[Peace-discuss] Prof. Gerald Horne nails it, on The Real News, in my humble opinion

[David Green]

Here is the transcript:

Story Transcript

*SHARMINI PERIES: *It’s The Real News Network, and I’m Sharmini Pyrrhus
coming to you from Baltimore.

Following the now-infamous Trump-Putin meeting in Helsinki on Monday and
its fallout here in Washington, D.C. on President Trump’s return, President
Trump has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington this fall.
Now, on to talk about the geopolitics of the week in crisis, joining me is
Gerald Horne. He holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and
African-American Studies at the University of Houston. He is the author of
over 30 books, including “The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance
and the Origins of the United States of America.” Thanks for joining us,
Gerald.

*GERALD HORNE: *Thank you for inviting me.

*SHARMINI PERIES: *All right, Gerald, let’s start off with your take on
this crazy week we’ve had. A week in crisis in Washington.

*GERALD HORNE: *Well, first of all I think that the corporate media have
missed the boat. It’s obvious, it’s in plain sight what the Trump team and
that faction of the ruling class is trying to execute. His former adviser
Steve Bannon let the cat out of the bag when he suggested that the United
States is at war with China. Tucker Carlson of Fox News just recently had a
banner behind him during his nationally syndicated program shouting “China
Threat.” In other words, what Mr. Trump tried to do in Helsinki was what
he’s been trying to do since he took office in January 2017. That is to
say, to effectuate some sort of entente with Moscow. Soften up Moscow by
supporting neofascists in Ukraine. And then try to neutralize Moscow as
Washington turns to the big enchilada, which is China.

Moscow is also key to Mr. Trump’s plans with regard to the smaller
enchilada, which is Iran. That is to say that there is no accident that
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has been spending a lot
of quality time in Moscow, including on May 9, 2018, the holiest of holy
days in Moscow, the day marking the victory over fascism in 1945. And
likewise, Mr. Netanyahu is trying to win over Moscow to an anti-Iran
sanction and/or conflict. This will involve some sorts of concessions to
Moscow with regard to Syria. It’s unclear to me whether that latter
initiative will pan out. But certainly it’s rather obvious what Mr. Trump
is trying to accomplish.

And I think that the corporate media has been engaged in a kind of
journalistic malpractice by not pointing this out. They did the same thing
when Mr. Trump went to Western Europe. That is to say, when Mr. Trump
called for NATO members to spend more on defense, he’s actually asking them
to send more money to Lockheed Martin and Raytheon in the Unites States of
America. When he says, Mr. Trump, that is, that Germany is a captive of
Russia because it gets so much energy from Russia, supposedly, Mr. Trump is
actually carrying water for liquefied natural gas interests in Texas, and
in Louisiana, and for oil interests in West Texas in particular. So I think
what Mr. Trump is trying to do is rather obvious, but somehow this obvious
point has been missed by the corporate media.

*SHARMINI PERIES: *Now, Gerald, you are here in your analysis instilling a
great deal of thinking, strategy, policies that Trump must implement to
make this geopolitical strategy happen. But the corporate media presents
him as a buffoon who doesn’t know what foot comes next, or misspeaking,
and, and all the mistakes he’s made, and the notes he must make on his
transcript to backpedal on a position he has taken. I mean, if you see the
coverage in the mainstream press this week, you know, as you say, no
serious attention was given to this strategic plan of President Trump. Why
do you think that takes place?

*GERALD HORNE: *Well, I think it takes place for a number of reasons. Trump
is a vulgarian, but he’s a dangerous vulgarian. Trump is a buffoon, but
he’s a dangerous buffoon. Trump is a con man, but he’s a dangerous con men.
Keep in mind that the faction of the ruling elite that Mr. Trump represents
tends to like those kinds of seeming buffoons in high office. Recall Ronald
Wilson Reagan, who may have had senility during the last months of his
1980-1988 administration. But that did not keep him from executing a
thought-out U.S. ruling elite for policy, even though he was doddering
along all the time. I think that too much has been made of this buffoonery.

In some ways, Trump is also like a magician. The trick of the magician is
to distract you to the left as they pull off the trick to the right. And
that’s what Trump does. Actually, one of the things that has surprised me
thus far this week is that he has not distracted the attention of the
audience further by launching another attack on black American pro football
players, for example, to distract their attention to that particular issue.
That’s oftentimes called “boob bait for the bubbas,” and Mr. Trump is a
master at that kind of nonsense.

*SHARMINI PERIES: *All right, Gerald, let’s go back to the earlier point
you were making, that this new alliance with Moscow is about isolating
China economically, and also isolating Iran for their interests, obviously
of Netanyahu and Israel. But there’s much more to that strategy. Give us a
sense of the indicators that lead you to believe that.

*GERALD HORNE: *Well, first of all, as they do a tour of the horizon, the
U.S. ruling elite realizes that unless something drastic happens sooner
rather than later, U.S. imperialism will be surpassed by China. Look at the
Made in China 2025 plan that has caused so many sleepless nights in
Washington. That is to say, by 2025, a scant few years from now, China is
slated to become the global leader in artificial intelligence, green
energy, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and all of the rest. Washington
feels that it has to do something drastic to shake up the game, and that
leads us straight to Moscow and Helsinki.

Now, with regard to the Saudis. Well, keep in mind that the Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman also has been spending quality time in Moscow with
Vladimir Putin. His aim is congruent with the aim of US imperialism and
Israeli Zionism; that is to say, to neutralize Iran, if not oust Iran
altogether from Syria, if not overthrow the current regime in Tehran. And
likewise to continue pounding those they see as proxies of Iran in Yemen.
I’m speaking of those they refer to as the Houthis. And as you know,
they’re receiving ample support from U.S. imperialism with regard to that
diabolical plan, as well. Sadly and unfortunately, this kind of analysis,
this kind of factual presentation, is sorely and conspicuously missing from
the corporate media.

*SHARMINI PERIES: *Gerald, for this plan, the Bannon-Trump strategy now we
are talking about, how why does the U.S. need Russia for this plan when
they can actually easily go to Canada and the EU and they UK, which are
their traditional allies on these kinds of efforts?

*GERALD HORNE: *Well, that’s what distinguishes the Trump team from the
Democrats. The Democratic strategy as articulated by Hillary Rodham Clinton
was quite routine and traditional, not unlike that of Obama. That is to
say, to unite with the European Union and Canada, to confront Russia and
China. Now, in some ways Mr. Trump’s strategy is less dangerous, since he
is seeking to convert Canada into a kind of vassal state. And from what I
can see, Ottawa seemingly is unaware of this fact, this reality. To weaken
and split the European Union. Keep in mind that he has already told
President Macron of France that there is a large bribe at the end of the
rainbow if France withdraws from the European Union. Obviously he’s trying
to undermine and destabilise Chancellor Merkel in Berlin.

Recall that just a few days ago he undermined Theresa May in London by
giving a shout of approval to her main rival, who was to her right, the
defrocked Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Once those particular maneuvers
are taking place, then it becomes apparent that Russia, from his point of
view, could be a stumbling block, which necessitates Russia being
neutralized, if not softened up, by supporting neofascists in Ukraine to
drain Moscow.

*SHARMINI PERIES: *All right, Gerald. So much more to talk about; it was a
crazy week. Any final thoughts before we go for the weekend?

*GERALD HORNE: *Well, the only final thought is that the contradictions,
I’m afraid, are catching up with U.S. imperialism. One of these salient
facts of what’s going on this week is that the Trump base is not crumbling
or cracking at all. He still has 80 to 90 percent approval ratings within
the Republican Party, the party of whiteness. The contradiction is that the
Democratic Party is much more heterogeneous; but that, as they say in
corporate United States, is a plus of diversity, on the one hand.

On the other hand it leads to the spectacle that you saw a few days ago of
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
savaging Congressional Black Caucus member Congresswoman Maxine Waters of
Los Angeles because she had the temerity to suggest that folks get in the
face of the Trump team when they see them out and about in the streets
because of the facilities that they’re committing against children on the
Texas-Mexico border as we speak. How can the Democrats mount an effective
strategy if they’re attacking their base as represented by Congresswoman
Waters? This tends to suggest that the Democrats, I’m afraid to say, need
to adjust their strategy.

*SHARMINI PERIES: *Indeed. All right, Gerald, I thank you so much for
joining us today, and have a great weekend.

*GERALD HORNE: *Thank you.

*SHARMINI PERIES: *Of course, under these circumstances, I thank you all
for joining us today here on The Real News Network.


On Sat, Jul 21, 2018 at 7:23 AM Karen Aram via Peace-discuss <
peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

>
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