Business Blog

Asia Times: Robert F Kennedy Jr takes strong anti-war, anti-empire stance, Kennedy’s candidacy for US president is not to be ignored when it comes to peace 亞洲時報: 小羅伯特·肯尼迪反戰反帝態度強硬，肯尼迪參選美國總統在和平問題上不容忽視 By JOHN WALSH APRIL 25, 2023

Robert Francis Kennedy Jr, near the very beginning of his April 19 announcement to run for US president for the Democratic Party, spoke these words:

“Fifty-five years ago last month, I sat as a 14-year-old boy behind my father as he … announced in a Senate caucus room in Washington, DC, his campaign for president of the United States. And my father at time was in the same, in many ways, the same position that I’m in today.

“He was running against a president of his own party. He was running against a war. He was running against – he was running at a time of unprecedented polarization in our country.”

In this way the son tells us right away that he is “running against a war,” Joe Biden’s cruel US proxy war against Russia using Ukrainians as cannon fodder.

He reminded us that his father was given very little chance of winning and felt he would likely lose. But on June 6, 1968, the day of his assassination, RFK Sr had won the primary in California, an urban state, and South Dakota, a rural state.

The son is telling us that his is a candidacy not to be written off lightly. RFK Jr was polling at 14% among Biden voters even before he announced. And nearly 44% of Democrats want anybody but Biden, with only 25% wishing him to run in 2024.

A video of the entire two-hour speech, impressive in many ways, is to be found here and a transcript here. Kennedy did not read from a prepared text. although the speech appeared to be carefully outlined. It had a refreshing air of informality. And it deserves a careful listen.

Many of the points in the speech are summed up in the section on “Peace” at RFK Jr’s campaign website, Kennedy 2024.com, as follows:

“Annual defense-related spending [by the US] is close to $1 trillion. We maintain 800 military bases around the world. The peace dividend that was supposed to come after the Berlin Wall fell was never redeemed. Now we have another chance.

“As president, Robert F Kennedy Jr will start the process of unwinding empire. We will bring the troops home. We will stop racking up unpayable debt to fight one war after another.

“The military will return to its proper role of defending our country. We will end the proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, coups, paramilitaries, and everything else that has become so normal most people don’t know it’s happening. But it is happening, a constant drain on our strength. It’s time to come home and restore this country.

“When a warlike imperial nation disarms of its own accord, it sets a template for peace everywhere. It is not too late for us to voluntarily let go of empire and serve peace instead, as a strong and healthy nation.”

And on Ukraine:

“In Ukraine, the most important priority is to end the suffering of the Ukrainian people, victims of a brutal Russian invasion, and also victims of American geopolitical machinations going back at least to 2014.

“We must first get clear: Is our mission to help the brave Ukrainians defend their sovereignty? Or is it to use Ukraine as a pawn to weaken Russia? Robert F Kennedy will choose the first. He will find a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine and brings our resources back where they belong.

“We will offer to withdraw our troops and nuclear-capable missiles from Russia’s borders. Russia will withdraw its troops from Ukraine and guarantee its freedom and independence. UN peacekeepers will guarantee peace to the Russian-speaking eastern regions.

“We will put an end to this war. We will put an end to the suffering of the Ukrainian people. That will be the start of a broader program of demilitarization of all countries.

“We have to stop seeing the world in terms of enemies and adversaries. As John Quincy Adams wrote, ‘Americans go not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.’”

Those are strong words and realistic categories like “empire,” “proxy wars,” “coups,” “geopolitical machinations going back to 2014,” all ugly imperial facts alluded to euphemistically or not at all in the mainstream media.

This is a candidacy that cannot be ignored or reduced solely to the pros and cons of mRNA vaccines or Kennedy family squabbles over the candidacy as the mainstream media have done. For example, in its brief back-page coverage, The New York Times, the foremost mouthpiece of the imperial establishment, there is nary a mention of war with another nuclear power now hanging over Americans’ heads.

This is not to say that we should accept all of RFK Jr’s words at face value. But given the present enthusiasm for war in every corner of the Democratic Party’s political establishment and among much of its base, it is difficult to see his candidacy as opportunistic.

He even goes so far as to praise China’s Belt and Road Initiative, contrasting that expenditure to America’s on endless wars, a taboo view, to put it mildly, among the US political establishment.

RFK Jr’s candidacy deserves to be treated skeptically like all candidacies, but not cynically. His speech merits a respectful hearing.

This article first appeared on Antiwar.com.

John V Walsh, until recently a professor of physiology and neuroscience at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, has written on issues of peace and health care for the San Francisco Chronicle, EastBayTimes/San Jose Mercury News, Asia Times, LA Progressive, Antiwar.com, CounterPunch and others.

Video: Chinese Canadian has contributed so much and yet they are not welcomed. The Gov’t passing Canadian version of the Chinese Exclusion Act 加拿大華人貢獻了這麼多，卻不受歡迎。政府還通過了加拿大版的《排華法案》
https://rumble.com/v2kdzh6-chinese-canadian-has-contributed-so-much-and-yet-they-are-not-welcomed.html
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=931715821385077&id=100036400039778&mibextid=qC1gEa

NYT: Breaking News: Biden announces re-election bid, defying Trump and history 紐約時報：突發新聞：敗燈昏君宣布競選連任，無視特朗普和歷史

Video: Chinese Navy has 3 advantages over the United States. US every newly built navy ships have problems 中國海軍 對美有三大優勢. 美國每艘新造的海軍艦艇都有問題 https://youtu.be/R3XBh6nGtwQ 👈

Tucker Carlson got fired for failing to adhere to rules set for US Gov’t mouthpiece medias reporting news according to NSA guidelines of self censorship, restrictions on Freedom of Speech 塔克·卡爾森因未能遵守美國政府喉舌媒體根據美國國家安全局自我審查指南和言論自由限制規定而被解僱 Tucker Carlson’s departure wipes half a billion off Fox Corp’s market value. The channel has parted ways with its prime-time anchor, who used to attract an audience of 3.7 million

塔克卡爾森的離職使福克斯公司的市值蒸發了 50 億美元。該頻道已與其黃金時段主播分道揚鑣，後者曾吸引 370 萬觀眾

Represenative of the Military Industrial Complex, the War Machine: March 9, Nuland visits, April, war breaks out.

Check out this timeline leading up to the current state of Sudan 👀 pic.twitter.com/ckMnJVL71s

— VRosen (@vrosen11) April 24, 2023

Video: France and Germany want to continue doing biz with China, sharing common prosperity for mankind, no longer want to participate in US’s China containment 法國和德國希望繼續與中國做生意，共享人類共同繁榮，不再參與美國的遏制中國的殺敵一千自損八百的自殺愚蠢計劃
https://rumble.com/v2k5s9g-france-and-germany-want-to-continue-doing-biz-with-china.html
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=931178848105441&id=100036400039778&mibextid=qC1gEa

Video: Racist Marco Rubio is upset that dedollarization is losing strength as a weapon, US hegemony could end 種族主義者馬可盧比奧對去美元化正在失去作為武器的力量感到不安，美國霸權可能結束
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=931124804777512&id=100036400039778&mibextid=qC1gEa
https://rumble.com/v2k5ai4-racist-marco-rubio-is-upset-that-dedollarization-is-losing-strength-as-a-we.html

Video: Who else besides the Military Industry Complex winning the Ukraine War? Not US taxpayers, EU, Ukraine or Russia. It is the oil companies 除了贏得烏克蘭戰爭的軍工集團，還有誰？不是美國納稅人、歐盟、烏克蘭或俄羅斯。是石油公司!
https://rumble.com/v2k4zlq-who-is-winning-the-ukraine-war.html
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=931089688114357&id=100036400039778&mibextid=qC1gEa

Is Containing China Making America Weaker? | George Koo Interview

The US wants to contain China. Is it possible? Can the US decouple from America? I welcome George Koo, an expert on US/China relations to share his thoughts on these important questions.

0:00 – Intro to George Koo
1:33 – Can We Criticize America and China?
2:46 – Growing Up in China
4:40 – How Money Controls America’s Democracy
7:34 – The Problem with US Government
9:42 – US Policy Towards China is Path of Self-Destruction
13:55 – Why Xi Jinping and Biden Need to Meet
15:43 – America Foreign Policy is too “emotional”
16:32 – Can America “Decouple” from China?
19:08 – Nancy Pelosi and Democracy Double Standards
20:46 – America’s Backsliding Democracy
26:52 – Why Working with China is a Win-Win

Access George’s Asia Times Articles Here: https://asiatimes.com/author/george-koo/