“America has never made income taxes lawful in a free and fair referendum” - People unite against (((big gov))) - [PEACE]

[Zenaan Harkness]

To all the empire apologistas who seek every excuse under the sun to
defend Trump's and the USA's/ CIA's foreign meddling, election
interference and outright coups (Ukraine) and coup attempts underway
(Venezuela), here's a simple list of 'the usual excuses' that the
terminally ignorant (or CIA operatives) put forth over and over
again:


 Johnstone: Top 5 Dumbest Arguments Defending Trump's Venezuela
 Interventionism
 https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-26/johnstone-top-5-dumbest-arguments-defending-trumps-venezuela-interventionism

  Authored by Caitlin Johnstone via Medium.com,
  https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/top-5-dumbest-arguments-defending-trumps-venezuela-interventionism-93d31b67aa4a

  Ever since the Trump administration announced that it was no longer
  recognizing the legitimacy of the elected government of Venezuela
  I’ve been arguing with people on social media about this president’s
  brazen coup attempt in that country. The people arguing with me in
  favor of Trump’s interventionism are almost exclusively Trump
  supporters, with leftists and antiwar libertarians more or less on my
  side with this issue and rank-and-file centrists mostly preferring to
  sit this one out except to periodically mumble something about it
  being a distraction from the Mueller investigation.

  I engage in these arguments not because I enjoy fighting with
  strangers on the internet, but because it helps me get an idea of
  what propaganda narratives have been seeded throughout various
  political sectors. Take a stand online and you’ll quickly have people
  running up to you saying, in effect, “My media echo chamber told me
  I’m supposed to disagree with you about that,” and spelling out what
  they’ve been told to believe.

  I have not received a single robust argument in favor of Trump’s
  Venezuela interventionism, but I have received a whole lot of really,
  really stupid ones. Here are the top five most common and most
  astonishingly idiotic of them:


  1. “Socialism is bad!”

      Me: US interventionism is always disastrous and it always lies
      about its reasons for targeting South American and oil-rich
      nations.  Tsunami of Trump supporters: SOCIALISM IS BAD THO
      — Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) January 25, 2019

  This one is easily the most common and most stupid of all the
  arguments I’ve been receiving. I’m not familiar enough with pro-Trump
  punditry to be able to describe how the MAGA crowd got it into their
  heads that attacking Venezuela has something to do with fighting
  socialism, but it’s clear from my interactions over the last couple
  of days that that is the dominant narrative they’ve got swirling
  around in their collective consciousness. Most of my arguments on
  this issue have either begun as or very quickly spun into an attempt
  to turn the debate about US interventionism in yet another South
  American nation into a debate about socialism vs capitalism.

  Which is of course absurd. The campaign to topple Venezuela’s
  government has nothing to do with socialism, it’s about oil and
  regional hegemony. The US has long treated South America as its
  personal supply cabinet and destroyed anyone who tried to challenge
  that, and the fact that Venezuela has the most confirmed oil reserves
  of any nation on the planet
  https://ceoworld.biz/2017/05/04/top-20-countries-with-the-worlds-largest-proven-oil-reserves/
  makes it all the more central in this agenda.
  Yes, the fact that large sectors of its economy are centrally
  planned means there are fewer hooks for the corporatocracy to find
  purchase to manipulate it with, but that just helps explain why the
  US is targeting it with more aggressive measures, it doesn’t excuse
  the aggressive targeting. Venezuela does not belong to the United
  States, and attempting to control what happens with its resources,
  its economy and its government is an obscene violation of its
  national sovereignty.

  Trying to turn a clean-cut debate about US interventionism into a
  debate about socialism is like if your family found out that your
  sister had just been raped, and you all started bickering about the
  pros and cons of feminism instead of focusing on the crime that had
  just happened to your loved one. It wouldn’t matter what kind of
  economic system Venezuela had; trying to overthrow its government is
  not okay. The narrative that this has something to do with
  championing capitalism is just a hook used to get Trump’s base on
  board with another unconscionable foreign entanglement.


  2. “It’s not interventionism! There are no boots on the ground.”

      Thread documenting some of the horrific actions facilitated by
      the Trump administration's new special envoy to Venezuela. Not
      for the squeamish.https://t.co/FVWEEDaIwM
      — Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) January 26, 2019

  Oh yes it is interventionism. Crushing
  https://www.thenation.com/article/trumps-sanctions-make-economic-recovery-in-venezuela-nearly-impossible/
  economic sanctions
  https://twitter.com/snarwani/status/1088500126744829953
  , CIA covert ops
  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cia-venezuela-crisis-government-mike-pompeo-helping-install-new-remarks-a7859771.html
  , illegally occupying embassies
  https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1088253112895397888
  , and a campaign to delegitimize a nation’s entire government
  https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/antiwar-hero-medea-benjamin-disrupts-venezuela-coup-circle-jerk-993fc3624fe7
  are absolutely interventionism, and that is happening currently.
  It’s stupid to make “boots on the ground” your line in the sand
  when, for example, vast amounts of US resources can easily be
  poured into fomenting a “civil” war that could kill hundreds of
  thousands and displace millions as we saw with Syria. And from
  today’s news about the Trump administration’s appointment of
  bloodthirsty psychopath Elliot Abrams
  https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1088962783088062464
  as the special envoy to Venezuela, it’s very reasonable to expect
  things to get a whole lot bloodier. Modern warmongering isn’t
  limited to the form of “boots on the ground”, and making that your
  litmus test is leaving yourself open to all the same disasters
  ushered in by the Obama administration.


  3. “Maduro is bad!”

      I have many critiques- from the left- of the Venezuelan govt.

      But in no way should anyone support a US backed- or Ruling
      Class backed- opposition and coup.

      The argument ppl starved by US sanctions should support a US
      backed unelected leader to stop US sanctions is just crazy.
      — Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) January 24, 2019

  I’ve never entered into any kind of argument about whether or not
  Nicolas Maduro is a nice person, because it’s not my game. If I spent
  all my time analyzing the quality of all the world’s governments I’d
  never get anything done; I focus my time and energy on the
  imperialism of the US-centralized power alliance because I see it as
  the single most dangerous force in the world. I’ve got no more reason
  to go picking apart the quality of Venezuela’s government than I do
  any other country in the world, yet my arguments against US
  interventionism in Venezuela are consistently met with a tsunami of
  social media posts about what a bad, bad man Maduro is.

  I refuse to legitimize that false argument. It doesn’t matter whether
  Maduro is a saint or the worst person in the world; Venezuela is a
  sovereign nation and US regime change interventionism is always
  disastrous. Completely ignoring the obvious fact that the empire
  always launches an aggressive propaganda campaign to manufacture
  support for the elimination of its targets, there is no valid reason
  to support that targeting. Trying to drag the conversation into a
  debate about just how bad Maduro is is an attempt to legitimize an
  agenda that has no validity.


  4. “I support the Venezuelan people!”

      Tfw you care deeply about democracy in Venezuela
      pic.twitter.com/63TB5Kom4Z
      — Secular Talk (@KyleKulinski) January 23, 2019

  Again, that’s not the argument. The argument is whether it’s okay for
  the US government and its allies to violate Venezuela’s sovereignty
  with starvation sanctions, CIA covert ops, an active campaign to
  delegitimize its government, and possibly much worse in the future in
  order to advance the agenda of overthrowing its political system.

  Of course there are people in Venezuela who don’t like their
  government; that’s true in your own country too. That doesn’t make it
  okay for a sprawling imperialist power to intervene in their
  political affairs. You’d think this would be obvious to everyone, but
  over and over again I run into people conflating Venezuelans sorting
  out Venezuelan domestic affairs with the US-centralized empire
  actively meddling in those affairs.

  The US government doesn’t give a shit about the Venezuelan people; if
  it did it wouldn’t be crushing them with starvation sanctions. It
  isn’t about freedom, and it isn’t about democracy. The US backs 73
  percent of the world’s dictatorships
  https://truthout.org/articles/us-provides-military-assistance-to-73-percent-of-world-s-dictatorships/
  because those dictators facilitate the interests of the US power
  establishment, and a leaked State Department memo
  https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/19/tillerson-state-human-rights-304118
  in 2017 spelled out the way the US government coddles US allies who
  violate human rights while attacking nonconforming governments for
  those same violations as a matter of policy. Acting like Trump’s
  aggressions against Venezuela have anything to do with human rights
  while he himself remains cuddly with the murderous theocracy of
  Saudi Arabia in the face of intense political pressure is willful
  ignorance at this point, and it’s inexcusable.


  5. “You don’t understand what’s going on there! I talk to Venezuelans
     online!”

      This is too perfect.

      Anti-Maduro Venezuelan on 19 January: "I'm living in the cutest
      apartment in Paris studying fashion... life is good"

      24 January: "I live here [Venezuela]. I live this. live with
      having rationed food, toilet paper, basic human necessities."
      pic.twitter.com/dKljbo5fvs
      — Louis Allday (@Louis_Allday) January 24, 2019

  Do you now?

  First of all, this common argument is irrelevant for the reasons
  already discussed here; sure there are Venezuelans who don’t like
  their government, but their existence doesn’t justify US
  interventionism. Secondly, it’s a known fact that online trolls will
  be employed to help manufacture support for all sorts of geopolitical
  agendas, from Israel’s shill army
  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/08/14/israel-students-social-media/2651715/
  to the MEK terror cult’s anti-Iran troll farm
  https://www.mintpressnews.com/as-twitter-purges-iranian-users-mek-cult-revealed-to-run-anti-iran-troll-farm/249548/
  to the Bana Alabed psyop for Syria
  https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/the-bana-alabed-psy-op-proves-the-west-is-saturated-in-war-propaganda-74c66df02990
  . And here’s this example
  https://twitter.com/Louis_Allday/status/1088448677440442368
  , just for your information, of a Twitter account talking about how
  much fun she’s having in Paris and then a few days later claiming
  she’s in Venezuela waiting in “5+ hour queues to buy a loaf of
  bread.” Be skeptical of what strangers on social media tell you
  about what’s happening inside a nation that’s been targeted by the
  empire, please.

  And that’s about it for this article. Let’s all try and talk about
  this thing with a little more intelligence and sanity, please.

  * * *

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On Wed, Jan 23, 2019 at 04:36:51PM +1100, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
> Pence: Venezuelan Maduro is “a dictator with no legitimate claim to
> power” who has “never won the presidency in a free and fair
> election.”
> 
> Is that so? The USA really wants to dictate to other countries how
> which things the people get to vote upon?
> 
> Like the most basic things such as whether we have an income tax or a
> "goods and services" tax?
> 
> And (thank you CNN) Macron is the leader of "the Free world" with 17%
> popularity whilst gassing his own people protesting, and Trump
> gassing people trying to "illegally" enter the USA is the greatest
> evil this world has ever seen?
> 
> Really truly gassing your own people is ok a la France's Mar-con?
> 
> Perhaps we really need to start a public dialog about whom it is OK
> to gas, and whom it is not OK to gas - or perhaps whom may
> legitimately gas other humans, and which other humans may not
> legitimately gas other humans?
> 
> Because gassing humans is ok when it protects the state, but not ok
> when it is to protect the state?
> 
> I'm so confused I'm literally shakiNPC - not good!
> 
> 
> 
>  Maduro orders ‘total revision’ of Venezuela-US diplomatic
>  ties after Pence calls for regime change 
>  https://www.rt.com/news/449458-venezuela-maduro-us-relations-pence/
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Venezuela: Look, this is a democracy...
> 
> CIA: You think you got a democracy muffaluggerah?! Eat my balls!
>   #CoupsForAll #CIARules #AmericaIsADemocracyOfValues
> 
> Australia: That's not a democracy, THIS is a democracy!
> 
> Macron: Poodle oi oi, piss thee, may we?
> 
> Ocasio /ourlatinx/: 80% income tax rate will stop global warming!
> 
> Trump: So big. So beautiful. #OurWall #BigWall - Big, beautiful wall!
> 
> John Young: The wall schematics, /ourlatinx/ nudes and Saddam's WMDs
>   are all now in cleartext on http://cryptome.org - and we understand
>   that which you don't understand, so don't even THINK about asking
>   for HTTPS certificates on the web server.
> 
> Anon: Dang dude! That's some -serious- crypto balls - deep state shit
>   exposed, and not even encrypted!
> 
> David Duke: The wall will help protect a future for white children.
> 
> Andrew Anglin: When in finally comes, this f***in wall better be white!
> 
> Dalai Llama: The rapefugees should be sent back to their own country
>   to help build the wall!
> 
> Pelosi: Damn you Trump, no free ride to Afghanistan for the CIA's
>   latest orphanage pizza party! Commercial my arse, I'm gonna ride
>   Obama there instead!
> 
> Sinn Féin: American pussys! Bomb it like it's 1999 already, mofos!
> 
> Corbyn: If only we had an oven big enough to "Gas the Jews" - ha ha,
>   so funny :)
> 
> Meechan: Hey! That's MY joke!
> 
> Anglin: Step aside bro, step aside!
> 
> Sanhedrin: Oy VEY! So many anti-semitic jokes, ve must be shutting it
>   down already - police must DO something already, this is literally
>   getting Out Of Control there is WAY too much goyim knowing!
>   You must NEVER, EVER, under ANY circumstances joke about Hitler,
>   see? Because this is beyond the limit that you all know is free
>   speech - Nazi is definitely not free to speak, OK?
> 
> Entire world: Please le Juif, remind us your semitic victimhood for
>   what is it, 5 thousand years already? I'm not quite sure I got that
>   bit about being kicked out of every single country, every single
>   time (somtimes multiple times), for 5000 years? Can you please
>   remind me just one more time how it everybody else's fault, it is
>   always us troublesome goyim? We are not quite understanding and
>   DEFinitiely need more educating - perhaps a few more holocaust
>   museums to remind us of all the literally shaking facts,
>   masturbation machines and literally built after WWII fake Auschwitz
>   chimneys? I'm really not sure I have the full picture, so please,
>   please don't let me interrupt you and educate us all another 6
>   million times.