Can we get real for a moment?

Does anyone believe that President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, the "Iran deal") is based on an independent analysis of the interests of the United States? In his announcement of withdrawal, Trump even trotted out the rotting fish story about Iran’s being the world’s chief sponsor of terrorism, an allegation decisively debunked by the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. Complete presidential presentation now guaranteed to be a travesty of the truth.

Caitlin Johnstone provides needed clarity on this important point:

Do you know who the single biggest donor was to any candidate in the 2016 presidential race?

The largest donor to any campaign was oligarch Sheldon Adelson, who gave $25 million to the Trump campaign, and who in 2013 said that the US should drop a nuclear bomb on Iran.

After his election win, Adelson gave another $5 million to Trump’s inauguration, the largest single presidential inaugural donation ever made. Newt Gingrich, another of the billionaire’s hired politicians, has said that Adelson’s “central value” is Israel.^[1]

Adelson is also a veteran of the U.S. Army but has stated that he wishes he had served in the Israeli Defence Forces instead. Can anyone doubt this man’s focus on and allegiance to Israel or that he shares Israel’s obsession with Iran?

To really understand his influence on Republicans consider the phenomenon of the “Adelson primary,” involving the pilgrimage of Republican presidential hopefuls last time around to Las Vegas, there to kiss up to Adelson and try to prove their suitability as a possible American president, namely, to try to prove their willingness to put Israel’s interests above those of the United States.

It seems to be the hallmark of contemporary U.S. (and Western) thinking that the interests of the founding peoples in each place count for nothing. If some name or speech has one of the words “global,” “international,” “diversity,” “partners,” “democracy,” “equality,” "colonialism," "slavery," "capitalism," "climate," "alternative," "sustainable," "Christianity," or “human rights” in it, it’s a sure sign that said peoples are going to skewered and mocked. If some phenomenon involves Israel, you can for damn sure expect to see Israel’s interests advanced and dissenting voices instantly labeled as “anti-Semitic.”

A more disgusting example of the dominance of money in American politics can not be found than Sheldon Adelson, apparently the shadow president of the United States. These times are now like Japan under the shogunate. The emperor was the titular head of the nation but it was the shogun, the military power, who actually ruled. Can we even think about who actually runs our country? The financial power? Thank God for Trump whose failing are many but who has ripped off the scab to expose the rot underneath.

Is the Iran deal the best that could have been negotiated? Does Iran have the ability and opportunity to cheat? Is it just another instance of cowardly politicians kicking the can down the road on an important issue? All worthy questions. As would be the question, What is the status of Israel's nuclear program and why has no one raised any objection to Israel's not being a party to any non-proliferation agreement?

But such questions are irrelevant. Bibi Netanyahu wants us to believe the Iranian nuclear weapons program is alive and well so whatever bad things that can be made to happen to Iran must be made to happen.

Notes
^[1] "We Are Being Lied To About Yet Another Middle Eastern Country By Yet Another US President." By Caitlin Johnstone, 5/9/18 (formatting removed).