Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.'s Blog, page 2258

Jerome Is the New Jane

The election of 2016 was supposed to be the most disruptive break with the status quo in modern history, if ever. On the single most important decision of his tenure, however, the Donald has lined-up check-by-jowl with Barry and Dubya, too.

That is to say, Trump’s new Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, amounts to Janet Yellen in trousers and tie. In fact, you can make it a three-part composite by adding Bernanke with a full head of hair and Greenspan sans the mumble.

The overarching point here is t...

The Real Threat to Donald Trump

In the midst of worrying about North Korea, Syria and Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives this fall, President Donald Trump is now worrying about a government assault on his own business, which targeted his own lawyer.

Michael Cohen has been the personal lawyer for Trump and for the Trump Organization — the umbrella corporation through which Trump owns or manages nearly all entities that bear his name — for many years. Cohen is so closely connected to the Trump Organizati...

The Slippery Slope

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”—Benjamin Franklin

The ease with which Americans are prepared to welcome boots on the ground, regional lockdowns, routine invasions of their privacy, and the dismantling of every constitutional right intended to serve as a bulwark against government abuses is beyond unnerving.

I am referring at this particular moment in time to President Trump’s decision to deploy military fo...

Little People

Black lives may matter, but some matter less than others. Poor Stephon Clark. He was so close to the sainthood that is bestowed upon any black person who’s shot by a cop…or by a white…or by a white Hispanic…or by pretty much anyone except another black. Clark certainly had the credentials for canonization. A long criminal record, past violent offenses, and he was tall (it really helps if shot thugs are tall, because then they can be lovingly remembered as “gentle giants”). Last month, when Cl...

Nobody Is Prepared

The stock market continued its yo-yo ways on Friday. After three straight days of healthy gains, the Dow Jones Industrials fell 572 points to end the week, closing below 24,000. The Nasdaq also plunged, dropping 161 points.

Peter Schiff has been saying for weeks this is a bear market. Well, now even Pres. Trump has said investors may see some short-term pain in the stock market. But the president says it will all be worth it because we will get long-term gain, referring to the benefits we’ll...

Liberalism/Libertarianism

*meaning “classical liberalism,” as the term is commonly understood

As you know, there has been an ongoing discussion here regarding the issues of the role liberalism has played in creating the destructive society within which the west currently lives.  The battle lines are simple enough: classical liberalism has offered perhaps what is best about the west and also what is worst.

As you also know, this battle plays out not just in the community but within me.  I find the medieval law, based o...

The Great War in the Middle East

It can be readily argued that the most important event of the 20th century was the First World War. This massive conflagration saw the demise of a number of great world powers and dynasties (Romanovs, Hohenzollerns, Habsburgs and the Ottomans) and a redrawing of the global maps especially in the Middle East. World War I was also the spark for the Russian Revolution, the immiseration of Germany and the rise of Hitler, thus begetting World War II.

Eugene Rogan has written a fascinating book abo...

Russia Furious

Late on Monday we reported that US Navy Destroyer, USS Donald Cook (DDG-75), equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as the Aegis missile defence system, was approaching the port of Tartus in Syria, which doubles as the location for the Syrian logistics base of the Russian Navy. According to CNN Turk, the US destroyer was at at a distance of 100 km from the port, as of Monday.

The destroyer, which left the Cypriot port of Larnaka and was headed for the Syrian shore, was reportedly bu...

Liars Lying

At least since the time of Marcus Tullius Cicero in the late Roman Republic everyone has certainly understood that politicians lie all the time. To be sure, President Donald Trump has been exceptional in that he has followed through on some of the promises he made in his campaign, insisting periodically that he has to do what he said he would do. Unfortunately, those choices he has made to demonstrate his accountability to his supporters have been terrible, including moving the U.S. Embassy i...

Criminally Insane DC

UPDATE

There is no longer any doubt that the criminally insane government in Washington is driving the world to the last war. See here and here.

UPDATE:

As Americans we must face the possibility that we have a criminally insane government in Washington that is leading the world to destruction.

A Russian Government Press Release:

False information is being planted about the alleged use of chlorine and other toxic agents by the Syrian government forces. The latest fake news about a chemical att...