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NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, actually, what’s happening, to the extent that you can find some coherent policy in the madness in the White House, one thing does emerge with considerable clarity — namely, an effort to construct an international of the most reactionary states and oppressive states, led by the gangster in the White House. Now, this is taking shape.

I can run through it, but since you mentioned India, Modi, who is a Hindu nationalist extremist, is systematically moving to destroy Indian secular democracy and to crush the Muslim population. What’s happening in Kashmir is horrifying. It was bad enough before, now getting much worse. Same with the Muslim population, a huge population in India. The current lockdown is almost — you can almost describe it as genocidal. Modi gave, I think, a four-hour warning saying total lockdown. That’s over a billion people. Some of them have nowhere to go. People in the informal economy, which is a huge number of people, are just cast out. “Go walk back to your village,” which may be a thousand miles away. “Die on the roadside.” This is a huge catastrophe in the making, right on top of the strong efforts to impose the ultra-right Hindutva doctrines that are at the core of Modi’s thinking and background.

What’s happening in — quite apart from this, India — in fact, South Asia generally — is going to become unlivable pretty soon, if current climate policies persist. Last summer, the temperature in Rajasthan went up to 50 degrees centigrade. And it’s increasing. There’s hundreds of millions of people in India that don’t have access to water. It’s going to get much worse, could lead to a nuclear war between the two powers that basically rely on the same water resources, which are declining under global warming: Pakistan and India. I mean, the horror story that’s developing is, again, indescribable. You can’t find words for it. And some people are cheering about it, like Donald Trump and his friend Bolsonaro in Brazil, a couple of other sociopaths.

But how do you counter a reactionary international? By developing a Progressive International. And there are steps to that. They don’t get much publicity, but this — I think it’s this coming December, there will be a formal announcement of what has been in process for some time. Yanis Varoufakis, the founder and leading figure in DiEM25, the progressive movement in Europe, very important — Varoufakis and Bernie Sanders came out with a declaration calling for a Progressive International to combat and, we hope, overcome the reactionary international based in the White House.

Now, if you look at the level of states, this looks like an extremely unequal competition. But states are not the only things that exist. If you look at the level of people, it’s not impossible. It’s possible to construct a Progressive International based on people, ranging from the organized political groups that have been proliferating, that have gotten a huge shot in the arm from the Sanders campaign, ranging from them to self-help mutual aid, self-help organizations that are rising in communities all over the world, in the most impoverished areas of Brazil, for example, and even this astonishing fact that I mentioned, that the murderous crime gangs are taking responsibility for bringing some form of decent protection against the pandemic in the favelas, the miserable slums, in Rio. All of this is happening on the popular level. If it expands and develops, if people don’t just give up in despair but work to change the world, as they’ve done in the past under much worse conditions, if they do that, there’s a chance for a Progressive International.

And notice, bear in mind, that there are also striking cases of internationalism, progressive internationalism, at the state level. So, take a look at the European Union. The rich countries in Europe, like Germany, have recently given us a lesson in just what the union means. Right? Germany is managing pretty well. They probably have the lowest death rate in the world, in organized society. Right next door, northern Italy is suffering miserably. Is Germany giving them any aid? No. In fact, Germany even blocked the effort to develop euro bonds, general bonds in Europe which could be used to alleviate the suffering in the countries under the worst conditions. But fortunately for Italy, it can look across the Atlantic for aid from the superpower on the Western Hemisphere, Cuba. Cuba is, once again, as before, exhibiting extraordinary internationalism, sending doctors to Italy. Germany won’t do it, but Cuba can. China is providing material aid. So, these are steps towards progressive internationalism at the state level.

 

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https://www.democracynow.org/2020/4/17/noam_chomsky_coronavirus_trump_

Long before Joe Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee, he was welcoming recommendations for his vice-presidential running mate. At campaign rallies, town halls and, more recently, virtual fundraisers, Biden has gamely engaged the subject, answering questions about his search, naming potential contenders and describing in detail what he is looking for in a partner, and, potentially, a successor.

His approach is unusual. The process of selecting a running mate is typically shrouded in deep secrecy. But, as Biden likes to remind voters, it’s a role he knows intimately. Having served two terms as Barack Obama’s vice-president, this is a decision he believes will shape not only his campaign, but also his presidency.

“The first and most important quality is someone who, if I were to walk away immediately from the office for whatever reason, that they can be president and the public could look at that person and say: ‘She is capable of being president of the United States tomorrow,’” Biden said last week in an appearance on CBS’s The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Though Biden is still in the early stages of the selection process – he insists he’s months away from making a final decision – his public dialogue has provided real-time insight into what past nominees have christened their “first presidential act”.

The decision – typically the result of an extensive vetting process that takes into account biography and geography, personal chemistry and governing experience – has been further complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has decimated the economy and killed more than 53,000 Americans.

“By then, we will likely be in some form of economic crisis or recovery and the vice-president will be Joe Biden’s partner in charting a path forward for the county,” said Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist who was a senior adviser for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Breaking with precedent, Biden has committed to picking a woman as his running mate.

There is a strong political argument for putting a woman on the ticket. Women are among Donald Trump’s most vocal opponents. A CNN poll this month found Biden leading the president by 30 percentage points among women. And during his presidency, Democratic women have voted, organized and run for office in historic numbers.

Biden’s pledge to choose a woman also reflects a frustration that the most diverse field of presidential candidates in American history yielded a 77-year-old white man as its nominee. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that 41% of Democratic registered voters say they are bothered that the likely Democratic nominee for the 2020 election is a “white man in his 70s”.

 

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/26/joe-biden-running-mate-v...

 

 

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US President Donald Trump has said China "will do anything they can" to make him lose his re-election bid, stepping up his criticism of Beijing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a White House interview with Reuters news agency, he said Beijing faced a "lot" of possible consequence from the US for the outbreak.

He said China should have let the world know about the contagion much sooner.

Mr Trump himself is often accused of not doing enough to tackle the crisis.

The coronavirus has ravaged a formerly humming US economy that had been the president's main selling point for his re-election campaign in November.

Mr Trump, who has waged a trade war with China, offered no specifics about how he might act against Beijing.

• Why so many US nurses are out of work
• Coronavirus: Tracking the global outbreak

He told Reuters: "There are many things I can do. We're looking for what happened."

Mr Trump added: "China will do anything they can to have me lose this race."

The Republican president said he believes Beijing wants his likely Democratic challenger Joe Biden to win in November's election.

Mr Trump also said he is sceptical of data indicating Mr Biden would win.

 

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52482109

 

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Evelyn N. Farkas was deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia from 2012 to 2015. She is a Democratic candidate to represent New York’s 17th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She writes: 

In 2017, I cautioned that any candidate for office who was outspoken about Russia ought to worry about Russian interference in their election. At the time, I had no idea I would be one of those candidates. But this month, I saw my face plastered on a screen behind Fox News host Tucker Carlson as he, not for the first time, made false statements about me.

U.S. national security experts warned years ago that Russia would meddle in our 2020 elections. The reality is worse: President Trump’s supporters are mirroring Russian tactics.

In 2017, I was attacked by the far right as well as Russian actors after speaking publicly as President Obama’s deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia; today, the campaign against me appears to be domestic, albeit aided by Russian trolls. The political stakes are higher for all Americans this year, not just me. The tactics behind these attacks reveal a frightening development for American democracy.

In President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, disinformation and intimidation tactics are commonly used to silence domestic opposition. (So is murder.) False allegations, followed by contradictory, also false, narratives are the norm in Russian media and political discourse. Misinformation is so prevalent that many Russians are largely indifferent to what is actually true. In Trump’s America, similar tactics are taking hold. What began as a disconcerting nexus between Russia and the reactionary right in this and other countries has become part of the American right-wing repertoire.

I sounded the alarm early regarding ties between Trump, his advisers, and Kremlin officials and cronies. During an interview on MSNBC in March 2017, I said that I knew there was more to the story when media reports and statements by Obama administration officials and the intelligence community began unearthing connections between Trump’s campaign and Russia. I drew conclusions based on my expertise about Kremlin policy and operations, and my analysis of Trump campaign actions and conversations.

Attacks against me came first on Twitter and other social media platforms, from far-right sources. Forensics data I was shown suggested at least one entity had Russian ties. The attacks increased in quantity and ferocity until Fox News and Trump-allied Republicans — higher-profile, and more mainstream, sources — also criticized me. They and other conservative outlets accused me of leaking classified information and even wiretapping Trump Tower, allegations that distracted attention from growing evidence supporting my point. I and colleagues from the Obama administration were summoned to testify before the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee.

Transcripts from that 2017 testimony were released this month. My testimony demonstrated that I had not leaked intelligence and that my early intuition about Trump-Kremlin cooperation was valid, as the findings of the Mueller report and the Senate Intelligence Committee’s recently released conclusions reinforce.

Right-wing figures swiftly launched another disinformation campaign: claiming that I said on television that I had access to classified information to inform my concerns about Trump-Russia connections. I had said no so such thing, but this new fabrication supported allegations that the recently released testimony demonstrated I had lied on TV. This audacious, false accusation is so convoluted I have trouble following it — and that’s the point.

Trump surrogates, including former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump Jr. and Fox News hosts such as Tucker Carlson have essentially accused me of treason for being one of the “fraudulent originators” of the “Russia hoax.” These attacks are part of Trump’s larger “Obamagate” allegations, a narrative that distracts attention from his administration’s disastrous pandemic response and attempts to deflect blame for Russian interference onto the Obama administration. This disinformation campaign seeks to color as illegal the Obama administration’s efforts to prevent and investigate Russia’s actions.These high-profile accusations have been accompanied by a tsunami of online troll attacks targeting my congressional campaign. Our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, email, and phone lines have been overwhelmed with a stream of vile, vulgar and sometimes violent messages, emotionally exhausting staff and volunteers. As our team interacts with supporters online, the attacks spread to them. These intimidation efforts have compromised our work, incentivizing people to keep a low profile at a time when our campaign depends on robust public messaging ahead of the June 23 primary.

There is evidence that Russian actors are contributing to these attacks. The same day that right-wing pundits began pumping accusations, newly created Russian Twitter accounts picked them up. Within a day, Russian “disinformation clearinghouses” posted versions of the story. Many of the Twitter accounts boosting attacks have posted in unison, a sign of inauthentic social media behavior.

Here’s the truth: I wasn’t silenced in 2017, and I won’t be silenced now.
Our country must be able to conduct safe and fair elections, free from foreign interference and domestic intimidation. Americans must demand an end to the rampant dissemination of fake news through social media. Now, more than ever, we must fight for truth and for those speaking truth to power.

Read more:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/17/russia-is-interfering-our-elections-again-trump-supporters-are-emulating-russian-tactics/

Editorial Board: Trump won’t discourage Russia from interfering in 2020, so Congress has to

Suzanne Spaulding: Enough finger-pointing on Russian interference. Here’s how to prepare for 2020.

Ruth Marcus: Trump’s strategy: First, dismantle Mueller. Then peddle ‘Obamagate.’

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It is interesting to see the anti-Trump mob at work here. Please note I am not a supporter of Trump either, but an observer of processes in which lies and deceit are the cream and the cake.

First we have to state that the FBI and the DNC played a dubious game BEFORE and AFTER the Presidential elections of 2016. The “Steele dossier” which made the bulk of the “Russian disinformation” fakery, was financed by the DNC and used by the FBI to get warrants.

So, Evelyn N. Farkas and her successor, Laura Cooper, in the job of deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, have been active in helping the US interfere with Ukraine’s political situation, including calling Russian an aggressor of Ukraine. Cooper described as "a brazen violation of international law" when Ukrainian vessels "were attacked by Russia" in late November 2018. As far as Russia was concerned, the Ukrainian vessels were sent by the Poroshenko government to provoke a situation in which they would breach international laws in regard to Crimea (mostly populated by RUSSIANS, which after a LEGITIMATE vote, had chosen to return to Russia). 

Cooper has continued the military aid new tradition to Ukraine started under Bush Junior. During a 2018 visit to Ukraine, Cooper noted that Congress had authorised money for military aid, and she said that "one of my goals on this visit was to discuss with the Government of Ukraine what its priority needs are for security assistance.” If this is not interference with politics in another country, this is it in a backdoor way to support US armament firms, including financing Nazi militias in Ukraine. 

So, Laura Cooper testified the Congressional committees leading the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump in matters relating to the Trump–Ukraine scandal. On October 23, 2019, in defiance to a White House letter warning her not to appear before the impeachment inquiry, Cooper testified in a closed-door deposition before congressional committees. After a five-hour delay due to a protest by Republican members of Congress, Cooper who was working for Trump completed a 3.5 hour deposition in which she explained the "process for transferring military aid" to Ukraine. During a public hearing on November 20, 2019, Cooper testified to the U.S House of Representatives that Ukrainian officials knew about the hold on military aid by July 25, the day of the Trump–Zelensky call, undercutting an assertion that there could not have been a quid pro quo because Ukraine was not aware of the hold. Brilliant. 

Between you me, and a long barge pole, Trump was toying with the Democrats, while having a bit of a fake tantrum about this… The politics of arming Ukraine with US armament has been a long-held US policy and a delay of a few days was not going to interfere with this process. Smarter than the average bear named Donald, Trump knew exactly what he was doing by raising the issue of Joe Biden having threatened Ukraine and delay a massive aid package to Ukraine, should the government of Poroshenko then did not stop an investigation in Burisma, a "crooked” Ukrainian oil company of which Biden’s son was a director. Not only this, BIDEN GLOATED LATER ON NATIONAL TV ABOUT MAKING THE THREAT. This is on record. Les Crises, a French news outlet also provided enough material about Joe and his son for both of them to be charged and imprisoned on crookery in regard to “secret bank accounts". Between 2015 and 2017, it appears that there were no "deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia” in the late Obama and early Trump administrations. Who cares, The diplomacy worked quite well, without any. Nuland  the wife of a major neocon had started the ball rolling with a offer of $5 billion cash… Everything has a price.

Yes, the US DICTATE the policies of other nations — those they choose, to control the “West" — including Ukraine which the US should have left alone according to the agreement made between Gorbachev and Reagan. The US have interfered in Greece, France, Italy, most of Europe, in regard to what they see as simpatico governments…

Please note that the so-called "Russian trolls” interfering with the elections, are most likely not sanctioned by the Russian government and could actually be US “sponsored trolls” to damage Russia’s standing, rather than favour one or the other corrupt party. This would not be the first time that this type of operations has been mounted on the international diplomatic scene. The two women may be straight shooters, but the world is crooked, — if you know what I mean — employing people like them to say one thing while below the surface something else has been concocted. 

This is the world of deceit in which Evelyn N. Farkas and Laura Cooper have been picked for their utmost beliefs in the system not being crooked. These two women, both deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia in their own times, have been placed standing there to be like the fairies of justice in the anti-chamber of diplomacy, and doing their job well, hiding the monstrous watchdog of the underworld, Cerberus — the true angry and hungry US diplomacy.

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