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John Reimann claims that "...the President of the United States is seriously beholden to a rival capitalist class" (i.e the Russian capitalist class). I see no evidence that Trump is acting in the interests of Russia. He acts in the interests of United States imperialism. For example, he has imposed a severe economic blockade on Venezuela, organised a coup attempt, and threatened to invade. This is typical behaviour for US imperialism in Latin America. But Russia and China are beginning to challenge US dominance in Latin America, as elsewhere. When the Venezuelan government asked for Russian military aid to deter a possible US invasion, Russia sent a small military contingent. Thus there is growing antagonism between US and Russian imperialism in Latin America. Trump's ideas on what is in the interests of US imperialism sometimes differ from those of foreign policy "experts". His stated intention to quickly withdraw US troops from northeastern Syria was opposed by some of his advisors, and eventually changed into a gradual withdrawal. But Trump's original plan was not totally irrational from the viewpoint of US imperialism. It would have pleased Erdogan, who wanted to invade northeastern Syria and crush the revolution there. It would thus have improved US-Turkish relations, at least in the short term. But the foreign policy experts were worried about some of the other effects of giving a green light to a Turkish invasion of northeast Syria. It would have disrupted the fight against ISIS. It might also, in the longer term, have destabilised Turkey, due to economic cost of the occupation and the casualties inflicted by the resistance. Certainly Trump is erratic, and a less than ideal leader for US imperialism, but that does not mean he is a servant of Putin. Chris Slee ________________________________ From: Marxism <[email protected]> on behalf of John Reimann via Marxism <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, 21 April 2019 7:07:01 AM To: Chris Slee Subject: Re: [Marxism] The Mueller Report: Glenn Greenwald vs. David Cay Johnston on Trump-Russia Ties, Obstruction & More ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. ***************************************************************** Ralph Johnson, apparently approvingly, quotes Glenn Greenwald: "I think Donald Trump is a huge danger and menace to the republic for a lot of reasons that David is very adeptly covering, and I really hope that we can now turn our attention to those things, now that we?re done with this espionage thriller that has dominated us for three years. I hope we can focus on the things that matter." Like so much of the left as well as the alt-left, Greenwald completely misses the point, which is that the President of the United States is seriously beholden to a rival capitalist class. This is not a matter of patriotism nor defense of "national interests"; it's a question of understanding the political crisis of US capitalism, something which Greenwald is incapable of doing. That's because he is nothing but a somewhat more subtle version of Max Blumenthal/Ben Norton. He openly advocates a red-brown alliance, having equated the Occupy movement with the Tea Party as both being "anti-establishment" and concluded "I think that left and right as we understood them for the last four decades are starting to morph into pro-establishment and anti-establishment dynamics and that will only continue." Greenwald supports the Assadist Tulsi Gabbard, and is a collaborator with the far right Tucker Carlson. Basically, Greenwald is like so much of the left that sees any opponent of US imperialism as an ally, which is why he in effect defends Putin & Co. So I think his views on the Mueller Report have to be considered in this light. That there was collaboration, or attempted collaboration, between the Trump campaign and the Putin regime is really beyond doubt. What was the meeting at Trump Tower all about? What were the frequent contacts between Trump staffers and Russian representatives about? And the story goes back decades - to the fact that it was the Russian mafia capitalist class that provided much of Trump's financing for decades. Even Don jr. said this. And THAT is the real scandal of the Mueller "investigation" - that they never tried to lift the lid on that can of worms. But Greenwald? His views should not be taken seriously. John Reimann -- *“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black Jacobins" by C. L. R. James Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/chris_w_slee%40hotmail.com _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
