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Trump’s Point of No Return
Trump’s Point of No Return
When I wrote that the coup against President Trump had morphed into a Civil War, I wasn’t kidding. The sham impeachment created the perfect environment for the Democrats and Republicans to get something definitive from him by playing the House and the Senate off each other.
With the Senate Neocon Occupied Territory the escalation of belligerence since Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed through the impeachment vote has been serious.
First, there was the rider to the NDAA which upped the sanctions on everyone willing to work on Nordstream 2. Then Lindsey Graham pushed the frankly insane DASKA bill through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Pelosi forced her impeachment vote through the House on partisan lines. Then, clearly overstepping her authority, she refused to send the Articles to the Senate hoping to add a more serious charge, like Obstruction of Justice or Treason for laundering Russian money through Deutsche Bank.
It is under these circumstances we should view the events in Iraq over the last week, especially the killing of IRGC Quds Forces Commander Qassem Solemaini.
Because I’ve warned from the beginning of this impeachment, Trump was just 17 votes in the Senate away from conviction. And failure on his part to respond to an attack on our troops now or our soil, the embassy in Baghdad, would have been enough to turn that many against him and install Mike Pence.
At the end of the day we are held captive by a minority of power-mad Trotskyites without any capacity for forgiveness or humility. They believe in societal order through the whip and the sword.
Truly Maoist in their thinking, the only political power that exists comes from the barrel of a gun. This is why there has been zero opportunities for diplomacy with Iran.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Coup Has Begun – The Empire Strikes Back Everywhere
The Coup Has Begun – The Empire Strikes Back Everywhere
“I am altering the deal, pray I don’t alter it any further.”
Darth Vader, “The Empire Strikes Back”
You know I think there are no coincidences in politics. Everything happens on a particular schedule. So when I see a day as crazy as today I have to ask the question, “Why this, why now?”
Look at the headlines and you’ll see what I’m talking about. All of these things happened since I woke up at 7:30am this morning in Florida:
- The British Supreme Court just arrogated unprecedented power to itself by inserting itself into any dispute between the Government and Parliament. This upends more than 300 years of constitutional process.
- The Democrats have announced they will pursue impeachment charges against President Trump because an unverified, hearsay whistleblower made a complaint about a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski. Impeachment odds soared overnight as someone was tipped off about the Democrats’ plan.
- Bitcoin’s hashrate mysteriously flash-crashed more than 40% presaging a massive $1500 drop in price.
- Donald Trump delivered a blistering critique of socialism at the United Nations General Assembly. Too bad he’s nearly as bad as the ones he’s fighting on the far left.
- Europe’s Trio of Faded Glory — The UK, France and Germany — joined in the chorus of unverified condemnation of Iran in the attack on the Saudi oil field on the 14th.
- The Federal Reserve continues to bail out banks to the tune of $65 to $75 billion per day through overnight repo operations that no one can give us an explanation as to why they’re needed.
This feels to me like a multi-level coup against those that dare stand athwart the global power structure. Both British and American leadership institutions are under sincere attack with these moves.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Battle of the ‘Flations has Begun
The Battle of the ‘Flations has Begun
Inflation? Deflation? Stagflation? Consecutively? Concurrently?… or from a great height (apologies to Tom Stoppard).
We’ve reached a pivotal moment where all of the narratives of what is actually happening have come together. And it feels confusing. But it really isn’t.
The central banks have run out of room to battle deflation. QE, ZIRP, NIRP, OMT, TARGET2, QT, ZOMG, BBQSauce! It all amounts to the same thing.
How can we stuff fake money onto more fake balance sheets to maintain the illusion of price stability?
The consequences of this coordinated policy to save the banking system from itself has resulted in massive populist uprisings around the world thanks to a hollowing out of the middle class to pay for it all.
The central banks’ only move here is to inflate to the high heavens, because the civil unrest from a massive deflation would sweep them from power quicker.
For all of their faults leaders like Donald Trump, Matteo Salvini and even Boris Johnson understand that to regain the confidence of the people they will have to wrest control of their governments from the central banks and the technocratic institutions that back them.
That fear will keep the central banks from deflating the global money supply because politicians like Trump and Salvini understand that their central banks are enemies of the people. As populists this would feed their domestic reform agendas.
So, the central banks will do what they’ve always done — protect the banks and that means inflation, bailouts and the rest.
At the same time the powers that be, whom I like to call The Davos Crowd, are dead set on completing their journey to the Dark Side and create their transnational superstructure of treaties and corporate informational hegemony which they ironically call The Open Society.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Forget Iran, Maximum Pressure Has Shifted to China
Forget Iran, Maximum Pressure Has Shifted to China
In the past week the pressure on China by the U.S. has escalated daily. Since the trade delegation came back from China with lunch barely digested the Trump Administration has gone into over drive on demonizing China here at home.
From finally declaring China a currency manipulator after years of threats on Monday the latest is now a planted story in Axios that Vice-President Mike Pence bringing forth a list of Chinese officials to sanction for Human Rights violations under the Global Magnitsky Act.
This is based on a lie, of course. A lie helped along by Bob Fu, the head of ChinaAid, an NGO working, nominally, to alleviate the horrors of the Chinese government. Or, at least, that’s what you’re supposed to believe.
Vice President Mike Pence has signaled that the Trump administration is open to using the Global Magnitsky Act to sanction top officials in Xinjiang, China, where more than 1 million Uighur Muslims are being held in internment camps, according to a Chinese religious freedom advocate who met with Pence at the White House Monday.
Notice how Axios still states this as fact, that the Chinese are running 1 million people in concentration camps, even though the story was quickly debunked as the rogue statement by U.N. committee member, Gay MacDougall, who claimed this 1 million number was real.
It’s not true, because if it was someone credible would have confirmed it. But it’s a lie that has been breathlessly repeated for the past year to create the illusion of reality so that now Pence can pile on to further inflame the ‘China is evil’ story to hapless Trump supporters giddy at their chosen savior’s tough stance on China.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Interview: The Lew Rockwell Show – The Coming Disintegration
Interview: The Lew Rockwell Show – The Coming Disintegration
I got to chat with one of my all-time heroes the other day while taking in the sights of gorgeous Northern New Mexico, Lew Rockwell. Lew is a legend in the libertarian community and the father, in my opinion, of the modern libertarian movement.
Lew was the first person to publish my work and without that encouragement (I still remember the email response, “Brilliant! Send a pic and a bio.”) I wouldn’t be here today.
So, without any further preamble here’s my talk with Lew.
The New EU is Even More Insane than the Old EU
The New EU is Even More Insane than the Old EU
The new leadership team of the EU is insane. They learned nothing from May’s vote which saw the middle ground occupied by Angela Merkel lose ground.
Euroskeptics doubled their representation while nationalist Greens gained ground as well. The European People’s Party lost significant clout and was forced into unprecedented haggling over the leadership bloc.
Merkel, now having no political future to protect, as her last act of betrayal to Germany engineered the ‘election’ of Ursula von der Leyen to replace Jean-Claude “When things get tough you have to lie” Juncker as European Commission President.
Von der Leyen is more of a euro-integrationist than Juncker was. It’s clear they circled the wagons knowing that, as Nigel Farage points out in this clip, the EU will look nothing like it does now in five years when her term is up.
Just like the EU today looks nothing like it did in 2014 when Juncker took over.
So, it’s time to go for broke and push for everything before it all falls apart. But the trends are clear. von der Leyen is the past and Nigel Farage is the future of Europe.
More of everything EU is expected from them and there’s every reason to take them at their word.
The only interesting thing von der Leyen said here was that they would be happy to offer another extension. That’s only interesting because it sets her at odds with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Of course the EU is happy to keep the UK in limbo.
But here’s the rub. The Brexit Party polling just behind Tories, who have rallied behind Boris Johnson to stabilize their poll numbers. Johnson has to keep talking No-Deal Brexit or the knives come out for him.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Meet the New European Union, Same as the Old One
Meet the New European Union, Same as the Old One
The European Union chose new leadership this week. It was, for once, a fraught affair.
No rubber stamps were anywhere to be seen.
In the end all four of the new European Union leadership were not the frontrunners as put forth by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her choice for EU Commission President was rejected.
So too was Mario Draghi’s replacement at the top of the European Central Bank, Bundesbanke President Jens Weidmann.
French President Emmanuel Macron was the clear winner this weekend.
The choices for these positions are all designed to both maintain the path of European integration but also weaken the hold Germany has on European Union power politics.
And this thorough rebuke to Merkel immediately threw the euro into defensive mode. But, don’t kid yourself. Weidmann was never an acceptable choice as ECB President. More on this later.
The new Commission President, replacing the odious Jean-Claude Juncker, is German Defense Minister Ursula Von der Leyen. She’s a thorough Europhile and Russophobe. Since she’s a Social Democrat, to me it looks like ALDE’s Guy Verhofstadt flexed his expanded presence in the room. He helped ensure no populist upstarts would control EU foreign policy.
It will will continue being virulently anti-Russian, if not more so than in the past.
Von der Leyen is a perfect example of leadership chosen by committee (and The Davos Crowd behind them) to be nothing more than a puppet of the globalist/neo-liberal forces which control the direction of the EU.
Merkel’s a lame-duck trying to get what she wants from Russia while maintaining a brave face to the United States. Putting Von der Leyen in charge ensures any good relations between here and Vladimir Putin should be heavily discounted going forward.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Who Survives the Iran Counter-Offensive?
Who Survives the Iran Counter-Offensive?
Iran has had enough. I think it’s fair to say that after 60+ years of U.S. aggression towards Iran that the decision to shoot down a U.S. drone represents an inflection point in world politics.
In the first few hours after the incident the fog of war was thick. But a day later much of it has cleared thanks to Iran’s purposeful poke at U.S. leadership by coming clean with their intentions.
Iran chose to shoot down this drone versus hitting the manned P-8 aircraft and then chose not to lie about it in public, but rather come forward removing any deniability they could have had.
#Iran’s purpose by shooting down the drone was to warn the “#US terrorist forces”” as it could also target an #American P-8 military aircraft that was flying next to MQ-4C drone, but it didn’t: Brigadier General Hajizadeh
They did this after President Trump’s comments yesterday during a news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau where Trump described the attack as “a big mistake” and “not intentional.”
But it was intentional.
And the reason for this was that despite Trump’s assurances yesterday there is considerable debate as to where the drone actually was. According to a report from the NY Times (and buried deep in a very long article):
Still, there remained doubt inside the United States government over whether the drone, or another American surveillance aircraft, this one flown by a military aircrew, did violate Iranian airspace at some point, according to a senior administration official. The official said the doubt was one of the reasons Mr. Trump called off the strike — which could under international norms be viewed as an act of war.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Draghi Punts, Trump Grunts, Gold Bunts
Draghi Punts, Trump Grunts, Gold Bunts
For months now the markets have been in denial that ECB President Mario Draghi has any answers to the Euro-zone’s problems. Today’s statement confirms what anyone with eyes to see has been saying.
There is no Plan B.
Draghi started the year saying he would end his various QE programs and by June he’s not only put them back on the table (New TLTRO in September) but has now opened up the possibility of taking rates lower.
Draghi told an ECB conference in Sintra, Portugal, that “further cuts in policy rates… remain part of our tools.” He added that there was “considerable headroom” to re-start bond purchases, which inject newly created money into the financial system in the hope of boosting lending and economic activity.
Draghi has been exposed as swimming naked, as Warren Buffet would put it.
The fun part is that Draghi used the cover of Trump’s trade war with everyone to justify a policy that was inevitable anyway.
In response, President Trump piled on accusing Draghi of being a currency manipulator. And then announced his upcoming meeting with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping to hammer out a trade deal.
But, as I’ve pointed out in the past, Trump doesn’t have a serious offer on the table for China.
Trump backed himself into a corner with China, essentially demanding it give the U.S. ultimate say over its fiscal, monetary and trade policy.
The Chinese aren’t going to agree to that any more than the Palestinians are going to agree to a Palestinian State in name only, administered like a Native American reservation by Israel.
Lebanon is not going to accede to Pompeo’s demands to remove Hezbollah from its government. North Korea isn’t going to give up its nukes so the U.S. will allow it to trade with dollars. Negotiations with Trump are nothing of the sort.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Did the B-Team Overplay its Hand Against Iran?
Did the B-Team Overplay its Hand Against Iran?
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has a term of endearment for Iran’s enemies, “The B-Team.”
The “B-Team” consists of U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, Israeli Prime Minister (nee Dictator) Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and the UAE’s Mohammed bin Zayed.
When we look seriously at the attacks on the oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman this week the basic question that comes to mind is, Cui bono? Who benefits?
And it’s easy to see how the B-Team benefits from this attack and subsequent blaming Iran for it. With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tehran opening up a dialogue on behalf of U.S. President Donald Trump the threat of peace was in the air.
And none of the men on the B-Team profit from peace in the Middle East with respect to Iran. Getting Trump to stop hurling lightning bolts from the mountain top the B-Team guided him up would do nothing to help oil prices, which the Saudis and UAE need/want to remain high.
Bin Salman, in particular, cannot afford to see oil prices drop back into the $40’s per barrel. With the world awash in oil and supply tight, even with OPEC production cuts, Bin Salman is currently on very thin ice because of the Saudi Riyal’s peg to the U.S. dollar, which he can’t abandon or the U.S. will abandon them.
Falling oil prices and a rising dollar are a recipe for the death of the Saudi government, folks. Iran knows this.
Netanyahu and Bolton don’t want peace because the U.S. fighting a war with Iran serves the cause of Greater Israel and opens up the conflict in the hopes of regime change and elimination of Iran.
Bolton, as well, is finally feeling the heat of his incompetence and disloyalty to Trump, according to John Kirakau at Consortium News.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Energy Dominance or Flatulence? Shale Drillers Bleed Cash
Energy Dominance or Flatulence? Shale Drillers Bleed Cash
All of President Trump’s foreign policy can be summed up by two themes, making the world safe for Israel and controlling the price of energy.
He calls the latter “Energy Dominance.” And to those who still believe Trump has a plan, these two things are the only ones consistently in evidence.
His reactions to things contrary to his plan, however, are purely limbic.
These two themes converge completely with Iran. Trump wants Iran neutered to force Jared Kushner’s now-delayed again, “Deal of the Century” onto the Palestinians while also taking Iran’s oil off the market to support surging U.S. domestic production in the hopes of taking market share permanently.
Everything Trump does is in support of these two themes while throwing some red meat at his base over China, Mexico and the border.
It was never his intention to leave Syria back in December, really. Look how easy was it for John Bolton and the Joint Chiefs to convince him to stay because how else would we cut Iran’s exports to zero if we didn’t stop the land route through Iraq?
This is why we’re still harboring ISIS cells in the desert crossing around Al-Tanf at the Jordan/Iraq/Syria border, to stop Iranian oil from coming into the country.
This feeds right into hurting all of Syria’s allies to strengthen Israel’s position.
To paraphrase the song from Aladdin, “It’s stupid, but hey, it’s home.”
If the average Trump voter truly understood the lengths we are going to starve the Syrian army from having enough energy to finish wiping out the Al-Qaeda-linked groups in Idlib and Homs provinces they would burn their MAGA hats and stay home next November.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Gold Makes Its Grievances Heard
Gold Makes Its Grievances Heard
Gold is getting its revenge. Try as he might Mr. Tariff Man can’t dominate all the headlines all the time. Everyone once in a while something more important than the Trump Man-Baby Show should take center stage.
Gold has moved more than $50 in just under three trading sessions, blowing past near term resistance and, more importantly, reminding everyone just how quickly the reserve asset of the world economy can call bullshit on the proclamations and machinations of the morons who think they run the world.
You always know when you’re reaching the end of a bear market.
Last week I tweeted out:
I think we’re reaching Peak Gold Bearishness. If the dollar is an attractive safe-haven asset, which it isn’t, just a necessary evil after a decade of ZIRP, then of course this will weigh on gold. That doesn’t mean demand isn’t there.https://seekingalpha.com/news/3467311-gold-longer-attractive-complacent-market-says-wells-fargo-analyst#email_link …25:22 PM – May 28, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacyGold no longer attractive in complacent market, says Wells Fargo analystGold prices no longer look attractive based on the way the metal has reacted to recent economic events, says Wells Fargo’s John LaForge, noting that gold’s complacent reaction to market volatility isseekingalpha.com
When an analyst at Wells is looking at the day-to-day ticker of gold looking for silly and binary safe haven arguments to warn people off of gold, I know we’re nearly there.
This isn’t a complacent market. In fact, as I’ve pointed out in the past, it’s an incredibly volatile one.
You don’t have to be a whiz with numbers, or worse a quant working for a central bank, to see the differences here.
And the reason for this massive increase in volatility across all asset classes is Trump’s insistence on tariffs being the cure all for what ails America’s trade ‘imbalances.’
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Trust is On Trial in Europe and the World
Trust is On Trial in Europe and the World
“It seems that if there was any truth to our language, ‘trust’ would be a four-letter word.”
Joel – “Risky Business”
Trust is the most important aspect of human endeavor. Without trust there can be no interaction. No communication.
No friendship. No love.
No Commerce.
The key to understanding economics is understanding people. The basis for all human interaction is the basic trust that a trade once completed will be honored.
The global economy runs solely on trust. Without the trust that contracts signed today can be fulfilled tomorrow and disputes settled with a reasonable degree of amity, there can be no iPhones.
No Amazon.
No oil.
When politics become toxic, when the sides refuse to cooperate on the very basic functions of government, uncertainty reigns. And uncertainty filters down to the people getting up everyday, going to work and providing a home for themselves and their families.
It’s like that great scene in the classic movie “Trading Places” where Eddie Murphy talks about the guy who’s worried he won’t be able to buy his kid that “G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu Grip” for Christmas.
That guy was the barometer for the market. That guy knew something about trust.
I had one of those G.I. Joe’s as a kid. My dad rarely let me down in supplying the most important things on my Christmas list.
It’s part of the reason why I loved him and trusted him completely. He was very human, but he kept his promises and I always knew where the boundaries were.
He and mom did what they could without making promises they couldn’t keep.
That example, despite the heartbreaks and the setbacks, shaped my approach to being a husband and a father. I don’t make promises to my daughter or my wife I can’t keep.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Trump’s Vanity Will Destroy The Global Economy
Trump’s Vanity Will Destroy The Global Economy
Last year I asked the question “Will Trump torch the global economy on the bonfire of his vanity?”
A year later we have the answer. It’s a resounding, “Yes.”
I wrote after Trump pulled out of the JCPOA:
Donald Trump wants regime change in Iran. His cancellation of the JCPOA was a decision born of his myopia. He has surrounded himself with people who reinforce his view and manipulate him via his vanity.
And the price of implementing his current plan will be a global debt crisis which no one will escape. …
He wants to remake America and the world in his image while undoing anything President Obama touched…
We have a leaked (yeah, right) memo explaining this is the plan. Nothing Trump has done since he’s been in office has been contra to this goal; overthrowing the theocracy in Iran…
In fact, it has been a step-wise move in this direction with each decision he’s made.
Today Trump has pushed this plan to its extreme. He’s fomented a trade war with China and threatened sanctions on anyone doing any business will Iran outside its border, now including all strategic metals.
He’s threatened Lebanon with extinction and Iraq as well. His foreign policy mouthpieces are making pronouncements and twisting arms.
And none of this for the United States. He’s doing this for the basest of reasons. His ego. And, for him, that means doing everything to support his upcoming “Deal of the Century” between the Palestinian authorities and Israel. That it is the first step towards peace in the Middle East.
But it isn’t.
Israel leaked the terms of the Palestinian surrender yesterday. What was whispered to be a terrible plan is actually laughable if any of this is true.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
