THE DONALD TRUMP, THE BIDENS, AND THE UKRAINIAN CORRUPTION SAGA - IN PERSPECTIVE!
Donald Trump was born into wealth - his father
wealth. He mismanaged it, but he saved
it with numerous bankruptcies in which he unloaded his loses on his
creditors and contractors!
Now Trump's future as U.S. president is hanging
in the balance at an impeachment process in the U.S. House of
Representatives. His crime - as
president? Extortion! He frose the delivery of a $ 400 millions of
military aid to Ukraine already approved by the U.S. Congress, and told the
Ukrainian president Mr. Volodymyr Zelensky
that Ukraine will not receive the aid unless he ordered the Ukrainian
prosecutor to investigate the Bidens.
(The case: Barack Obama's Vice President, Joe Biden, had used the U.S. clout -and U.S. economic
aid to Ukraine- to appoint his son Bo
Biden at the Board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, at $ millions
salary!
Did Joe Biden used the widespread Ukrainian
corruption, and the U.S. Military Aid as a counter-weight, to enrich his son? Certainly! Well, it
happens in all countries. Wealthy people
give money to politicians as "political contributions," and once in
power, the politicians reward them with plum public jobs as a "Thank
you" for their support. Joe Biden,
therefore, used the U.S. aid to Ukraine as a political contribution, and the
receiving corrupt Ukrainian politician hired not only hired Bo Biden, but also
rewarded him with a 5 million salary - not thousands!!!! Is it right?
Is it wrong? Is it ethical? Well, the answer is: No, Yes, and No! That is why the field of Political Sciences
is defined as: "Political
sciences is about "who gets what, and how!"
The crux of the matter: Would Donald Trump have withheld the $ 400 million Military Aid to Ukraine,
and demanded that Joe Biden's and his son enrichment in Ukraine be investigated
first, if Joe Biden had retired from politics?
Certainly not! Is corrupt
exposure of your political opponent correct or ethical? Yes!
Would have there been a problem if Donald Trump had stopped the U.S. 400
million aid to Ukraine , before re-election time, and demanded an investigation
of Bidens dirty business in Ukraine?
No! But Trump's holding it back
to mudsling Joe Biden at election time was insidious.
It is common in most democratic elections around
the world to collect dirt for your opponents, or possible future political
opponents, and stock it for release on election time to remain fresh for the Election
Day. Yes, not only certainly, but also
always. Elections are about "Cause
and Effect," and timing is the key.
Aristotle made it clear that "dishonoring a politician is
justified if it is deserved!" In
the U.S. the process worked flawlessly during the Richard Nixon impeachment
hearings, but it will not work on Donald Trump's impeachment hearings with the
Republicans stand firmly behind Donald Trump.
Was Joe Biden wrong to use the U.S. military aid
to Ukraine as a quid-pro-quo to enrich his family? Certainly!
Was Donald Trump wrong to wait 2 years to bring the matter up? Yes, because the timeline fall in the middle
of political campaigning, and by law it is considered as "Foreign
Interference in the U.S. Elections!"
Why did it happened? Because the duopoly of 2 political parties in
the U.S. (not many political parties as in other democracies) mandates a
constant effort to undermine or diminish the governing party daily, 365 days a
year. And foreign factors are prohibited from meddling in! But Donald Trump's push in Ukraine was
legitimate because Joe Biden's alleged planting of his son Boe in Burishma, a
corrupt Ukrainian energy company, on a millionaire salary, proved that Joe
Biden exploited the corrupt situation in Ukraine as Barack Obama's Vice
President to enrich his children.
Was it wise for Trump to keep Joe Biden's alleged
exploitation of political corruption in Ukraine until election campaigning time
to undermine Biden's political integrity?
Yes! If he did not, Biden would
have still been at the top of the Democratic ticket as an honest politician, while
the facts show that he exploited the Ukrainian post-Soviet corruption turmoil
to enrich his family! ABC News reported this morning that polls show the Democrat
Peter Buttigieg has risen to the top of the Democratic ticket, while Joe Biden
sunk from No. 1 to number 3 in the polls.
That is a clear indication that Americans now think Joe Biden is not
really they thought he was. Give Trump
credit for enlightening the American electorate on who Joe Biden actually
is!
Was Donald Trump right to demand a Ukrainian
investigation of the Bidens? Yes, but
he pushed his demand to the extreme!
Well, as an adage says: "It is human nature to think wisely and
act foolishly!"
Nikos Retsos, Retired professor of political
sciences
Comments
Political campaigns are fought in two arenas: a) Hope and b) Desperation. Hope is the elation of the front-runners, and b) Desperation is the anathema of the laggards!
Joe Biden has been the Democratic front-runner at the onset of the U.S. presidential campaign due to the name recognition he attained as Barack Obama's Vice President. But then came his sordid exploitation of the Ukrainian political corruption when he used the clout as U.S. Vice President to appoint his son at the Board of Burisma, a corrupt Ukrainian energy company, for an astronomical salary! American voters who, until that time had thought that Joe Biden was incorruptible, had him at the top of the Democratic ticket. However, after the news that Biden had used his clout as U.S. Vice President to enrich his family were confirmed, Joe Biden's sunk in the Democratic ticket polls near the bottom!
Yes, a de javu of the years 1347 - 1351, when the the so-called Bubonic Plague (also called "the Black Death") killed millions across the world.
Fast forward to 2020, and the whole world is again terrified by Covid 19, with hundreds of thousands already died across the globe, and Covid 19 seems to be um-stopable! Worse yet, the medical sciences, doctors and hospitals, have no vaccine or medicines to treat the Covid, and they just place the sickened victims to ventilators where some recover while others die by the thousands. Worse yet, many civilians don't take the Covid 19 seriously, and they treat it like a flu. That nonchalance cost them their lives.
Covid 19 originated in Western China, an escapee from Chinese chemical facilities where China is producing agricultural petrol-chemicals. But let's not fool ourselves. When the global ban on biological weapons was signed at the United Nations, China was poor and backward and had none, while the Western developed countries and Russia - and probably India, had their stockpiles. China is certainly catching up clandestinely under the "Chemicals for Agriculture" cover umbrella. I extrapolate this possibility from the fact that all chemical elements are known to science, but scientists don't know what the Covid 19 is. That is why it is called "virus." The virus definition actually means "uknown!" And unknown deadly substances have no antidotes!
I believe that Covid 19, an escapee from China's chemical industry, is an escapee bacteriological warfare Chinese genie. I believe that when the U.S., Europe, and Russia forced the global chemical weapons ban treaty at the United Nations, China was backward but signed on to buy time to catch up. Now it has. And the release of Covid was probably intentional, but stated as accidental to prove to the other superpowers that China has an invisible genie to disable their armies -if it ever needs to do so! Covid 19 is undeniably "the Ace" of the Chinese bacteriological warfare weapons, and China only knows its recipe. Forget the nukes; China is intent of becoming the top global superpower without firing a shot. Just deploy COVID 19 and turn its opponent's populations into zombies!
Nikos Retsos, retired professor of political sciences, USA
August 9, 2020, "A Day That Will Live in Infamy." A day that will live in infamy were the words the U.S. president described the Japanese attack on Perl Harbor during WWII! South Chicago became a Perl Harbor last week when throngs of black gangs smashed and looted all stores, while engaging in firing battles with Chicago Police
How did it happen? Well, I has been going on for 50 years, but not at the massive scale that happened last week. The ticker? Race discrimination! The American blacks came from Africa chained on ships, and sold to Mississippi plantation farmers as if they were horses - according to Communist founder Karl Marx! Their designation "African Americans" was chosen by them to unify them, and march them into into the heights of American political power and racial equality!
That march into political power, guided by the black leader Martin Luther King, disintegrated after his assassination, and other lesser blacks, notable Jesse Jackson, and Luis Farrakhan strangled to fill the void. They failed to become national figures as reports in the media showed them living in luxury, driving luxury cars, and blaming only white politicians. A former black U.S. Attorney, Ms. Lightfoot, has been elected Mayor of Chicago. And immediately she appointed a black lawman,as Chicago Police Superintendent. Ms.Lightfoot also appointed blacks to other City Of Chicago government positions - including her cabinet. All seemed to be fine until yesterday, when throngs of blacks well organized unleashed a break-in and looting of stores in South Chicago. Large groups of blacks youths smashed and looted hundreds of stores, leaving behind widespread destruction shown on the TV screens.
Why did it happen? Because city gangs, rich on illegally traded drugs, have the gun-power to become richer with looting stores with valuables, which they sell in the black market. And the root of that problem is in the U.S. Constitution's clause that states: "The Right of the people to bear arms shall not be infringed!" That right was correct when the U.S. Constitution was written as the Europeans that settled here needed guns to defend against the American Indians. It is an anachronism, exploited by the Mafia families in the previous century, and by the city gangs in many U.S. cities nowadays!
The solution? Creation - or expansion- of a combined FBI, State police, and local police units to monitor, arrest gang-banger, and bust their drug trade that funds their activities and expansion. It is not my idea; It is Aristotle's idea: "When things go wrong, the tide must be turned to strengthen democracy!"
Nikos Retsos,retired professor, political sciences
The Greek philosopher Aristotle described 3 types of government: a) Tyranny: Governing by a single person directed to the interest of that person. b) Oligarchy: Government by the well-to-do for their interests - not for the interest of the whole population. c) Democracy is government directed to the interest of the poor classes. The current presidential election campaign in the U.S., therefore, begs for the question: "What kind of democracy do we have in the U.S.?" And the answer, unfortunately, is: "Oligarchy!" Surprise? Not really to academics, and certainly not really to the poor street vendors, either! What kind of democracy does the U.S. have then? A Duopoly: A word that combines the Greek "duo" which actually means 2, and the the "poly" which mean Polity, or government. The U.S. duopoly consists of: a) The Wall Street giant corporations in Finance, Trade, Shipping, Manufacturing, Landholdings, Asset Management, etc. and B) The Trade Unions that controls the millions of employees of those giant institutions! The Corporations have the $ billions, and the Trade Unions have the millions of votes that sway the elections!
With the U.S. elections battlefield so well-defined, what is then the objective of the U.S. elections? The objective is to lure the middle class, or the skeptics who rightfully believe that the politicians are in politics for themselves - not to serve them- as they claim in their speeches! That creates plenty of political apathy as wise citizens don't take the bait don't bother to vote! Those who fund the campaigns of the politicians -be them capitalists or unions, benefit from the elections. The late Wisconsin senator, William Proxmire, who not only had never accepted political contributions, but also returned to senders unsolicited contributions, told the NBC anchor Tom Brokaw in an NBC nationally broadcasted interview in 1983: "People come to Washington with money and buy legislation, on quote! This is the essence of democracy, and that is why across all the American Universities Political Sciences Departments democracy is defined as: "Who gets what and how!" Aristotle attests to this verily: "When money has been spent to get office, the purchasers may naturally be expected to fall into the habit of trying to make a profit on the transaction!"
They do! And the saying "The hogs are feeding," describe such transactions, and creates political apathy. Most people who don't expect to either gain or lose anything, including myself, don't bother to vote! Let those who feed the hogs go home with the bacon!
Nikos Retsos, retired professor of political sciences
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Alexandr Luftashenko, the Soviet era dictator of Belarus, teetered in power for a while but couldn't hold on. With the aid and freebies from the Soviet Union cut off, the Belarus economy collapsed, and took Luftashenko's regime down! Free elections were held, this time under the auspices of the European Union, new leaders were elected, but the graft and corruption in the Belarussian - all appointees of Alexandr Luftashenko- in the public sector continued! Belarus applied for membership at the European Union (EU), but its massive public Soviet Era bureaucracy refused to make the anti-corruption changes in the, a prerequisite mandated by the EU! Worse yet, the Belarusians, most of whom still work in the Soviet Era fashioned and over-staffed public bureaucracy, elected Alexandr Luftashenko 4 years ago. And now, 4 years later, re-election time, with hundreds of thousands of Belarusians protesting and demanding Luftashenko's ouster, Luftashenko's corrupt public bureaucrats staffed the election boxes with phony ballots and declared him a winner! Now, the Belarusians have waken up, and realized that Luftashenko and the Soviet Era public bureaucracy under his command had stolen the elections. Worse yet, Russia support Luftashenko. No surprise. With China expanding its influence in the poor Central Asia region, and with the U.S. and France trying to expand their influence in Middle East, Russia does not want to lose its allies. That is why intervened militarily in Syria and saved Bashar Assad from the West's effort to oust him. And with the European Union having solidified all Europe - and having received the petition of Belarus for EU membership, Russian president Vladimir Putin sees Belarus like another Syria that must be retained under Russian influence. To Putin, Luftashenko looks like another Bashar Assad that must be saved from the Western dominance! That, however, seems to be unrealistic, given the mass anti-Luftashenko rallies in Belarus. Better yet, Putin doesn't want to look as fool as Donald Trump who appointed a Venezuelan pro-American politician, Mr. Guido, as president of Venezuela - after the sitting Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, had won re-election with a landslide! After all, Democracy is a Greek combined word of "Demos," the masses, and "Cracy," a variant of the Greek verb "Hold" of "political power. Political power in Belarus belongs to the people, not to a failed and sclerotic Belarussian bureaucrat of the Stalin Era! Nikos Retsos, retired professor, political sciences
The Greek philosopher Aristotle described 3 types of government: a) Tyranny: Governing by a single person directed to the interest of that person. b) Oligarchy: Government by the well-to-do for their interests - not for the interest of the whole population. c) Democracy is government directed to the interest of the poor classes. The current presidential election campaign in the U.S., therefore, begs for the question: "What kind of democracy do we have in the U.S.?" And the answer, unfortunately, is: "Oligarchy!" Surprise? Not really to academics, and certainly not really to the poor street vendors, either! What kind of democracy does the U.S. have then? A Duopoly: A word that combines the Greek "duo" which actually means 2, and the "poly" which mean Polity, or government. The U.S. duopoly consists of: a) The Wall Street giant corporations in Finance, Trade, Shipping, Manufacturing, Landholdings, Asset Management, etc. and B) The Trade Unions that controls the millions of employees of those giant institutions! The Corporations have the $ billions, and the Trade Unions have the millions of votes that sway the elections! With the U.S. elections battlefield so well-defined, what is then the objective of the U.S. elections? The objective is to lure the middle class, or the sceptics who rightfully believe that the politicians are in politics for themselves - not to serve them- as they claim in their speeches! That creates plenty of political apathy as wise citizens don't take the bait don't bother to vote! Those who fund the campaigns of the politicians -be them capitalists or unions, benefit from the elections. The late Wisconsin senator, William Proxmire, who not only had never accepted political contributions, but also returned to senders unsolicited contributions, told the NBC anchor Tom Brokaw in an NBC nationally broadcasted interview in 1983: "People come to Washington with money and buy legislation, on quote! This is the essence of democracy, and that is why across all the American Universities Political Sciences Departments democracy is defined as: "Who gets what and how!" Aristotle attests to this verily: "When money has been spent to get office, the purchasers may naturally be expected to fall into the habit of trying to make a profit on the transaction!" They do! And the saying "The hogs are feeding," describe such transactions, and creates political apathy. Most people who don't expect to either gain or lose anything, including myself, don't bother to vote! Let those who feed the hogs go home with the bacon! Nikos Retsos, retired professor of political sciences