I open by noting that no head of state places the civil liberties and right to protest of its citizens high on its agenda and only those of other nations when it is politically useful, such as Trump's tweeted support of Iran protests but silence when they are against a client state such as Honduras. But what about media silence, including NPR, on Honduras since December? I provide an update and news regarding Honduras.
I point out again that Americans, across the political spectrum, have blocked out US overseas wars in favor of domestic issues and cite Bernie Sanders' concern that the government shutdown will affect the Pentagon and what it has to do. âWe have to pay them,â says Bernie.
I then review Rex Tillerson's speech at Stanford, calling for the ouster of Bashar al-Assad as a requirement for stabilizing Syria while announcing that the US will be training a 30,000 person Kurd force and is in the country to stay. I point out that the US has no business being in Syria and respect no country's sovereignty other than its own. I suggest that Turkey's incursion into Syria attacking Kurdish forces is a response to Tillerson's comments.
I refer to a NY Times article on how the US attitude towards Israel has changed under Trump, eliminating any notion of even-handedness in favor of all out support for Israel and the cutting of aid to Palestinian refugees underscores that. I note that Trump is more popular in racist Israel than anywhere else in the world and that Mike Pence was the first US VP to address the Israeli Knesset.
I conclude by pointing out Israel's control over Congress, that he has twice received 29 standing ovations from joint sessions of both Houses which led the NY Times Tom Friedman to write that Congress is âbought and paid for by the Israel Lobby.â