Populism and paralysis in the West

By spring 2019, ‘our politics will be even more poisonous than now’

Is it coincidence or contagion, this malady that seems to have suddenly induced paralysis in the leading nations of the West?

With lawyer-fixer Michael Cohen’s confession that he colluded with Donald Trump in making hush money payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, America’s stage is set for a play that will run two years.

“Sell Everything Now” David Stockman Warns, America Faces “Total Disaster…Partisan Warfare”

Please see the source for the video.

 

“Under a Trump victory, all bets are off,” warns former Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan, David Stockman. “I like [Trump] because he’s against the establishment, but he has no economic program. Yes, he’s a disruptor, but has nothing to disrupt with,” Stockman told CNBC, “if elected, it will be partisan warfare and a total disaster.”

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“The markets are hideously inflated… If you don’t sell before the election, certainly do it afterwards. Government is going to be totally paralyzed regardless of who wins… There could be a 25 percent draw down on markets.”

Gulf Journalists: The West’s Current Paralysis Vis-à-vis Iran Parallels Its Inability To Deal With Nazi Germany Prior To WWII

In his March 19, 2015 column in the Saudi Al-Jazirah daily, Dr. Hamza Al-Salem compared the “Iran of the ayatollahs” to Nazi Germany, and warned that the Nazis’ secret military buildup prior to World War II could be repeated in much the same way by Iran.

Al-Salem noted that in the 1930s, the Allies focused on rebuilding their economies following World War I, and chose to disregard the Nazi regime’s military buildup – even after the latter invaded Austria and Czechoslovakia – and thus enabled it to occupy all of Europe. He wrote that Iran is now secretly developing destructive technology, just as the Nazis had, and went on to warn that it could deceive and distract the world. He also compared the inaction and apparent paralysis of the Obama administration in this situation to that of the Allies prior to World War II.

Ahmad Al-Jarallah, editor of the English-language Kuwaiti newspaper Arab Times, compared the nuclear deal with Iran to the Munich Agreement signed with Hitler in 1938. He wrote that, just like Nazi Germany, Iran is managing to swindle the world and obtain a deal on its own terms. The only question that remains, he said, is which Arab country will take the place of Austria or Poland and be the first country to succumb to Iran’s expansionist ambitions.

Spain faces ‘total emergency’ as fear grips markets

More evidence of Germany playing an influential role through the crisis.

“We’re in a situation of total emergency, the worst crisis we have ever lived through” said ex-premier Felipe Gonzalez, the country’s elder statesman.

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The ECB is pushing Spain to accept a loan package from the EU bail-out fund (EFSF), the proper body for fiscal rescues. Mr Rajoy has refused vehemently. Any recourse to the EFSF is viewed with horror in Madrid, entailing an unacceptable loss of sovereignty.

The result is paralysis as both sides refuse to shift ground. Mr Rajoy is clinging to hope that the EU will take care of Spain’s banks through an EMU-wide recapitalization plan. This would avoid stigma and draconian conditions.

Brussels floated the idea on Wednesday for a eurozone “bank union” and use of the European Stability Mechanism — which has not yet been ratified by most states — to rescue banks and sever the dangerous nexus between crippled lenders and crippled states.

The proposals were shot down instantly by Berlin. Such plans amount to debt-mutualization, a form of back-door eurobonds. German opposition is “well known”, said the Kanzleramt.

Sources in Berlin say Germany wants Spain to tap the International Monetary Fund — as well as the EU — to spread the rescue burden to the US, China, Japan, Britain and others.

Full article: Spain faces ‘total emergency’ as fear grips markets (The Telegraph)