The Allure of Being “Part of the Team”

‘President’ Robert Scheer berates me as we role-play a President’s Daily Briefing. Viewers will find the video instructive re the pressures on intelligence analysts – especially in an election year – to avoid being seduced into becoming ‘part of the team’.

 

Israel’s Hold on US Presidents

Frustrated with Israel’s hold on US presidents? So was former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, watching PM Ariel Sharon press GWBush to attack Iraq. Scowcroft told Financial Times Sharon had Bush “mesmerized” & “wrapped around his little finger.”

 

Ideology on Steroids

Blinken’s Blinkers: How explain juvenile diplomacy? The Greek tragic flaw of hubris. China, Russia, N Korea, Iran – even Niger – would be amused were it not so dangerous. I riff on pamphlet by Lenin 100 yrs ago exposing the excesses of ideology on steroids

 

Blinken, Biden, Sullivan Continue to Make a Mess

“Three Stooges” Blinken, Biden, Sullivan continue to make mess in Ukraine, China, and Israel. Antony ‘Innocent Abroad’ Blinken again tries gunboat-type ‘diplomacy’ in China, unable to wrap his mind around tectonic shift represented by China-Russia entente.

Underhanded Israel

Israeli has delayed Flotilla departing Turkey with medical supplies and food to fend off starvation in Gaza. It is pressing Guinea Bissau to withdraw its flag from the lead ship, triggering a request for additional inspection, this one by the flag state.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6MpUqyOLcr/?igsh=YXRqbXQ1N2FxeDVs

Broken Biden Promises

Trust Evaporated at turn of 2021/22. 12/30/21, Biden to Putin: US has no intention to put offensive strike missiles in Ukraine; 1/21/22, Blinken to Lavrov fuhgeddaboutit; 2/12/22, Biden to Putin fuhgeddaboutit; 2/24/22, Putin just cannot fuhgeddaboutit.

 

Israel Now Between Rock and a Very Hard Place

Iran so far winner of the tit-for-tat with Israel which now between rock and a very hard place. Are Israeli leaders finally taking admonitions of Biden/Blinken/Sullivan seriously? Yes, so far. DEEP STAKES, though, for Israeli leaders; so expect unexpected.

 

Reality Check for the Warmongering President

Someone needs to tell Biden he is living in the past and that this is unforgivably dangerous. I played that role in the The President’s Daily Brief session https://twitter.com/raymcgovern/status/1781784752376201667 with ‘President Scheer’. Here’s a one-minute clip from Thursday’s interview.