Why Things Do Not Work.

OK, I get it, the United States loves lawyers. I have nothing against lawyers per se, it is a necessary profession and will remain so for a very long time, while human civilization goes through its legal and cultural motions. But this is what attracted my attention this morning. 

The envoy leading President Donald Trump's hardline push on Iran quit on Thursday, months before an election that could reorient US policy. Brian Hook, a stalwart Republican considered one of the most powerful figures at the State Department, decided to return to the private sector, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Hook "has achieved historic results countering the Iranian regime," Pompeo said in a statement.

Obviously if this comedy hasn't been funny enough, what follows Hook's departure is even funnier. 

Hook will be replaced by Elliott Abrams, an intellectual architect of the 2003 invasion of Iraq who has been leading Trump's unsuccessful campaign to oust Venezuela's leftist president, Nicolas Maduro. Abrams, known in the 1980s for his staunch defense of right-wing strongmen in Latin America, will handle both Iran and Venezuela, Pompeo said.

As you may observe, US, for some unknown reason, greatly appreciates convicted felons and losers to serve as conduits for whatever passes as a foreign policy in D.C. And frankly, by now, let's point out to the white elephant (or 800-pound gorilla) in the room--US Department of State is a fascinating collection of ignoramuses, incompetents, miscreants and random people who, in normal country, wouldn't be allowed to sort trash at the city dumpster, yet, they consistently end up in the positions of some power. That brings us back to Mr. Hook, the so called "envoy". Take a look at Hooks' background:

Hook received a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of St. Thomas in 1990, a master's degree in philosophy from Boston College, and a law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law.

He also worked for Mitt Romney's campaign, naturally as a "foreign policy adviser", and, in general, is a classic colorless, badly educated political bacteria populating the colony of his likes in the petri dish of Washington's bureaucracy. This is the only "elite" the United States can produce today--the guy with degree in law, the experience of being busy with useless activity, and with a single trick in his arsenal of applicable skills--that's the level of "qualifications" one gets nowadays in D.C. I am sure Hook's expertise in Iran, Farsi language, knowledge of Iranian culture and Iran's military should be top notch, right? After all he was a special envoy for Iran. Nah, I am screwing with you--the level of expertise on Iran is D.C. is defined by terrorist organizations such as MEK, conveniently removed from the list of terrorist organizations when the US decided that it needed it, and by homegrown Iranian versions of Ahmed Chalabi, same type of "experts" as a bunch of clowns populating Russia Studies field in the US. 

And so it is, US foreign policy establishment continues to recycle itself through ignorance and delusion of its cadres. What did Pompeo mean by "historic results countering the Iranian regime" remains a mystery. The only historic result achieved in US foreign policy in the last 30 years is a historic in its sheer vastness ignorance of what passes in the US for diplomacy. But then again, looking at US higher education and cadres it produces one shouldn't be surprised with the results.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's foreign ministry on Friday expressed indifference to the change in the Trump administration’s top envoy for Iran, alleging that the new U.S. official in the post would be no different from his predecessor.

By now, the rest of the world knows perfectly what to expect from the US and her "diplomats", and that is why the wolrd gets on with with its life, keeping a cautious eye on a country which long ago lost any self-respect, never mind respecting anything else.    

Colonel Lang Had It With Trump, And Other Business.

Colonel Lang tried to stay calm but even he had it with collection of maroons aka Trump Administration.  

Trumpy!  These stiffs are losers!  Losers!  They lost in Iraq!  Remember!  You say you like to win.  These guys are losers.  Keeping these losers will just drag you down!  You always dump losers like these.  Remember!  Where did you get these stiffs?  Who pushed them off on you?  Get rid of them losers too! Bolton torpedoed your deal with your friend Kim!  Remember.  Is he trying to torpedo your deal with China? You know that you  have to make some kind of deal with Russia and the great judomaster.  Is Bolton trying to screw that up ? The three stooges.  Ah, no, Pompey the Magnificent is missing from the group mug shot.   Trumpster! You should dump these guys, AND the crews who gave us the messes in Ukraine, Syria, Gaza, the Golan Heights, Kushner's deal of the century, and the coming good deal in Lebanon.Get some new ones.  You can't let little people losers drag you down.

I long ago simply resigned myself to the fact that nothing short of all out war (I mean within US proper) can change the situation with US elites consistently producing human and professional trash which then occupies top positions in American political structure. The level of degeneracy is simply off the scale and continues to break records. Look at the faces, BTW. 

Per Bolton, he is a very special case of uber-neocon and exceptionalist who, probably, given his not very large frame, was beaten in school without trying to fight back and now he is settling accounts with his pathetic cowardly self by trying to bully those, he thinks, can not hit back. There is a definite mental pathology there. I will omit discussing here other possibilities. As The Hill reports:

Michael McCarthy, a professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, likened the recent posturing by administration officials to being "in a position where they believe it’s time to get a win for Trump." "They’re doubling down, but they’re working on what doubling down means besides increasing sanctions pressure," McCarthy said. "We’re in a gray zone between the saber rattling and action, and I think we’re going to stay there for the foreseeable future." But inaction is unlikely to satisfy Bolton, Posner said, even if it sets up a showdown with Trump. Bolton will likely "find another reason for military intervention," he said. "If that happens, I think that Trump will back off because he knows that’s a losing proposition."

Patients truly are in charge of the asylum. So, will Trumpy kick these dangerous morons out or is he really content with lunatics running his national security and foreign policy, or, rather, lack thereof. How about dropping Bolton with Elliott Abrams with the SEAL team into Venezuelan jungles or at the Iranian shores--let them lead by example. 

Paul Craig Roberts penned an excellent piece:

Now white people in America are to be stripped of their history, because white history traumatizes preferred minorities. At George Washington High School in northern California an historic mural depicting the school’s namesake has been declared offensive.      

PCR explains eloquently what will come, I can too. It is worth reading and contemplating.  

Meanwhile Pepe Escobar explains some key facts about BRI (formerly known as OBOR).

Scores of nations across the Global South, as well as some aspiring to developed world status, have adopted the Chinese investment and development model over financing from Washington or Brussels for three very simple reasons: no strings attached, no one-size-fits-all straitjacket, and no interference in their internal affairs.

Ahh, here are some other news on this issue: