{"id":61138,"date":"2016-12-07T12:10:21","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T19:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=61138"},"modified":"2016-12-07T12:10:21","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T19:10:21","slug":"the-rules-of-the-trump-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/12\/07\/the-rules-of-the-trump-game\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rules of the (Trump) Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Pepe EscobarCourtesy\u00a0Information Clearing House<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

December 05, 2016 “Information Clearing House<\/a>” – “Sputnik<\/a>” – Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis, chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to be the new head of the Pentagon, is a model functionary of the Empire of Chaos.<\/p>\n

His call sign is \u2013 what else \u2013 “chaos”. The Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) even shared his regular accolade; “Saint Mattis of Quantico, Patron Saint of Chaos”. The Saint in his pop incarnation comes fully equipped with a grenade and a knife.<\/p>\n

Mad Dog may indeed be seen by\u00a0the real world as, well, a mad dog; he was on\u00a0the front line of\u00a0the 2001 assault on\u00a0Afghanistan; led the Marine assault on\u00a0Baghdad during\u00a0Shock and Awe in\u00a02003; and masterminded the horrendous American destruction of\u00a0Fallujah in\u00a0late 2004. Widely hailed as\u00a0a fine strategist, he retired as\u00a0chief of\u00a0CENTCOM in\u00a02013.<\/p>\n

The Saint may have been a purveyor of\u00a0chaos across\u00a0the Cheney regime-coined “Greater Middle East” \u2013 something that came with\u00a0inevitable collateral damage; his creeping Iranophobia. Yet the key to\u00a0his appointment is that it will focus on\u00a0rebuilding the US military.<\/p>\n

William Hartung, at\u00a0the Center for\u00a0International Policy, A Pentagon Rising: Is a Trump Presidency Good News for\u00a0the Military-Industrial Complex?<\/a> notes how “Pentagon spending is one of\u00a0the worst possible ways of\u00a0creating jobs. Much of\u00a0the money goes to\u00a0service contractors, arms industry executives, and defense consultants (also known as ‘Beltway bandits’).” Moreover, “such spending is the definition of\u00a0an economic dead end.”<\/p>\n

Criticizing Trumponomics as “Reaganomics on\u00a0steroids” \u2013 and that includes vast military spending \u2013 Hartung stresses that if Donald Trump really wants to\u00a0create jobs, “he should obviously pursue infrastructure investment rather than\u00a0dumping vast sums into\u00a0weapons the country doesn’t actually need at\u00a0prices it can’t afford.”<\/p>\n

To rebuild the appalling US infrastructure is one of\u00a0the top Trump campaign promises.<\/p>\n

What is to\u00a0be done?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My aim with this column<\/a> was to\u00a0launch a debate on\u00a0the possible Leninist role of\u00a0White House strategist Steve Bannon. Trump, like\u00a0all US presidents, is obviously no Leninist. But his chief strategist does cultivate the Leninist notion of\u00a0a proletariat vanguard; call it the Angry Older White American Blue Collar Male contingent; call it haters of\u00a0identity liberalism, which elevated selected minorities to\u00a0the status of\u00a0sacred victims; or call it simply “deplorables”.<\/p>\n

It’s this proletariat vanguard that Bannon aims to\u00a0cultivate, so they lead \/ influence \/ shape policy for\u00a0the foreseeable US political future, winning election after\u00a0election for\u00a0Republicans. They must imperatively benefit from\u00a0Trump’s spun-to-death fight against\u00a0neoliberal “free” trade, although it’s not clear exactly how he will privilege “in-sourcing” and not outsourcing \u2013 which is official US corporate policy. They certainly won’t benefit from\u00a0a massive rebuilding of\u00a0the Pentagon.<\/p>\n

German political analyst Peter Spengler introduces a further spanner in\u00a0the works, noting how Bannon, “like all scholars (or students for\u00a0that matter) of\u00a0Russia\/Bolshevism has ignored what Kurt Riezler<\/a> could have and (would want to) unearth to\u00a0them in\u00a0his time in\u00a0exile in\u00a0New York: first-hand experience and knowledge about\u00a0the continuum of\u00a0subterraneous and subversive ‘diplomacy’ between\u00a0Germany and Russia” in\u00a0the run-up towards\u00a0the October Revolution.<\/p>\n

Bets are still off\u00a0on what “subversive” diplomacy the Trump era will entail \u2013 apart from\u00a0a 21st century remix of\u00a0the Kissinger-orchestrated “Nixon in\u00a0China” moment. That would take the form of\u00a0a “Trump in\u00a0Russia-China” moment \u2013 as\u00a0in Washington starting to\u00a0normalize the treatment of\u00a0those nations the Pentagon ranks as\u00a0its top two “existential threats”, global projection and spheres of\u00a0influence included.<\/p>\n

That contentious phone call to\u00a0Trump “initiated” by\u00a0Taiwan President<\/a> Tsai Ing-wen certainly didn’t contribute to\u00a0any normalization. And no one should expect that the Brzezinski-conceptualized US global primacy, especially over\u00a0Eurasia \u2013 as\u00a0in “prevent the emergence of\u00a0peer competitors”\u00a0\u2014 will simply fade away.<\/p>\n

Pentagon reborn<\/strong><\/p>\n

William Engdahl argues<\/a> that the Brave New (Trump) World is all an elaborate deception. A quick look at\u00a0the lucky few chosen for\u00a0Trump’s plutocrat cabinet does not exactly match the Better Angels of\u00a0our Nature.<\/p>\n

A New York business source, familiar with\u00a0the Masters of\u00a0the Universe, who actively supported the Trump program and called his election at\u00a0least two weeks before\u00a0the fact, offers a blunt assessment:<\/p>\n

“Donald is an insider. Most of\u00a0the advisors Engdahl refers to\u00a0are wallpaper. There are three important things to\u00a0consider. 1) The Supreme Court will have conservative judges. 2) There will be a rapprochement with\u00a0Russia. The tilt may not be as\u00a0warm to\u00a0China, but\u00a0we will work on\u00a0that. 3) None of\u00a0the Masters care about\u00a0Lenin, or Thomas Cromwell, or ideologies. They care about\u00a0power and money.”<\/p>\n

As for\u00a0a possible Leninist White House, “if we want to\u00a0quote Lenin, it is that truth is whatever advances the class struggle. Truth to\u00a0the Masters is whatever advances their agenda. If they want the Federal Reserve to\u00a0expand credit, then they look for\u00a0a liberal if that works, or a conservative, or monetarist, or Keynesian, etc. One of\u00a0them will support expansion of\u00a0credit and those that don’t will be shunted aside. They don’t care about\u00a0Milton Friedman, Keynes, Marx or Lenin. It is what works for\u00a0them that counts. Hillary did not work so she is out. And Bannon will do what he is told like\u00a0the rest of\u00a0them. And if he gets in\u00a0the way, he will be fired.”<\/p>\n

So no matter what California screams and shouts<\/a>, this is the stark way the Masters will be running Trumpland.<\/p>\n

Which brings us, once again, to\u00a0the rebuilding of\u00a0the US military. Another business\/investment source, who also actively supported the Trump economic plan during\u00a0the campaign, stresses how “the present power of\u00a0the Russian military industrial complex is greater than\u00a0the US in\u00a0many senses. And all of\u00a0it is in\u00a0Russia whereas most of\u00a0that of\u00a0the US is farmed out\u00a0to Asia.”<\/p>\n

Thus, “it is fortunate that Trump has come in\u00a0as President to\u00a0wind down\u00a0this mad house that they call Washington. There is a consensus above\u00a0the President that action must be done to\u00a0rebuild the United States military on\u00a0an emergency basis.” And that will be the Mad Dog’s top brief.<\/p>\n

The source adds: “One easy way of\u00a0repatriating all this industry at\u00a0once is to\u00a0set all defense contracts up\u00a0with the stipulation that the entire plane, missile or tank must be made in\u00a0the United States, thus requiring the massive repatriation of\u00a0jobs and factories. That should be the first order of\u00a0business at\u00a0the White House under\u00a0Trump as\u00a0it does not require a tariff, or ending currency rigging.”<\/p>\n

Hold on, Yalta, we’re coming<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, there’s got to\u00a0be some careful management of\u00a0what the disgruntled neocon\/neoliberalcon galaxy called the Trump-Putin “bromance”.<\/p>\n

Trump will most certainly re-normalize Russia and work alongside\u00a0Russia to\u00a0smash the Salafi-jihadi dementia in\u00a0Syria; the problem is to\u00a0what degree Russia and China will be able to\u00a0influence Trumpland not to\u00a0turn Iran into\u00a0high collateral damage. Russia-China-Iran is the key alliance invested in\u00a0Eurasia integration.<\/p>\n

“Grand Chessboard” Brzezinski cannot help himself from\u00a0expounding the usual narcissistic absurdities, as\u00a0in suggesting<\/a> the US helps Russia to “transit effectively” and become a “constructive, significant member of\u00a0the global community” (it’s rather Moscow that may end up\u00a0doing exactly that to\u00a0Trump’s America).<\/p>\n

At the same time, it’s no wonder even Brzezinski himself is now spinning, “America is needed to\u00a0pull together some larger coalition that can deal with\u00a0global problems. And in\u00a0that larger coalition America, China and changing Russia could be preeminent.”<\/p>\n

“Changing” Russia in\u00a0this case is code for\u00a0a Russia that can be seduced, tamed and driven away from\u00a0China. The key context; the Russia-China strategic partnership essentially points towards\u00a0Eurasia as\u00a0a vast, integrated emporium \u2013 the blending of\u00a0China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) with\u00a0Russia’s Eurasia Economic Union (EEU).<\/p>\n

Brzezinski, reflecting and\/or influencing neoliberalcon “values”, would rather reenact Divide and Rule and try to\u00a0split Russia from\u00a0China \u2013 while at\u00a0the same time suggesting that Trump can’t afford to\u00a0be left out\u00a0of the massive (Eurasia) action; there’s gotta be some sort of\u00a0deal. Stay tuned for\u00a0the terms of\u00a0a possible upgrade; from\u00a0Yalta in\u00a01945 to\u2026 a Yalta remix in\u00a02017?<\/p>\n

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Pepe EscobarCourtesy\u00a0Information Clearing House December 05, 2016 “Information Clearing House” – “Sputnik” – Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis, chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to be the new head of the Pentagon, is a model functionary of the Empire of Chaos. His call sign is \u2013 what else \u2013 “chaos”. The Marine Corps Special Operations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}