special Guest Speaker on the Friday Night closing Forum. Greenwald received near unamious support and acclaim from the crowd. I reserved my applause and declined to give him a standing ovation.

Of course, Greenwald's appearance was done via Skype as he is persona non grata in the States these days. But, he is also unwelcome by many liberals and Left Bloggers.

But, Jeremy Scahill was fervent in his praise and adulation towards Glenn Greenwald. In one of the sessions, Richard Seymour spoke of Greenwald's "Libertarian Marxism".

I'm conflicted about Greenwald. I aboslutely agree with him on the Subserveince of the Media. Greenwald related several ancedotal stories of David Gregory and the New York Times Editor-in-
Chief proudly proclaiming the Pentagon or some Governmental Spokesperson giving their official stamp of approval to the Reporting being done on them. The Modern Media are no longer journalists in any sense of the word, but are Stenographers for those in Power.

But, 3 days after speaking to group of Out-Right Marxists Glenn appeared on Fox & Friends and was approvingly interviewed by Eric Bolling, about the Obama Administrations intimidation of "whistleblowers".

"We were certainly safe between 2000 and 2008. I don't remember any terrorist attacks on American soil during that period of time." - Eric Bolling 

So this doesn't necessarily bolster Greenwald's credibility or my impression of the man's motives.

I think Greenwald's analysis of Snowden is for the most part correct. Edward Snowden isn't some egocentric fame-seeker (Glenn used the term Fame Whore) or doing this for monetary reward. But, his revelations aren't exactly ground breaking news if one were say aware of the 1992 movie Sneakers or had been paying attention during the George W. Bush Regime.

And that is what's troubling about Glenn's reporting and Snowden's revelations; Why did it take so long?

All of a sudden after 7 years of being a Sysadmin Spook Snowden chooses to become whistleblower? 13 years after the Patriot Act was signed Greenwald's worried about US Spying Operations?

Snowden and Greenwald were in contact before Snowden got his job with Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH). Snowden explicitly stated he went to work for the NSA-affiliated BAH in order to use their structure to access classified intel collected in part by the NSA and other organizations. His application to BAH isn't like the one page sheet you turn into McDonald's. So when did he hatch his plan to get a job with the contractor knowing their classified doc handling and SCIF security was not up to the same levels as the CIA and NSA. And would Snowden have done the same if Mitt Romney were now President?

Now, the interesting aspect of the NSA/Prism/Greenwald is it's shattering affect of the Left/Right paradigm. Which is always good because the It's Okay if Your a ____, is tedious and shows a lack of fiber for doing what is correct.

One of the recent allegations to be leveled at Snowden is according to Ars Technica, Snowden was a regular commentator since at least 2006, under the handle The True HOOHA.

His alleged online beliefs were firmly in support of spying, 'Those people should be shot in the balls' and against Leakers, 'They’re like wikileaks. You don’t put that shit in the NEWSPAPER.' The True HOOHA also was a firm believer in pushing young IT adept and Server Savvy people into working for the computer/intelligence side of the MIC, "Thank God for wars."

Why did those beliefs change? I don't automatically conclude that Snowden is lying or is simply Hating Obama and I believe a reasoned change of mind and re-evaluation of ones' beliefs is possible. And Snowden is correct (and I envy him for this) that, "Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American." But, is that what is going on here with Snowden and with, by extension, Greenwald?

So, what am I to make of Greenwald's tacit acceptance of the Bush Era Surveillance and Warmongering and his bositeroius ardent hatred of Surveillance and Warmongering now?

And what exactly does everyone want President Obama to have done and do about the NSA? Should he have unillaterally decalred the Executive would not be enforcing the Patriot Act ala DOMA? Should he be pressuring Congress to curtail the budget for the CIA and NSA and elimination of the Drone seciton of the DoD? Should the US not spy on anyone? Is this really about Privacy?

Snowden showed Booz Allen Hamilton's role in the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Complex

I'm so mad at President Obama for signing that Evil Patriot Act back in October 26, 2001 after he ignored the August 6th CIA Memo about Osama Bin Laden and allowed 9/11 to happen.

The more I reflect and read about Edward Snowden's revelations the more I want to be clear I have no desire to engage in a character assassination of him. Sure, he's got some short-comings and some sketchiness but, let's look at what his message contains.

The Obama's Department of Justice working inside the "legal" framework established by the FISA Courts, the Patriot Act, going back to Harry Truman and the 80th Congress' 1947 National Security Act felt entirely comfortable in going to multiple Internet/Phone Companies and pressuring them/serving them with Court Orders allowing the NSA to collect data.

Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and others have stated (whether one believes it or not) that no direct access and no backdoor servers were created allowing the NSA et al unfettered access. Facebook Legal released a statement claiming that only 9000-10000 user-data requests were made by all levels (muncipial, county, state, federal) of Government pursiuant to about 20,000 FB accounts.

This is important to note because Glenn Greenwald's initial assertion was the NSA had direct access regardless of warrants or any other constraints. However, it's unimportant to the overall point of this post.

Now, if there is one thing Libertarians get correct it is that the Power of Government is different than other types of power. Facebook, Target Stores, Google Inc. may collect data on me but if I refuse their services I am free of their yoke*. The Government has the "legal" authority to collect information to detain or incarcerate me.

What makes Snowden's claims all the more troubling is that he wasn't a sworn Government employee but was working for Booz Allen Hamilton, a Corporation which made $1.3 Billion in Government contracts for "Intelligence Work. MotherJones has an analysis of the steady infestation of Private Contractors into the Intelligence Analysis side of the MIC.

It appears the data collection/analysis wasn't being done by nefarious Obama Bureaucrats looking for dirt on Teabaggers but, because of the Republican Legacy of Outsourcing and Privatization is being done by Corporate Stooges who work for the MIC.

The biggest Coup pulled off in US History has been the outsourcing of Government functions to Private Contractors. And those Corporate employees seem to have access to the information easier than Government Workers.

What's been going on for the last 33 years has been the steady erosion of the Progressive Advances of the 20th Century Government by the Reactionary Neoliberals and Warmongering Neoconservatives to be replaced by the Neo-Feudalist State controlled by the 1% and interested only in using Government Power in Quelling Domestic Dissent and Opening up Foreign Markets for Exploitation.

Edward Snowden; Hero or Fraud? Whistleblower or Liar?

Seriously, it's as if people never saw the movie Goodfellas. Why do you think Big Paulie Cicero (Paul Vario) didn't talk on the phone in the 1950s?

One important thing to note is thus far almost everything alleged by Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald has been revealed or known since the book The Puzzle Palace (1982) by James Bradford and leaked details about Total Information Awareness were revealed.

This isn't going to be a condemnation of Edward Snowden's personal life but the details of his past do need scrutiny and have bearing upon his overall credibility.

It's not important that Snowden *received a GED instead of a regular High School Diploma or was discharged from the Army due to a medical injury.* That he got a position as a CIA analyst, with a posting in Geneva, Switzerland, and with an NSA affiliated contractor Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) obviously shows he had technical skills and probably displayed a high degree of intelligence.

But, just because Snowden is claiming a massive NSA spying on Americans Conspriacy doesn't mean he's presented actual or truthful facts. There is very much a confirmation bias at work here across the political spectrum.

Achmad Chalabi and "Curveball" reported facts about Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi WMD Program. The Bush Administration wanted these facts to be true, too.

Snowden singed up for the Great Patriotic Iraq War but did not make it out of Boot because of an injury.

If he had he might have learned about Iridium phones (aka Satellite Phones). These satellite systems were launched in the 1990s and during the Afghan Invasion and Iraq War were 100% targeted. Any coms routed through the satellites was intercepted, US Spy Satellites were parked in geo-synch orbit over ground based rely stations.

If World War 1 was the Chemists War and World War 2 was the Mathematicians War, Post 9/11 is the IT SysAdmin War.

Also there is a serious question about Snowden's job at BAH. Glenn Greenwald claimed to have started worked with Snowden back in Feb 2013. Snowden wasn't offically hired by BAH until March 2013. Did he seek that IT systems analyst position soley for the purpose of accessing highly classified files in order to give them to Glenn Greenwald?

And what documents exactly did he come across which he was able to cobble together to present to Greenwald. His duties would not have included him having legitimate access to foundational doctrines of the Spying program. So did he open up a file labeled Shhhh! Top Secret Spying on Americans Program with powerpoint images of cartoonish top-hated villains twirling their moustaches and cackling Bru ha ha ha ha?

According to Snowden he became partially disillusioned in 2007 but wanted to give President Obama some time to rectify the situation. Barack must have failed in Snowden's opinion.

Should President Obama have unilaterally dismantled the Prism Program and ended NSA spying? We all know who would have paraded out the Political Circus of Impeach! Impeach! Impeach! for Obama defending the Rights of Terrorists post Boston Marathon Bombing.

Since October 2011, FISA and section 702 has undergone review with various members of the Senate and House 22 times. Why is SCOTUS debating repealing the Civil Rights Laws and the ACA instead of the NSA Prism Program?

I would love a real debate on Surveillance and Rights to Privacy. Does anyone believe such a debate will be genuine? Because there are too many dishonest liars and power hungry egomaniacs on Left, Right and Center who will only use this as a condemnation of their political enemies while seekingto preserve those power for their use.

Republicans, Faux News and the Right-Wing Fart Bubble are immediately trying to twist this into a condemnation of President Obama and the Democratic Party. They either have to know that this is going to immediately cause Democrats to reflexively set themselves up in defense instead of an open-minded inquiry or they seriously believe IOKIYAR.

Bob Cesca has a breakdown of the Rush Limpballs, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Joe Scarbourgh love for the NSA and spying back under Bush who seem, for some unfathomable reason, to now loathe it.

Let's not forget that Right-Wingers find any criticism of the Government when Republicans are in power to be Treason but such criticism when Democrats are in Power to be Liberty.

So, before I label Snowden the next Daniel Ellsberg, let's see if what he provided turns out to be something more than what's been known for decades and something that he embellished based on his own political beliefs. And let's see if he moves from Hong Kong to Bejing before calling him Kim Philby.

*- This sentence changed to eliminate prejudical language.