nixon and the commies

"by that weekend kissinger and dobrynin were negotiating over an exchange of gifts between the two leaders. dobrynin thought the president might like a hydrofoil to use in biscayne bay. and brezhnev? 'a cadillac' said the ambassador." _________"nixon spoke of roosevelt, churchill, and stalin and said: 'that is the kind of relationship that i should like to establish with the general secratary.' 'i am perfectly ready on my side,' said brezhnev." from president nixon: alone in the whitehouse._______________i don't doubt trumpy has had more direct business dealing inside russia and that nixon's relationship with brezhnev was political ( despite the hydrofoil )...however that does not mean that power doesn't seek out power for its own benefit ( this particular summit was in june of 1972...as the presidential season was getting under way...nixon was campaigning by showing his ability by dealing directly with brezhnev...cutting out the mediators...sort of...if you don't count the cadillac ) with little regard to public opinion...kennedy...coldest of cold warriors...wouldn't have been caught dead toasting with nikita...he would however party with konrad adenhauer...who, while he was not a party member and was relieved of his post as mayor of cologne, never sustained nazi animus either ( he was arrested and released after the abortive assassination attempt on hitler due to "lack of evidence"...i am thinking suspicion was ample evidence in those [ and these ] days for drastic action...there may have been "no evidence" but he had friends )...political divides dictate odd friendships ( ask noriega )...trumpy isn't the first president to snuggle up with the bear...that he may be the most corrupt and unstable one may have more sinister elements that nixon's cadillac...still..power does not care what you think.

british humor ( beyond the baloon )

"super, callous, fragile, racist, sexist, nazi, potus" mary poppins grows political fangs https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/07/12/upshot/trade-war-cost-families.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/business/trade-war-china-consumers.html

soybean oil

witless turd or machiavellian genius? i hold an opinion on this matter but that isn't why i came here

this is what i have been pondering since friday...the whole meuller probe, its guilty pleas, the russian business will never bring trumpy down...at best he would end up an "un-indicted co-conspirator" and there would be a pardon after 2020...he is of the elite, no matter what his misguided base thinks, and they will protect their own because they could be next...and as long as they are making money they will put up with his dithering...and twitter rants..and his racism...and his sexism...and his lame-assed claims to some sort of intellect...however...

all the acres and acres of these little plants...

with these little blooms that will eventually turn into millions, if not billions, of pods with soybeans in them are emblematic of a deep-seated hubris that could bring this bozo down with a thud...a 25% chinese tariff on these will cream a good many mid-western farmers come harvest..

not to mention monsanto or bayer's next year seed sales...we all know no one fucks with monsanto and gets away with it without a protracted and costly fight...ask rape seed farmers in canada...they are the devil incarnate and they don't give a rat's ass who they fuck over...and when this clown starts to cost them he may find he isn't king after all...and it goes well beyond that...i am no fan of the globalitarians and the impact they have had in depressing the quality of life for millions of working people all around the world...that said we are likely to find out that the "world's strongest economy" is not what it is cracked up to be and that we are so deeply enmeshed in the "global marketplace" that withdrawal will be a seriously difficult addiction to kick...despite the support of bought whores like mitch mcconnell, trumpy may find the atmosphere among the real powers that be freezing cold...russia is a non-issue...this whole "trade war" business could do him...in the words of woodward and bermstein, "follow the money"