I Hope He Is Placed With General Population.

The author of Mother of All Sanctions on Russia and now revealed to be an average corrupt political whore and influence peddler gets justice: 

Bob Menendez, once a powerful US senator from New Jersey, cried as he begged a Manhattan judge for leniency Wednesday — and was sentenced to 11 years in prison for selling out his lofty post for gold bars, cash, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and other bribes. “Your honor, you have before you a chastened man,” Menendez, 71, said before choking up. “I have dedicated my entire life to the service of others,” he said, dabbing his eyes with a tissue. “I am far from a perfect man, but I believe in my half-century of public service, I have done more good than bad.”

Bob Menendez is an exhibit A of why US "foreign policy" is dysfunctional, and the US is constantly humiliated nowadays on global arena. 

The former head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — tasked with approving massive sums of lethal military aid — did favors for Egypt and Qatar while go-betweens showered him and his wife, Nadine, with cash, gold bars, the luxury car, checks for a no-show job and payouts to a sham “consulting” firm, trial evidence revealed. “What else can the love of my life do for you?” Nadine Menendez asked an Egyptian official while her international affairs honcho hubby smoked cigars and swigged red wine at a May 2019 meeting at Morton’s Steakhouse, an FBI agent who secretly observed the scene testified.

Bobby, who hails from Cuban parents got his lawyer degree and degree in non-existent political "science" and brought on-board nothing but fanatical hatred of Russia and neocon "views" of the world. The result--11 years behind bars and some Bubba from Cuba getting a slap bitch to enjoy--former Senator no less--which certainly will make an impact on Bobby's life of hatred, subversion, corruption and the damage he dealt to already fucked up US "stance" on global arena. 

Poor, Poor Dear.

Bob is having a bad time this year already. It was Marjorie Taylor Greene who said to Tucker to the effect that if you think that US Congressman will sell his family for a free dinner, you are wrong--it is much worse than that.  

US Senator Bob Menendez, a key figure in Washington’s swath of Russia sanctions, has been accused of accepting bribes from Qatar in a new federal indictment. It’s the second foreign nation that the Democratic lawmaker is alleged to have illegally assisted. Manhattan federal prosecutors said on Tuesday that Menendez, who has held New Jersey’s US Senate seat since 2006, improperly used his position to help a property developer in securing financial assistance from a wealth fund run by a Qatari sheik. In return, Menendez is accused of receiving payoffs including cash, gold bars, and a range of other high-value items. The 70-year-old senator pleaded not guilty last year to corruption charges that alleged he had worked as an illegal agent of Egypt without registering his intent with the Justice Department as required by law. The document unveiled on Tuesday does not contain new charges against Menendez but broadens the scope of his alleged wrongdoing.

The fact that the US political system is corrupt top-bottom is nothing new, what is funny is how this illiterate shyster-lawyer with zero diplomatic pedigree ended up as a chair of Committee on Foreign Relations? One reason, of course, is that he is of Cuban descent and is most likely nothing more than a creep who, granted his background, obtained a position by psychotic Russophobic rhetoric--this thing is valued very high in Washington. And it came naturally, albeit do not generalize too much--I underscore this, do not, that being from poor family (the first guy in his family to attend college) he developed a desire to be "motivated" by additional income. Boy, look at Biden's laundromat.

You see--here is a Catch 22 of the American politics. You can come from big money and because of that not give a shit about own wealth, playing only with own delusions about nation-state realities, or you come from poor background and engage in graft. Or, both of the above. Normal people, with principles and decency are very rare in US politics. As one great comment stated, LOL.

It has been said that American politicians should dress like NASCAR drivers. That is wear gear plastered with the names of all of all of those who have 'sponsored' (or should I say bribed) them.

So, how do you right the ship of American politics? I don't have prescriptions other than a classic Lenin's one--of three signs of revolutionary situation. Specifically this:

When it is impossible for the ruling classes to maintain their rule without any change; when there is a crisis, in one form or another, among the “upper classes”, a crisis in the policy of the ruling class, leading to a fissure through which the discontent and indignation of the oppressed classes burst forth. For a revolution to take place, it is usually insufficient for “the lower classes not to want” to live in the old way; it is also necessary that “the upper classes should be unable” to rule in the old way.

Remarkably, this applies not only to socialist revolution, it applies to any revolution, and American political and media classes are so corrupt that they cannot govern, both due to corruption and wholesale incompetence adorned with humanities degrees from equally corrupt US Ivy League universities, which were supposed to be the elite-producing machine. They also failed at that. Hence, systemic failure at all levels, ranging from governing, to war, to education to what have you. And the economic crisis is upon us. Europe already is in the recession which is galloping towards depression and civil unrest. In Lenin's words--they are "unable to rule in the old way". Come to think about it--they never were.

About US Dollar and Sanctions, Yet Again.

The Cold War (2.0, 3.5, whatever) is heating up and a new salvo of "sanctions from hell" (Bob Menendez and Lindsey Graham--both hellish creatures should know best) against Russia will most likely pass.  

The bill introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham and Bob Menendez is the second attempt to push through the sanctions they favor after the previous version was defeated last year. The measures they suggest vary from declaring the country a state-sponsor of terrorism to torpedoing Russia-involved energy projects (which incidentally compete with American ones) to punishing whoever dares to invest in Russian sovereign debt.

At this stage there should be no surprise with American legislators being completely situationally unaware, but as the saying goes--if they want to shoot themselves (and their, allegedly, own country) in the foot, let them. It is clear that once dominance of the US Dollar and the system which sustains it is removed, consequences for the United States could be catastrophic. The question is NOT about IF US Dollar will survive as world's reserve currency--this is not even up for a debate--it is WHEN and HOW the departure will happen. 

The United States certainly will try to, yet again, leave Russian economy "in tatters", but, something tells me that the result will be the same as it was the last time. Yet again we all will have to endure economic "analysis" from Wall Street "economists" and Russia's political fringes on how Russia will, yet again (I lost count already) be on the brink of collapse, any minute now, in their desperate attempts to obfuscate a simple strategic reality--Russia is a completely economically self-sustainable entity. If one discounts those morons from "economic block" in Russian government (euphemism for useless people), one can sense nowadays some really big shifts happening in Russia's power Olympus. Mikhail Hazin altogether declared that Putin is getting ready for war. I don't know, I though Putin was getting ready for way since, well, let's say 2007 Munich Speech. Of course Russia is getting ready for war, including economic one. 

Recent (two days ago) excellent piece by Vladislav Surkov on the fate of Russia and his superb hyperbole about "deep people" of Russia and of Putin's "long state", and especially enjoyable squealing from butt-hurt of all kinds of Russia's liberal and (so called) "nationalist" nobodies as a reaction to this piece, gives a good insight into Kremlin's mode of thinking. Especially when it comes from Kremlin's very notable insider who, actually, does speak for this very "deep" people. So, in the end, one has to ask a question what these deep people of Russia really want and how this new "sanctions from hell" will affect country. I have an answer, I wrote about this answer long time ago. Remember, War and Peace? 

"But all the general and soldiers of [Napoleon’s] army…experienced a similar feeling of terror before an enemy who, after losing half his men, stood as threateningly at the end as at the beginning of the battle. The moral force of the attacking French army was exhausted. Not that sort of victory which is defined by the capture of pieces of material fastened to sticks, called standards, and of the ground on which the troops had stood and were standing, but a moral victory that convinces the enemy of the moral superiority of his opponent and of his own impotence was gained by the Russians at Borodino…The direct consequence of the battle of Borodino was Napoleon’s senseless flight from Moscow… and the downfall of Napoleonic France, on which at Borodino for the first time the hand of an opponent of stronger spirit had been laid"(c)

A geopolitical Borodino, which was sometimes also compared to the Great Patriotic War's most important battles, from  the Battle of Moscow to Stalingrad and Kursk battles, escaped the attention of US "elites" who will now enter the final stages of desperation trying to save the only thing they know--US Dollar financial system--by means of greatly accelerated destruction of it. Once that is gone or greatly degraded (in progress, as I type this)--an inevitable consequence of the US fighting Russia's sovereign debt or, as was expected, switching Russia off from SWIFT--watch out, the main driving force of real economy and military might will reveal itself fully. As well as a true state of American economy which is not capable anymore, bar some few exceptions such as microchip and commercial aerospace (bells are ringing) industries, to produce anything competitive, will be revealed. Energy? Well, even here everything is not what it looks like, hence Germans suddenly exhibiting some signs of rudimentary spine. As per US military, well, I will abstain for now. So, let the party begin...