Empire of Hypocrisy

 “But history isn’t the paper it’s printed on. It’s memory, and memory is time, emotions, and song.” Paul Beatty, The Sellout

In the category of the more things change the more they stay the same, a large bank has cratered and there is fear that others will follow. Silicon Valley Bank wasn’t one of the behemoths that shouldn’t exist at all, but large and visible enough that its demise has consequences and sends shock waves through the banking system. Fear of contagion is powerful, and makes people irrational.

After the Wall Street banks seeded the last major financial collapse in 2008, new regulations were put in place by Congress. They were not the tough rules many wanted or fought for, and many reasonable ideas were stripped away at the suggestion of industry lobbyists, whose clients are major beneficiaries, as well as reliable campaign donors. Generally, when a legislative sausage is stuffed and encased, nobody likes it, and would avoid eating it if they could. 

Dodd-Frank was that imperfect legislation, passed in 2010 when Barack Obama was president. Eight years later, Donald Trump signed a bill called the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (there was little consumer protection), that set the stage for the collapse of SVB.  As reported by the media outlet the Intercept, a couple of lobbyists for SVB learned the workings of Congress while toiling as staffers in Kevin McCarthy’s office. No surprise, this is how Washington D.C.’s famous “revolving door” operates, cycling characters in and out of government and industry. Back and forth they go, following the money. 

When Ukraine is of no further use to American interests, it will be abandoned like a spent condom. 

Trump preened when he signed the bill because it eliminated another Obama-Era accomplishment. 

SVB also failed because Republicans represent corporate interests that dislike being told how to run their businesses; they bristle at government oversight. Republicans extol the miraculous virtues of the magic Market when it suits their immediate purposes, but demand government relief when the shit hits the fan.  

It will be interesting to see who the GOP tries to pin the SVB failure on. 

More than two years into the war in Ukraine; more than that waiting for someone, anyone, to grow a spine and indict Donald J. Trump. 

I listened to a political analyst named Lincoln Mitchell talk about the Ukraine war. For the US, in Mitchell’s view, it’s a proxy war against Russia, but perhaps not as much as it’s a proxy war with China, part of the global chess match for influence, political position, and hegemony, the aging title holder, the US, against the up and coming contender, China. 

I read a figure from a reliable source that the US has thus far provided Ukraine with $113 billion in military, economic and humanitarian assistance. $56 billion per year. What such money could produce if it was invested in the US. What could $113 billion do to help ordinary Americans live healthier and safer and more materially-secure lives? Not that our political masters care much about ordinary Americans. They claim to, but their actions tell a different tale.  

The sad reality is that war is good business, steady, profitable and enduring. Does Ukraine deserve help? Yes, from all quarters, but for the US there’s more to our involvement than supporting Ukraine with arms and money in its battle with the evil Vladimir Putin. It’s also about maintaining our sagging empire. Watching the Russian military flounder and suffer massive casualties is a welcome outcome for the US. We provide the guns, the Ukranians do the fighting. Nothing new, the US has done this all over the world for decades. Vietnam. Afghanistan. Iraq. Nicaragua. When Ukraine is of no further use to American interests, it will be abandoned like a spent condom. 

But what happens if, out of short-term need, Russia becomes a de facto Chinese client-state? 

Geopolitics is complicated. One way to understand it is to follow the money. Or access to minerals and strategic metals. Or oil and gas. 

What has become of the American intelligence community’s assessment of the hundreds of classified documents recovered from Mar-A-Lago? In the immediate aftermath of the FBI search there was plenty of speculation about the potential damage to national security, but since then, silence. What are we to make of this? Why is Trump being treated so differently from other individuals caught with classified information? Why is Trump free to rant and rave and lie while Julian Assange sits in a prison cell? 

America is the Empire of Hypocrisy, but the sands beneath the foundation are beginning to shift. 

This, That And a Dash of the Other

 “At some point the US may no longer be in a position to exploit its financial centrality as it does now. For large parts of the world that moment will be cause for celebration.” Tom Stevenson, London Review of Books, 24 March 2022.

How long before Putin’s war against Ukraine spills over a border line, perhaps Poland’s? What stance does NATO and the US adopt then? America’s political and military leaders are focused on taking every opportunity to weaken an enemy (real or perceived), whether Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela or Iran. That’s deep in the DNA of the Pentagon and National Security state, despite the incredible failures of the architects in the White House, Senate, media, and intelligence community. Serial failures that set off a cascade of devastating consequences in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen. I can think of one reason for the outpouring of support for Ukraine from all over the world: the emphasis of the global media. This time an unprovoked attack was launched by Russia, not the US. In Ukraine, the media is getting stories out about civilian casualties, mass rapes, summary executions, and indiscriminate bombing, uprooted refugees, and graphic images of destruction and death. This is Putin being a sadist, we want maximum exposure of his crimes. In the case of Afghanistan and Iraq, the American military was effective in muzzling the media, hiding unpleasant facts beneath claims of classified intelligence, need-to-know, eyes only. Sources and methods. The Pentagon and State Department managed the narrative, always casting the US in the guise of noble and generous protectors, builders, deliverers of freedom and democracy.  Now, I’m not claiming that we can compare what Russian soldiers are accused of doing in Ukraine with the conduct of American soldiers in Afghanistan or Iraq. Were civilians killed by US forces? No doubt. Were civilians explicitly killed as a matter of strategy? Was mass rape used as a weapon? Not to my knowledge. Did such war crimes occur? It’s certainly possible. The US military has done it before.

The war is over a month old. How much has Putin been weakened? How long can Ukraine hold out? 

Watch the housing market, it’s once again completely out of kilter with reality and the needs of Americans for safe, affordable housing, a basic human necessity. Prices have soared out of all proportion with wages, not that that matters to Bank of America or Citibank or any of the hedge funds that are buying residential housing stock across the country, no Zip Code beyond their reach. Yes, the largest single owner of houses in America is a corporation. Soulless financial engineers have created another Frankenstein monster, financial instruments out of thin air, under the limp and lifeless bodies of government regulators, and a Congress deep under the duvet with the lawyers and lobbyists who work for the gain of the Finance, Real Estate and Insurance lords and dukes. 2008/09 is going to repeat. How much will the corporate bail-out and total indemnity of Capital cost the people this time? These extraordinarily cunning people never learn lessons from their failures -- they’re not required to, that’s part of running with the elite, clean slates, second and third chances. Loads of fuck-up insurance. 

A recent article in the Atlantic magazine by Mark Leibovich caused a bit of stir when it suggested that Republican candidates pitted against Trump-endorsed shitbirds just call Trump a loser and then enumerate Trump’s trail of failure and broken promises. I think Democratic candidates should include the same theme in their campaigns, and then contrast Trump’s failures with what Democrats have accomplished since 2021. Here’s a list off the top of my noodle:

-Twice-impeached.

-Lost the popular vote twice, the second time by a wide margin.

-Lost the GOP the House in the 2018 midterms.

-Lost the GOP the Senate and the White House in 2020.

-Joined the ranks of one-term US presidents, including Herbert Hoover, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. Despite many catastrophic mistakes, even George W. Bush managed to be re-elected. 

-Failed to build the great Trump Border Wall or make Mexico pay for it.

-Ballooned the Federal deficit.

-Got outplayed and outsmarted on trade.

-Failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. 

-Completely mismanaged the Federal response to the pandemic, resulting in thousands of needless deaths. 

-Lost nearly sixty legal challenges regarding the 2020 election.

-Instigated a deadly mob attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. 

-Stole classified information from the White House and transported it to Mar-A-Lago. 

That’s what the GOP cult is running on, though they will portray themselves as lovers of liberty and free speech, low taxes, and protectors of white citizens from Mickey Mouse and Ibram X. Kendi. 

What does Trump give his fans in return for their blind loyalty? Certainty in uncertain times; simple solutions to complex problems; enemies to revile and fear. Trump’s misrule did little to improve their material circumstances, they still struggle with low-wage jobs, lousy and expensive health insurance, debt, and limited prospects for social mobility. But at least they can feel superior to Muslims, African-Americans, Mexicans, Salvadorans, and so on. MAGA, baby!