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I usually don’t care one way or the other what mainstream news has to report. Usually, the news rolls like this: A war going on over here, look what these celebrities are doing over there, this previously unknown vegetable holds the key to proper nutrition, some politician kissed a puppy in the Poconos, a tornado destroyed an entire town in the Midwest, and, gosh, there might be a nuclear war. Wait, hold on, a nuclear war? This is new. See here.

Now, this NATO general says a nuclear war with Russia could start over the Baltics. My only question is: Why? If other Americans wish to sacrifice their lives over a region noted for the production of amber and sprats, then let them go live over in that region. I, however, have no desire to move residence into the upper atmosphere over who controls what in an area of the world that plainly does not concern the United States. That the United States government appears more than willing to commit murder/suicide using all of us and the Russian people is the action of a criminal regime, not any so-called “defender of freedom”. How am I “free” when I am held hostage by the United States government’s suicide pact?

Now, yes, this is all coming out because of the elections. This type of thing has borne fruit in past presidential elections from LBJ to Reagan. People always say, “What if the Russians do X-Y-Z?!?” How about this: We need to mind our own dang business for a change! I am thoroughly sick and tired of these monsters throwing around the threat of a nuclear war like it’s some MMA cage match they’re discussing and not the extermination of billions of human beings. These people are sick. No, seriously, these people are all insane and I don’t need to be a doctor to render that diagnosis. It’s as plain as day. These people have no conscience, no qualms about engaging in a war that would make World War Two and the Holocaust pale in terms of deaths and consequences. And for what?! To “show” the Russians we can’t be pushed around? They’re not pushing us around! To “show” them they can’t push other countries around? Gosh, as if the United States doesn’t do that itself. Look at the Middle East.

You know, I still remember the last Cold War. Here we are in another, thanks to the mixed bag of tin medal-bedecked, polyester uniformed despots and false-face celebrity politicians in the Pentagon and the White House. I remember when the Berlin Wall came down, something we never thought we’d live to see. Literally. I remember the promise of peace—at last. But, no, the government didn’t waste any time getting us into a war, did they? That’s what set into motion the entire Middle Eastern problem we have today, too. It all goes back to the Gulf War of 1990. Right, so now that hasn’t provided us with enough enemies, therefore, let’s dust off the Russians we haven’t played with for a while. Everyone is into the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s retro, we might as well have the Cold War back, too. Hooray! Where does a fella get the t-shirts? “My Government Wants To Destroy The Planet And All I’m Getting Is This Lousy T-Shirt”.

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From Lewrockwell.com, here.

It is a sad commentary on the state of political life in the United States that our political conventions have become more like rock music festivals than competitions of ideas. There has been a great deal of bombast, of insults, of name-calling, and of chest-beating at both party conventions, but what is disturbingly absent is any mention of how we got to this crisis and how we can get out. From the current foreign policy mess to the looming economic collapse, all we hear is both party candidates saying they will fix it, no problem.

In her convention speech, Hillary Clinton promised that she would “fight terrorism” and defeat ISIS by doing more of what we have been doing all along: bombing. In fact, we have dropped more than 50,000 bombs on ISIS in Iraq and Syria over the past two years and all she can say is that she will drop more. How many more bombs will defeat ISIS? How many more years will she keep us in our longest war, Afghanistan? She doesn’t say.

In fact, the New York Times – certainly not hostile to the Clintons – wrote that it was almost impossible to fact-check Hillary’s speech because “she delivered a speech that was remarkable without hard facts.”

Clinton’s top foreign policy advisor said just a day after her convention speech that her big plan for Syria was to go back to square one and concentrate on overthrowing its secular president. How many more thousands more will die if she gets her way? And won’t she eventually be forced to launch a massive US ground invasion that will also kill more Americans?

Clinton does not understand that a policy of endless interventionism has brought us to our knees and made us far weaker. Does she really expect us to be the policemen of the world with $20 trillion in debt?

Likewise, Republican candidate Donald Trump misses the point. He promises to bring back jobs to America without any understanding of the policies that led to their departure in the first place. Yes, he is correct that the middle class is in worse shape than when Obama took office, but not once did he mention how it happened: the destructive policies of the Federal Reserve. The financing of our warfare/welfare state through the printing of phony money. Distorted interest rates that encourage consumption and discourage saving and investment.

Trump tweeted this week that home ownership is at its lowest rate in 51 years. He promised that if elected he will bring back “the American dream.” He seems to have no idea that home ownership is so low because the Fed-created housing bubble exploded in 2007-2008, forcing millions of Americans who did not have the means to actually purchase a home to lose their homes. Not a word about the Fed from Trump.

How are these candidates going to fix the problems we face in America if they have absolutely no idea what caused the problems? No matter who is elected, Americans are going to be very disappointed in the outcome. The warfare/welfare state is going to proceed until we are bankrupt. There is hope, however. It is up to us to focus on the issues, to focus on educating ourselves and others, and to demand that politicians listen.

From Lewrockwell.com, here.