That Was Then, This is Now

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Relevant context from Donald Trump before he became President (hat tip Fjordman):

Commentary from Dymphna: This is a disturbing meme. The Deep State got to Donald Trump. By one means or another the permanent government has a tight hold on the gonads of most members of Congress. The intelligence community must have had a little private chat with Mr. Trump and told him they could make sure that none of his agenda was enacted. However, if he left them alone to manage the geostrategic field, he could get some of his domestic policies enacted — e.g., at least part of the Wall, the Supreme Court nomination, his tax cuts, perhaps his infrastructure projects.

See the sudden progress of the Supreme Court nomination? Neil Gorsuch has been confirmed by the Senate, a severe blow to the liberals.

And President Trump has kept his end of the bargain.

65 thoughts on “That Was Then, This is Now”

    • What are you [talking] about? The attack on the airbase was retaliation for Assad’s use of sarin gas. NOTHING to do with ‘war victims’ in general.

      Sweden has a death wish, importing terrorists & pretending to be shocked when these Islamic guests turn on them. Serves Sweden right for being so stupid.

      • I am going to ignore that thing you said about Sweden. The USA has no right to attack Syria. According to international law. Well, you don’t know that drill but now you know because I told you so.

        The USA does not have the right to attack another nation! Especially not when the president of the USA feels like it for whatever reason.

        What’s that narcissist going all emotional about when he sees dead “babies”?That’s what war is all about. Get used to it…

        Aint war hell?
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZWsgTuVbdU&t=20s

        • I’d the “duch ” is such a patriot probably he should look into his own infested Muslim yard for a change instead of commenting on American to do or not to do. [epithet redacted]

        • I was tempted to redact that remark about Sweden made by JIM FOX; it was borderline offensive.

          Yes, all three Nordic countries do seem to have a “nice-nice” gene. It causes them pain to speak up and say what’s on their minds. No one is supposed to make waves.

          Thia genetic trait must have served them well once they quit sailing out to maraud other countries (Ireland being one),and had to live in close quarters for long periods of brutal cold. But it’s long since ceased being a survival trait in the present circumstances – circumstances ironically caused by their selective niceness.

          Now it’s a recipe for cultural suicide and that is sad beyond telling. I feel sorry for all three Nords – so intelligent and yet so bent on cultural suicide. Norway’s evil support of Hamas and its equally evil treatment of Fjordman made me see what a totalitarian democracy can look like. And yet I’m told that when Swedes want to kick back, they go to Norway…my mind is still trying to get around that one.

          • I’m part Swedish, what’s offensive about it? Criticism should never be viewed as a negative thing. Words have only the impact on me that I allow them to have. This is the reason the whole hate speech argument is so phony. Speech is just air escaping someone’s lungs and throat.

            When people start emulating the actions of the opposition in banning certain types of speech, then we have simply become the very thing we profess to hate. (Look, Dymphna, I used a paragraph!)
            ———————
            This thread has spooled out so I’ll respond here. There is a difference between dismissive epithets and genuine criticism. The former is simply schoolboy name-calling while the latter states what the writer doesn’t like and then backs up the assertion with reasoned arguments. To do less degrades the conversation; in short order it raises temperatures and voices.

      • Sarin gas, indeed. How were the rescuers able to handle the victims without protective gear?

        – Why would Assad launch an attack that would guarantee attention when he was winning? How does it benefit him?

        • Tahnk you. My thoughts exactly. Assad is an intelligent man and this attack makes no sense. The media coverage has been disgraceful in that they have uncritically swallowed the official story.

  2. Look:

    Iran will now take him seriously.
    The North Koreans will take him seriously.
    The Russians will take him seriously.
    The idiocy about being a Russian puppet will be forgotten.

    All for the price of a few missiles. Not a bad decision, if you ask me.

    • But it’s not going to stop there. Whether they actually did a false flag attack or not, now that the ISIS and related rebels have seen what effect dying children on a video has on the POTUS, they will see to it that many many more such “attacks” happen. These will all be put down to Assad, and the story will be “look, he is defying us, we must finish him off.” In this way ISIS (which Trump swore to eliminate) will now take over Syria, as they have Libya. This will result in the deaths of thousands of Syrian Christians and other minorities. But Syria going to ISIS will not be acceptable to Russia who will now have to fight for their lives, or be surrounded by Muslim regimes.

      • Great analyses of the situation the Trump administration now moved itself in..
        At the very least whoever has the capability to use chemical weapons in Syria now controls some of the future actions in Syria of the US administration. Not a situation you want to find yourself in.

        Furthermore.
        The Russians and it’s allies today did draw a red line. That’s not an Obama style red line.. I think mr Putin will act on that clear warning.

        I don’t see what the USA can win by this action other than a good nights rest for mr Trump.

  3. This is NOT war- a one-off response to Assad’s contempt for the UN resolutions
    on chemical warfare & Russia’s lies about disposing of his chemical arsenal.

    I don’t *expect any more action in Syria- but more likely N. Korea or Iran.
    This serves as a warning to both lunatic regimes.

    *not to say it won’t happen- but hopefully it will be limited, if so.
    I see the vaunted Russian S300 air defences shot down not a single Tomahawk.
    Embarrassing for Vladimir?

    • I believe the Russians were advised in advance of the attack, so it’s unlikely they interfered.

    • What is the evidence about who is responsible? Do we suddenly trust the Pentagon once again.

      • No, we don’t. Or at least I don’t trust the aggressive neocons. It certainly wasn’t Assad…that leaves ISIS, which doesn’t possess that level of weaponry, and the ragtag American-backed Assad opponents. America is capable of supplying cruise missiles.

        But to say “America” is to finger Donald Trump’s decision – the buck stops here, etc.

        • The town is some 100 miles south of Aleppo and 70 miles from the border of the south-west Turkish pan-handle.The town and province is dominated by al-Nasra (formerly al-Qadar : the group that first attacked the USA on 9/11).

          Fighting them in north-west Syria is a coalition of the Syrian Democratic Forces (not to be confused with the Free Syrian Army ) ,the PYG/PYJ Kurdish Militia and local village militias.These have a de facto armistice with the Syrian Arab Army (Assad : who is seeking their recognition in peace talks ). They appear to be being aided from Washington .

    • “I see the vaunted Russian S300 air defenses shot down not a single Tomahawk.
      Embarrassing for Vladimir?”

      Or they just did not employ it.

      • Your’s is another valid question on this over reaction by the Trump admin in Syria.

        The Russians did not employ their S-300 or S-400 anti- missile system which completely encircle that airbase.

        Possible answers are:

        1. The Russians were not aware of the incoming cruise missiles, or,

        2. The Russians knew who did that chemical attack and permitted the missile attack to happen after being informed of it, or,

        3. The Russians know their system is completely useless against low flying ground hugging missiles that have a very small heat and radar signature.

  4. Trump has had to wise up to the realities of *Presidential responsibility and listen to his advisors- something he’s never done before.
    *Something Obama failed to do for 8 long years.

    • I can’t remember who said it now – perhaps Mark Steyn – but we have evolved from a federation of states to a centralized government with a strong man at the top.

      Obama initiated the Powerful Pen and Phone executive process, cynically and publicly telling Congress it couldn’t stop him. Thus it makes sense that whoever came after will continue to use it. The legislative branch is currently gelded in matters of foreign policy, thanks to Obama’s reign and the lack of push-back by Congress. Their advise-and-consent role in declaring war has vanished.

      Once set going, there is no way the Executive can change this; real push-back must come from the Legislative. Though if someone had the standing to bring suit before the courts, the Supremes could eventually rule this out-of-bounds behavior as unconstitutional…

      …but the chaotic situation in the Middle East – thank you, SecState Clinton – is a tar-baby. No one currently has the power to pick up that sticky object and move it far enough away to bring things back to normal. That’s why you see Saudi Arabia in favor of it (anything to limit Iran) and Turkey deciding to withhold any opinion for fear of bringing on another world of hurt to his tyrannical but fragile regime. Certainly, Israel is relieved; it is alarmed at the prospect of having some of those players looking down on the country from the Golan Heights.

      Putin has to step carefully here. He’s in it for the gas and oil lines in Iran. Remember, Putin’s goal is to control the flow into Europe; a reason for the original Eurabia alliance was to foil that. America is now turning to its own vast reserves and willing to begin tapping them (should have begun this decades ago), so it would seem that the US intelligence agencies have their own goals here.

      I maintain that this is not Trump, though he’s forced to defend it as though it were in exchange for Congressional co-operation on his domestic policies. In other words, I buy into the theory that our bloated intel agencies are behind this. And Congress has decided to ignore it in favor of carrying on with their planned recess. Lazy, feckless bunch to leave town in the middle of this. But their behavior gives credence to the idea that they are under the control of the intel agencies.

  5. It had nothing to do with state, and everything to do with the power hungry GOPe RINO Mitch McConnell wanting his wife being the secretary for Transportation which will oversee all the lard being tossed around for the upcoming “infrastructure bill” it was a quid pro quo agreement. It’s not as sexy as deep state machinations, but that’s the way I see it going down. Old style money politicking, lots of money to be had for cronies in new public spending for new building projects with politicians having their names etched on them. It’s the only reason why McConnell who is still Trump’s nemesis is playing ball with him….. ?

    • Obama killed off the old-style politics. Even now he’s operating behind the scenes. He remains tight with the intelligence agencies and he wants to preserve his legacy. That’s why he and his new house-mate, Iranian Valerie Jarrett, are working so hard to undermine Trump.

      Obama is deeply corrupt and absolutely “connected”. Trump is still the outsider so he’s forced to tread carefully.

      Whadda mess.

  6. That’s the cost of a filibuster being suspended, 1 trillion dollars, your looking in the wrong place, look at the GOPe RINOS bellying up to the bar for “infrastructure” spending. Mitch McConnell’s wife will be overseeing the lion share of it.

    • I agree with you about the on-going perfidy of the GOP(e). McConnell and Ryan might as well openly hold hands in this current bromance. They all hate Trump.

  9. I’m a U.S. citizen, been all my life.

    It was a shock to hear about Trump’s stupid move: the bombing of Syria.

    I don’t want a war with Syria. NO WAR!
    For any reason!

    NO war at all!

    • We all have differing shock effects. I’m deeply disappointed in his refusal to name the Muslim Brotherhood as the terrorist group it is. Even more disgusted with the continuing, unabated push of more unvetted migrants from the countries he named as suspect. The totals are right in line with Obama’s and Bush’s.

      The man is scripting a coordinated call for impeachment from the Left AND Right. Dumb moves.

      • That’s the whole idea. It leaves a vacuum for his corporate buddies to take over. Have you ever read the part about the ten kings who rule the earth?

        • Have I ever read the part of what about “the ten kings who rule the earth”??

          If this is some aspect of Revelations, I ain’t going there. That’s a book written in eschatological symbolism, much of whose “meaning” has long since passed beyond memory.

          The symbolism is fascinating, but it’s not germane to anything current…imho. It’s a book everyone ought to have read and no one would be advised to attempt interpreting – unless you can resurrect the author(s) for queries.

          • You began the post discussing the “Deep State” and how it apparently got to Trump. GoV has discussed the “Elite” on a regular basis and their various machinations. We know that Soros is their visible clown who is serving as the lightning rod for the world’s disapproval of their agenda. The contemptuous disregard the Elite have for the rest of us is written in Soros’ mien. We would have seen their day of their rule of the world had not Trump interrupted their progress. You are correct however, they did get to Trump and I am saddened to see some of my stalwarts joining the cheering section.

          • Trump is the man who wrote The Art of the Deal. He hangs much of his self-esteem on being able to “deal” with his adversaries. The latter took the measure of the man when he walked in the door and began fitting him up for a custom-tailored sell-off. What Trump really cares about is domestic policy. Much like Obama, he hates foreign entanglements and doesn’t do them well.

            Foreign policy is and always has been America’s Achilles Heel. All the way back to George Washington. our enemies shout “Imperialist Running Dogs” when a more accurate term might be “Hopelessly Naive and Impatient”.

  10. Shucks, the cruise missiles were getting old and rusty. Instead of consigning them to salvage, which is expensive, they were simply dumped in someone else’s backyard. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer (giggle) dictator. The good new is that now being out of Sarin gas, Assad won’t be able to use it on the Jews who have the temerity to live on his Golan Heights. Okay so war and politics are a bit messy, just as Upton Sinclair said, “it’s like making sausage, in this case pork.”

    • Sarin gas. Please tell me how victims of a Sarin gas attack were being handled by rescuers without protective gear.
      – The doctor who was being paraded by Western media is a Jihadi.

  11. Strangely, I have the same feeling as yours Dymphna…all of a sudden like magic chains has been broken

  12. Fly little bird to hiro…. syria 😀 😀
    Anyway. Trump knows what he is doing. Without him USA citizens would lose all ability to even mention “religion”. It would be outlawed…. trust me just like it is in russia and all around eu.

    • Religion is not outlawed in Russia. Didn’t you hear about the band”Pussy Riot” being arrested in the church while causing a disturbance? I believe they were arrested for “hooliganism”.
      “Pussy Riot” are cowards. They didn’t disrupt a service in a mosque. They wanted to keep their heads.
      Putin is a Christian and attends services regularly. If you don’t trust me on this do some research. See for yourself. He can also be found on You Tube attending services.

      • I mean mentioning the “religion” as “cause” even in comments on social networks ….is outlawed as “racist extremist”. And punishable nowdays only by prison.

  13. There seems to be an assumption in the main stream media, manifesting in some of the comments here, that the chemicals were under Assad’s control and he or his administration directed they be used in this incident.

    This from the same mainstream media which rushes to warn people from not jumping to conclusions about anything in any other circumstances.

    The same media shamefully went along with the obscenity of using the dead body of Alan Kurdi to provoke Western governments into opening borders to fighting age men from ‘Syria’ to enter their countries now pushes pictures of more dead children and has resulted in Trump abandoning his previously announced views on US involvement in the Syrian civil war.

    After the previous gas event the whole world similarly accused Assad of heinous crimes and later it was shown to have nothing to do with him but the ISIS/Al Qaeda/other rebels. Why should it not be the same this time?

    And why would Assad, remembering how he got the blame last time and was threatened with Western retaliation, why would he risk it again for very little gain and when government forces are succeeding anyway?

    The whole story stinks and the emotional response to the emotional manipulation is really scary, kind of like the responses, now seen to be absurd, which played out in 1914. Anyway, even if were all genuinely the case, what business is it of the US or Europe to be taking offensive military action in the Syrian civil war when Assad hasn’t attacked US interests and the evidence is that it will only make matters worse, worse on the ground and worse for Europe and the US but better for ISIS and other parties which hate the US.

    Heaven help us.

    • I agree. Suddenly people are perfectly happy with the mainstream media’s reporting. All because the person they supported is acting in a certain way. The very fact that his detractors are suddenly happy with him should tell us something.

      – There were no Sarin gas attacks. The rescuers would themselves be dead within a minute without protective gear.

      https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/02/18/the-media-are-misleading-public-syria/8YB75otYirPzUCnlwaVtcK/story.html

    • The media don’t show the effects of the truck-jehad in the middle of Stockholm . There are no cute images there ; except for a poignant pair of black gloves by the side of the road. In Nice and Berlin (and Stockholm) they show the remains ( a more expressive term then bodies ) all covered up.In Stockholm somebody got there before. Some people will condemn this as `violence-porn`; but how are we to know otherwise? They don’t refrain from showing the evidence of German concentration camps.

      Today/tomorrow this could be your daughter/sister/wife.It could have been the wife of the editor of the Spectator ( London ) who was two streets away at the time : but he still can’t get his head around the (censored) reality. [Uncensored image available at the `usual` islamophobic UK/USA sites.]

    • Thank goodness, common sense! Assad has been vilified and smeared, curiously, ever since Obama was elected, and still many Americans refuse to see their worst and most dangerous President for what he is; a devious supporter of the moslem brotherhood who doubled the country’s debt and left it a racist mess.

      I’ve been a Trump supporter from day one, but have to say the President is starting to disappoint me, e.g. why is c.a.i.r. still in business, proselytizing, subverting the American school system and creating as much legal and political chaos as possible? That should have been one of the first things the President attended to.

      I wasn’t surprised to hear the President sent rockets against Assad; he has been ill-advised, given the wrong end of the stick–as has everyone at FOX News, who all see Russia and Assad as their deadly enemy–Obama and his isis and rebel friends must be rolling in the aisles!

  15. Over at Jihad Watch there’s a post to the effect that the doctor who had documented the ‘chemical attack’ in Syria was a UK jihadi who had been struck off the roll of the GMC.

    The problem I have with Syria is that it appears to be the foggiest war ever, and the more that is reported, the more obscure it gets. If you watch Al Jazeera all the evil is committed by Assad; if you watch RT, Assad’s a good guy and all the evil is committed by his jihadi enemies. Somewhere along the continuum between the two is the truth, but I don’t think we know where it is.

    If the strike was a tactical move to send a message to North Korea and Iran, then good. If it was because the commander-in-chief saw video footage of gassed children and was emotionally moved, not so good. We had a recent case where old footage of harsh treatment meted out in juvenile detention was shown in a biased report on national television, only to have the Prime Minister call a Royal Commission the next day. Emotional reaction to images isn’t the way to run anything.

    • You must have been listening in on our supper conversation at Schloss Bodissey. Except that you summarized the various points of view more succinctly than we did.

      Kudos.

      Don’t expect the fog to clear anytime soon. Personally, I instinctually (at least it feels that primitive) distrust “images” – they’re meant to manipulate. I was never so aware of this sense as when I happened upon a television program during a hotel stay some years ago. The commercials had, by then, reached down into such a deeply manipulative level they repulsed me. As I recall, it was a beer commercial with attractive, young and manically (maybe maniacally) “festive” drinkers who managed to interact together without a scintilla of tension or discomfort…something that never ever happens in gatherings of more than two people…but the marketers of this beer were determined to convince you otherwise.

      Icky and so very false. Yet they no doubt convinced impressionable youngsters that somewhere out there such people really exist. It’s diabolical; Rousseau has so much to answer for.

      • Indeed, Dymphna–and alcohol isn’t always the social lubricant it is intended to be! I’m glad you’ve been talking about what I’ve been thinking about. The Trump news over here is also pretty foggy. The sources people to link to on Facebook make it even worse. Call it fake news, call it what you like, we’ve reached information overload. So anything you and the Baron have to add about the situation in the USA will be welcome in helping me to feel my way through. (Solution to information overload = more and better information.)

    • I think that there’s something to be said for “Chemical Weapons are NOT Acceptable”, in general.

      Call it the Trump Doctrine: use of chemical weapons will be punished by whomever feels like it.

      That means I’m less likely to get gassed.
      That means you’re less likely to get gassed.

      I’m all for it.

      • All western governments have them even if they swear they don’t and never will use them. Biological weapons scare me far more, and they are simple enough to create that a disgruntled SJW with a little education in biology and genetics and daddy’s (or Soros’s) checkbook could purchase everything it needed to make them. And of course governments have them too…

    • I heard a man being interviewed on BBC Radio 4 (yes, I know!) who said he’d lost most of his family in the chemical weapons incident; they’d heard the aircraft involved. I don’t believe the rebels have access to military ‘planes or the skills to operate them.

  17. Yes, Bronson, you are 100% correct.

    Tension in the USA: Two Currents>

    Subtle Under Current 1 normal represented by Trump (Candidate):

    No antagonizing of Russia for no reason ( just because we are not afraid), No more muslims invaders under the pretense of refugees. Take real action against illegal criminals and deport them. No appeasement of islam. stop fooling ourselves that islam is peaceful. stop shariah stop islamization. stop teaching our kids islam. Do not antagonize Christians and Jews at every turn. . . . etc

    Subtle Under Current 2 represented by Schumer and his ilk :Subservient abnormal:

    Bow to Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Antagonize Greece to please Turkey and don’t mention its atrocities against its own Kurds and Turks, antagonize Russia at every turn, open border for every muslim invader to come and slaughter infidels, and insist they are refugees, appease muslims and prosecute sharia jihad opposers, pay lip service to Israel support, but tons of money to Abbas and practical support to Palestinians everywhere and whenever they ask, listen to
    Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and install blasphemy law only if against islam. Teach islam in western schools and force kids to convert or REVERT ….

    As promised by Trump adversaries and muslim friends, ” we will be relentless.” They started a smearing deadly unscrupulous campaign against Trump and his Promises of saving America from its own supposed protectors. They bared their teeth and encircled him to ready to devour him alive.

    He had to do something do save himself. He had to change his reasonable principles. They forced him to antagonize Russia It is easy) but not jihadis, the real enemy. Either eat him ALIVE OR join their narrative. It was easy for Hilar-ious because she did what the imams and OIC told her to do.

    Simply put it’s smooth sail if you promote islam and surrender and you can be elected and get $100 m from Qatar.

    The whole world is deceived by islam even “the elect, if that were possible. See I have told you in advance.”

    • Yeah, the one thing they could not risk was Trump allying himself with Russia against the Satanic forces of “Islam”.

      That would never do.

  18. I agree with Dymphna that “…The Deep State got to Donald Trump. ..”. But did THEY (and with “THEY” I dont mean Assad et al) really have to GAZ children, yet again? And did Trump REALLY buy it?

    While I never thought, Donald Trump could walk on water with this action he clay in his feet is rather extremely heavy: if he fell for the “Assad gassed the children again” caper, then he is very very very naive, not good for a leader, if he knew about who REALLY gazed them….not a good sign as to his humanity…..

    As to “who really gassed the children of Syria” ? As they say: it’s du “déjà vu all over again”. 🙁

    http://littlenotesfromparis.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/who-gassed-children-of-syria-update.html

  19. The greatest loss I take from this whole episode is my trust in my president.

  20. What happened in Syria when we threw the Tomahawks at them wasn’t ” war “. ” War ” was the battle of Kursk, or Stalingrad, or Normandy, or Iwo. This wasn’t even a skirmish. We blew up some buildings and a few unlucky draftees got killed. Foreign policy by other means.
    If the USA ever does get into a serious shoot-out with threats on our own soil – such as will happen when the end times happen for the Mexican cartels – the freakish talk will end, I hope. There will probably be a news blackout.

  21. Globalists have infiltrated the Trump Administration. It is more than a coincidence that shortly before the air strikes, Steve Bannon was removed from the National Security Council. Bannon is a nationalist-populist who seeks globalist institutions (e.g the EU) overthrown . Bannon probably did not support air strikes.
    Nixon and Reagan had confidence in their own foreign policy views. Trump should trust his original instincts.

    • Since Trump is directly contradicting his own repeated refrains re Syria and the Middle East, one has to suspect he’s been strong-armed. The sudden confirmation by the Senate on his Supreme Court pick bolsters my paranoia. As does the feckless Congressional decision to recess NOW, when so much remains to be done. They’re fleeing till things calm down, despite what their lame excuses claim.

  22. Israeli intelligence says it was definitely Assad who committed the gas attacks both recently and back at the beginning of this whole mess and I trust that. I have always thought it silly the support Assad and even Putin get from the alternative media. Just because they’re against the NWO/globalist puppets doesn’t mean they’re the good guys either. I wouldn’t trust either further than I could throw them and I’m not very strong.

    I have no idea if Trump made the best decision in what he did — I’m no foreign policy expert — but I do think this whole thing is being blown incredibly out of proportion. It was a message and not a declaration of war. Obama was often criticized for doing nothing or “leading from behind”. No winning, I guess.

    I need more evidence before I can claim that he was phoney or that someone “got to him”.

    I don’t think ANYONE has fighting ISIS as a top priority. They’re the excuse for everyone to start meddling in that part of the world to preserve their own interests. You’d have to be quite the isolationist to avoid having some stake in the Middle East at this point. It’s not “nice” but it’s reality.

  23. My dear lady,
    I wish I had a conclusive proof that you were wrong about cousin Trump, but I don’t.
    I still hope most devoutly that you are wrong. Otherwise, G-d help us all.

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