There is some rationale backing Kim Jong-un's actions, which are survival - survival for his regime, survival for his country. And he has watched, I think, what has happened around the world relative to nations that possess nuclear capabilities and the leverage they have, and seen that having the nuclear card in your pocket results in a lot of deterrence capability. The lessons that we learned out of Libya giving up its nukes and Ukraine giving up its nukes is, unfortunately, if you have nukes, never give them up.

Allan Nairn

Categorized in : Thinking Country Giving Up

In fact, as far as one can tell, Obama seems to have killed more civilians during his first year than Bush did in his first year, and maybe even than Bush killed in his final year.

Allan Nairn

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People have a tremendous range of options of how they can behave. There's so much in people.

Allan Nairn

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Donald Trump has this ability to reach out and touch the beast inside so many people.

Allan Nairn

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For years, overseas, the U.S. has been willing to not only tolerate what is in effect violent fascism, but implement it in country after country after country, in Latin America, in Africa, in Asia, overthrowing elected governments and backing the rise of military dictatorships.

Allan Nairn

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Some people have made the argument, well, Donald Trump is bad, but Hillary Clinton may be worse, or there's really no difference. That's insane. That's completely insane.

Allan Nairn

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If someone's pointing a gun at you, you get a surge of adrenaline, but it would be a lot better if they weren't pointing the gun at you in the first place.

Allan Nairn

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With what Trump is doing now, provoking North Korea, risking actual destruction of part of the US, he is violating the system's rules on its own terms. He's committing an actual threat against US national security. And you would think that in just pragmatic political terms in Washington, that is the kind of thing that could be grounds for impeachment. But as long as he sits in that chair, it's true, the commanders are obligated to obey his order.

Allan Nairn

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It's illegal to be a terrorist in the United States.

Allan Nairn

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I think it's true that if Trump wins, there will be a real activist mobilization, no doubt about it.

Allan Nairn

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One of the priorities of a Trump administration will be to immediately start narrowing the legal space that activists have to mobilize.

Allan Nairn

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A lot of nonwhite people in America know what it's like to feel heat from the authorities, but, you know, all sorts of people can start to feel it now if Trump comes in.

Allan Nairn

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I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of guns going off, you know, guns held by white men acting as vigilantes, cops who feel more free to open fire against African Americans.

Allan Nairn

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If Trump wins, the only thing blocking complete implementation of the programs of Trump, Paul Ryan, the Koch brothers, etc., is the Senate filibuster by the Democrats.

Allan Nairn

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If Donald Trump wins, it represents a rightist revolution in America.

Allan Nairn

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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are on entirely different levels.

Allan Nairn

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If Donald Trump wins, it's a national emergency.

Allan Nairn

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This is a national emergency, if Donald Trump wins.

Allan Nairn

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Donald Trump has this ability to trigger. He makes that kind of gut appeal.

Allan Nairn

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Whites who otherwise were able to tolerate a black president, Obama, because on certain issues he appealed to them on substance, Trump was able to reach down into some of those same people and pull out this racism inside them.

Allan Nairn

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The substantive difference between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is not really that great.

Allan Nairn

barack clinton differences