My Stuff

https://umass-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/rwolff_umass_edu/EkxJV79tnlBDol82i7bXs7gBAUHadkylrmLgWbXv2nYq_A?e=UcbbW0

Coming Soon:

The following books by Robert Paul Wolff are available on Amazon.com as e-books: KANT'S THEORY OF MENTAL ACTIVITY, THE AUTONOMY OF REASON, UNDERSTANDING MARX, UNDERSTANDING RAWLS, THE POVERTY OF LIBERALISM, A LIFE IN THE ACADEMY, MONEYBAGS MUST BE SO LUCKY, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE USE OF FORMAL METHODS IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.
Now Available: Volumes I, II, III, and IV of the Collected Published and Unpublished Papers.

NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: LECTURES ON KANT'S CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON. To view the lectures, go to YouTube and search for "Robert Paul Wolff Kant." There they will be.

NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: LECTURES ON THE THOUGHT OF KARL MARX. To view the lectures, go to YouTube and search for Robert Paul Wolff Marx."





Total Pageviews

Monday, April 3, 2017

CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER, AS THE REVEREND DODGSON SAID

It seems The National Enquirer has a front page story to the effect that Trump has caught out General Flynn as a Russian agent in the White House.  When one considers the long and intimate relartionship between Trump and the editor of the Enquirer, it looks as though plans are under way to throw ole Mike under the bus, and blame him for any appearance of collusion between Putin and the Trump campaign.

But of course, everyone must be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and besides the Enquirer did, after all, break the story of John Edwards' affair.

You gotta love it.

10 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Trump is almost certainly guilty of treason, and I am giddy just thinking about the possibility of him getting impeached.

Still, I understand what Jerry Fresia was saying in his comment to your previous post. I also don't like that corporate democrats are hiding behind this Russia stuff and other circumstances in order to avoid changing their policies. But while I don't like being on the same side as them on this, I think it is the right choice to say that this probably happened and then to use it to get rid of Trump.

And at the same time, you can also be working to take over the democratic party and turn it into a popular force for real change. The two are not mutually exclusive, and God knows it is just as vital to get Trump out of office as it is to prepare a real alternative that will stop Trumpism in the longer run.

P.S. Prof, more evidence for your Trump-is-broke hypothesis: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/326950-report-trump-can-withdraw-funds-from-his-businesses-without

Chris said...

Serious question. Will a Pence presidency be better, worse, or equal to a Trump one? I can't say I'm giddy to see Trump impeached solely because I don't know what Pence is capable of....if my fears could be alleviated I would join in the celebration.

Unknown said...

I'm sure it would be worse in some respects as he would probably be more 'effective' day-to-day, but he does not have the same autocratic tendencies and open racism, which I fear may become very dangerous if Trump gets the opportunity to exploit a possible terror attack on the US. More importantly, he is not unhinged and, at least not in the same way, and seems to ahve a grasp on reality, however disturbed and evil he clearly is. Since I do not live in the US, I am largely thinking about minimising the chance of a nuclear war.

Chris said...

I would suggest reading this before thinking Pence will be an improvement:

https://theintercept.com/2016/11/15/mike-pence-will-be-the-most-powerful-christian-supremacist-in-us-history/

Unknown said...

I think Pence is less likely to blow the world up.

s. wallerstein said...

David Palmeter,

Why do you think Pence is less likely to blow the world up?

(That's a real question, not a debating ploy.)

Unknown said...

Pence is more establishment than Trump. He won't go around insulting foreign leaders or otherwise making diplomatic errors. He will use the advisors the government has, e.g., the State Department. Domestically he would be a disaster. Conservative Republican economics with conservative Republican social policies--anti-LBGT, reverse Roe v. Wade etc. But he won't upset international apple carts in a world loaded with nuclear weapons.

As to Trump, the LA Times said it beautifully the other day:

“What is most worrisome about Trump is Trump himself. He is a man so unpredictable, so reckless, so petulant, so full of blind self-regard, so untethered to reality that it is impossible to know where his presidency will lead or how much damage he will do to our nation.”

s. wallerstein said...

David Palmeter,

Thank you..

TheDudeDiogenes said...

I agree with David. Also, Pence doesn't seem to be influenced (from what little I know) by Bannon. Bannon wants the U.S. to become more like Russia. He wants to dismantle the post-war world order that I think can fairly be said to have been pretty successful at preventing another Europe-(and perhaps world-)wide war. For all of NATO, and the EU/EC, and the US' faults, I don't think "blowing it all up" (as opposed to thinking carefully and diplomatically about dismantling the order in favor of something better) - especially in the current world geopolitical climate - is a good thing.

The State Department under Trump's budget will be gutted. Goodbye diplomacy and international cooperation! Tillerson/Exxon stand to gain incredible wealth if and when the US ends sanctions against Russia. That fact alone makes me highly suspicious of Tillerson and the Trump administration.

Throw in Manafort, Flynn, Sessions, and Kushner and I think there is more than enough smoke to be worried about a fire right now.

I also thought Ed's comments on the previous post were excellently put.

While I am concerned about Russian influence in our and Europe's public and political spheres, I'm also highly concerned about the DNC under Perez, even though he made Ellison "co-chair", and about the continued influence of Clinton and Obama on the Democratic Party. I think the Justice Democrats have the right idea about corporate fundraising. I'm very pleased that Bernie has a single-payer bill, and that my Senators and House Rep support single-payer as an idea. I don't hold much hope anything like that will pass soon, but we have to start somewhere! I'll end my rambling on a relatively positive note.