Category Archives: United States

General Mark Milley discusses future of the “nature of the character of war”

Future of the “nature of the character of war”

General Mark Milley spoke to The National Press Club on July 27, 2017 about changes in the “nature of the character of war” that will require modifications for the future of the United States military. Beginning at 30:52 in video link.

War is a political act

“War is a political act” where your political will is imposed on your opponent through the use of violence. The “nature of war is political.” How is the political war going to be fought in the future?

Milley believes the “character of war, the way you fight a war” and the weapons used are “going through a fundamental change”.Fighting will be in more populated urban settings and technology with artificial intelligence and robotics will be making changes to warfare.

Urban warfare

Armies in the past were optimized to fight in rural areas. Gently rolling hills, sands and deserts were optimized. Jungles and mountains were sub-optimized. Fighting in urban areas was also sub-optimized. This will need to change. A century and a half of societal urbanization is only increasing with the curve going exponential. By the mid-century 80 – 90% of the projected 8 billion people will be “concentrated in highly dense urban areas”. The open country of northern Europe or deserts of the Middle East to highly dense urban areas will require “significant and fundamental” changes to the military force.

War is politics and politics is all about people. With the urbanization of the global population the future battlefields will be in urban areas, such as happened recently in Mosul. Armies will need to optimize for combat operations in urban areas. This will require changes in the size of the force, command and control, operations of movement, and the weapon systems.

Robot warfare

The US is on the leading edge of a revolution in robotics says General Milley. In the “commercial sphere’ robotics are being used more and more. Unmanned aerial (drones) and maritime vehicles are already being used by the military in a limited way. “Eventually we will see the introduction of wide scale robotics”, including on land. “All areas that move, shoot and communicate are being impacted very, very rapidly by technology at a speed and a scope unlike anything we’ve seen in history. The combinations of terrain and the combination of technology is significant” and “leading to a fundamental change in the character of warfare”.

The future of the of war is not certain. War is always dealing in the realm of uncertainty, friction, chance and human will.

Military.com – drones

Wikipedia: Battle of Mosul 2016 – 2017

General Mark Milley discusses post-WWII liberal world order

General Mark Milley discusses the “World Order”

General Mark Milley speaks about the role of the US military to maintain the post-WWII liberal global order at the National Press Club, 25:35 to 30:52 in link.

World order relies on US military power

Why does the US need a large military? That depends on what you want the military to be able to accomplish. The United States has been a global military since WWI.

The Breton Woods agreement in July 1944 after WWII established the “international order, the rules and regimes by which the world runs today”. “For seven decades the world has had a certain set of rules emphasizing things like” free trade, international commerce, democracy, human rights and the “liberal world order”. There are institutions that this “world order” rests upon like the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and many others. “One of the significant roles of the United States military for seven decades has been to enforce that world order, to maintain it, to maintain its stability.

Role of world police is in US national interest

This role is in “our interest because in the last half of the century there was a blood letting unlike any that had ever occurred in the history of mankind” when “between 1914 and 1945 one hundred million people were slaughtered in the conduct of war and that is a horrible, horrible nightmare.”

General Mark Miley Army Chief of Staff

By United States Army (Chief of Staff[1]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Milley’s mother was in the Navy and his father was in the Marines during World War II. His father “hit the beach in Iwo Jima where 7,000 Marines were killed in 19 days and 34,000 wounded and 22,000 Japanese killed on an island that was 2 miles by 4 miles.”

During WWII there were “millions of Chinese killed”. Milley soberly reminds us that”If you want a real trail of tears – go to Eastern Europe and see what happened in Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania. It’s horrific.” One third of the men in Ukraine and Belarus were killed. In Poland 90% of Jews were killed.

Milley passionately states: “It’s a horrific picture that occurred. Those people who were in leadership positions in 1945 said never again. We can’t keep doing this… this is insane!”

This wasn’t the first time that leaders had tried to put constraints on war by agreement. Milley gives history that “the same thing in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars” with the the “Concert of Europe and that worked well for 100 years. For one century they kept the long peace in Europe – more or less. There were a couple of minor flareups, but there wasn’t a continental wide war until 1914.”

After two horrific world wars the leaders tried “again in 1945 to set up a system that would try to retain global peace and prevent war between great powers and great power states throughout the world.” That system relies on the hegemony and power of the United States people and our military.

Milley emphasizes that the global “system is under stress, intense stress, today. That system is under stress from revolutionaries and terrorists and guerrillas. It’s under stress from nation states that don’t like the rules of the road that were written and want to revise those rules.” “That system is under very intense stress.” “We’re at seventy years now and that system has prevented great power war similar to what occurred in the first half of the last century.

How big is big enough?

“So the question is how big an army do you want? How big a navy do you want? Well, how much do you want that system? How much do you value that system? Is that system worth preserving or not?” That determines the size and scope of your armies, your navies, and air forces and Marines. Rightly or wrongly, fairly or unfairly the role of the arbiter of that system has defaulted to the United States for seven decades. There are other countries, 60 or 70, that have allied themselves with their militaries to us and they make significant contributions, but the United States has been the leader that system.”

“So the status of the army as part of the military force that works to help maintain the stability of the world. We’re a global military and we are a global army.”

“We’ve got, right now today, about 180,000 soldiers in the United States army active duty, reserve and National Guard deployed in about 140 different countries around the world helping to stabilize that system. That’s a significant amount of US forces.

Not all of them are in combat. Most of those that are in combat are in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. Around the entire globe are 180,000. That’s not a small number. That’s about 20% of the army as a whole. The active army is less than 500,000 right now. Based on the tasks that are required Milley believes there is a need for a larger army and “stronger and more capable” because of the “tasks that are required”. the concept is that policing the world is the role of the United States military. The the US global hegemony will to support global order and overall peace to prevent another catastrophic world war.

Read to learn more:

brettonwoods.org About Bretton Woods Institutions

Wikipedia: Bretton Woods Conference

What is the Liberal Order? The global world order

Wikipedia: Concert of Europe

Power and liberal order: America’s postwar world order in transition 2005

The Twilight of the Liberal World Order January 2017 – Brookings Institution

General Mark Tilley discusses global security threats

General Mark Tilley discusses the 4 plus 1 global security threats

The Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army General Mark A. Milley spoke at a National Press Club Luncheon on July 27, 2017.

4 + 1: Global security threats

Speaks about “the world in a nutshell” with the current “global strategic environment” from 13:44 to 25:42 in the above linked video.

General James Mattis, Secretary of Defense, is leading a detailed strategic review process of the US military, which may be completed “sometime in the Fall” 2017, which may alter the evaluation of the security focus.

There are many ways to classify global security threats, but currently the Department of Defense uses a mnemonic system of “4 + 1” to rank global challenges for 4 nation states (Russia, China, North Korea, Iran) and of 1 non-nation state of violent extremist terrorist organizations  that “seek to do damage to US national interest” (Al Qaeda, Taliban, ISIS, Al Nusra Front and similar groups). These challenges are how DOD decides on the size of the force and how to equip the joint force.

The “capability and will” of a threat are used to evaluate their risk.

Milley states that Russia and China are not our enemies. An “enemy” is a group or a nation state our military is actively engaged with in armed conflict.  Milley points out that “Competition is one thing, even if adversarial”. There is a “giant difference between open conflict and those activities below open conflict.” A “conflict below open conflict is a desirable goal”, especially with Russia and China due to their “size, capacity, and capability”.

Russia

Russian “military capability is significant” and “extraordinary”. Russia is the “only country on earth that represents an existential threat” “because they have the inherent capability of nuclear weapons” that could “strike and destroy” the United States. Other countries have nuclear capabilities, but only Russia has the “capability to actually destroy the United States”. Russia’s conventional military capability has been “modernized significantly” in the last 5 to 15 years.

“Will or intent” is a subjective judgment. “All we know from behavior is that Russia has acted aggressively externally to its boundaries in places like Crimea and Georgia and the Donetsk region of Ukraine and elsewhere”. They also “operate and try to undermine things like elections in European countries and other countries”, as well as cyber activity and “various non-military direct action pressures”.

General Milley asks “Why are they behaving like that?”. There are many debated reasons.

Milley states his personal military view is that “Russian leadership is a purely rational actor” operating off of “traditional cost benefit as they perceive it”. Milley believes Russian aggression can be deterred. Even though Russia does “undermine the United States interests in Europe and elsewhere” that Russia also has “areas of common interests”.  Russia as a “great power” is a country that the United States needs to “cautiously” and with “deliberate forethought work towards common objectives and prevent undermining of our interests”. This is a “delicate balance”, but the United States has done this before and can continue to do so with Russia. “That will involve assuring our allies and partners while deterring further aggression”, but can be “properly managed”.

China

China is “a significant rising power”. Since 1979 China has advanced and developed economically. China’s economic power is “one of the most significant, if not the most significant” “shifts in global economic power in the last 5 centuries” since the “rise of the West and the industrial revolution”.

The “Chinese economic growth over the last 40 years is really, really significant” says Milley. “Historically when economic power shifts so significantly then military power typically follows.” Milley believes this is happening with the significant increase in size and strength of Chinese military capabilities.

Milley asks “What is their will and intent? What is their purpose? What are they trying to do?” He points out that the Chinese have been fairly transparent” in laying out their “China dream. China wants to reestablish their historic 5,000 year role to be the “most significant power in Asia”, as well as become a global “co-equal with the United States” by mid-century. They would “like to do this peacefully” with a “win-win strategy”, but are also building up a military force if necessary to pursue their goals.

China is “an extremely rational actor”. Milley believes, as with Russia, that “proper leadership and engagement and deterrence and assurance measures that we can work our way into the future without significant armed conflict.”

Iran

The country’s desire for a nuclear weapon has “sort of been put on pause.” “We hope for good, but are watching that very closely.”

What is Iran’s intent? Milley notes that we know with “certainty that Iran consciously and with malfeasance of forethought tries to undermine US national security interests in the Middle East.” They do this with many direct means of supporting terrorism. The US is “always in a posture relative to Iran to support our friends and allies in the region and to be very, very wary of Iran”.

North Korea

Milley thinks North Korea is the “single greatest threat to the international community and facing the United States” as a “near term, very significant threat”. North Korea has “advanced significantly and quicker than many had expected with an intercontinental ballistic missile technology that could possibly strike the United States”. The US policy for many decades has been the “objective that North Korea would not possess nuclear weapons” and “certainly” not have the ability to have nuclear weapons that can strike the United States.

“North Korea is extremely dangerous and gets more dangerous as the weeks go by.” Milley points out that most of the information is classified, so couldn’t give many details. The US is trying a “wide variety of methods in the diplomatic and economic sphere” to bring a peaceful resolution, but “time is running out a bit”.

Terrorist organizations

There are situations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya and west Africa with each having “different factors and analysis with every country being slightly different, so you can’t group all of them into one.”  Milley thinks we are in a “very long struggle against violent extremist organizations, terrorist organizations”.

These groups have a radically different view of the world than we do and their intent is to “consciously kill Americans and undermine American interests”. They also want to “kill other locals, friends and partners not only in the Middle East”, but elsewhere. The military works “by, through and with our partners in the region and increase their capabilities and try to reduce terrorist threats to where local police forces and local intelligent forces can manage at a local level”.

Milley believes “We will destroy the organization entity called ISIS.” with the Caliphate and “traditional organizational structures” in the “not too distant future”. The followers will likely disperse morphing into different radical groups. Milley notes that the “very radical ideology” of these groups “ultimately will have to be destroyed mostly by the people’s of the region.”

Trump says: A nation without borders is not a nation

Controlling the US southern border

“For a nation of immigrants and immigration, the United States adjusts its immigration policies only rarely, largely because the politics surrounding immigration can be deeply divisive.” (1) President Donald Trump spoke on 01/25/2017 about his new executive orders during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security with increased border security plans between the US and Mexico.

Executive order 01/25/2017: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements

Executive order 01/25/2017: Enhancing Public Safety inside borders

Donald Trump during the 2016 Presidential election campaign said that he would build a wall along the border and “Mexico will pay for it.” He wanted to increase enforcement of the existing immigration laws, as well as not allowing the “bad people” to hide in sanctuary cities.

The speculation whether Donald Trump’s “wall” was serious has been ended. Trump announced the “immediate construction of a border wall” as part of his immigration reform. Mexico is not controlling their southern border. “We are in the middle of a crisis on our southern border” from an influx of immigrants coming up through Mexico from Central America. People are fleeing through Mexico heading north to the United States to escape gang violence and poverty.

Fleeing violence to the American dream

“El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are called the “Northern Triangle” and gripped with gang violence. The Council on Foreign Relations has estimated that “nearly 10 percent of the Northern Triangle countries’ thirty million residents have left, mostly for the United States.”

Image result for central america triangle

Monetary “aid” sent to assist the region is not enough. Trump says that a wall on the US southern border to deter entry into the United States would also help Mexico.  Perhaps Mexico also needs a wall or fence on their southern border.  The flow of people through Mexico drawn to the “American dream”  has caused problems for our southern border neighbor.

There are unaccompanied children from Central America heading to the United States. These children often actively seek out Border Patrol agents when crossing the US border requesting sanctuary. The influx can overwhelm local communities. The Department of Homeland Security locates a relative within the U.S. to send the children on after processing. There is no ongoing tracking of the children until their immigration hearings nor proper vetting of those who receive the children.

Children in Delaware

Mexicans continue crossing back and forth across the US border and also heading north to Canada. In 2010 Canada set up a visa requirement for Mexicans entering their country, but this was lifted in December 2016. There is expectation that the visa requirement will need to be added back in future, if there is another surge of immigration.

“eliminating all remaining barriers”

Controlling the borders is a part of Trump’s “nationalism”. Globalists have a preference for open borders. There has been a slow and diligent movement towards a “North American Union”. The plan is for a “free flow of people” across the three countries. Central America was not included in the original planned trade region. NAFTA was a step on this plan.

Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin met at U.S. President George W. Bush’s  Waco, Texas ranch in March 2005 to discuss how to further integrate the three countries and further open up the borders. A report from the meeting by the Council on Foreign Relations gave recommendations to further these goals.
Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (emblem).png

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) was set up after this meeting with annual meetings. There have been 9 additional meetings between leaders of the three countries. President Obama set up additional dual bi-lateral meetings. Will the new US President participate in the globalist planned meetings to continue integrating the 3 North American countries?

This is a sample from the CFR report of recommendations from 2005.

“Move to full labor mobility between Canada and the United States. To make companies based in North America as competitive as possible in the global economy, Canada and the United States should consider eliminating all remaining barriers to the ability of their citizens to live and work in the other country. This free flow of people would offer an important advantage to employers in both countries by giving them rapid access to a larger pool of skilled labor, and would enhance the well-being of individuals in both countries by enabling them to move quickly to where their skills are needed. In the long term, the two countries should work to extend this policy to Mexico as well, though doing so will not be practical until wage differentials between Mexico and its two North American neighbors have diminished considerably.”

Immigration agents support Trump

The unions of the Border Patrol agents and ICE agents supported Donald Trump’s candidacy. They now support his new immigration control measures. Chris Crane is the national spokesman for a union of over 5,800 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.  Crane sued the Obama administration in 2012 over their lax immigration policies. Brandon Judd is President of the Border Patrol Council, which is a union of 16,000 border patrol agents. President Donald Trump thanked Brandon Judd and Chris Crane and said they would soon be very busy.

What will the wall be made of?

Donald Trump’s “Wall” may not be literally a wall of concrete and re-bar steel along the entire border.

Steve Inskeep of NPR’s Morning Edition interviewed Brandon Judd in November 2016 about border security with Mexico and asked about the Trump wall. President George W. Bush in 2006 began to build fencing along the border. The border patrol agent said that currently “about 10 to 15 percent of our border has an actual fence.” President Bush said that a fence would “help protect the American people” and “make our borders more secure.” Adding the fence was “an important step toward immigration reform.”

Judd said the real issue wasn’t a wall.  “The debate’s about border security. That’s what the debate is about.” He thought that there wasn’t going to be fencing across the entire southern border. There were needs for increases up to 30% of the border of “actual fence, comma wall” at strategic locations.

Fencing alone won’t stop the drug flow. Drug cartels have dug extensive tunnels to continue their trade to bypass the border fencing, which will require additional technology to thwart them. Judd said,”If we integrate intelligence strategy to combat the cartels, we absolutely can be effective – 100 percent effective.”

Donald Trump plans to build his “Wall” to protect the country. “Beginning today the United States of America gets back control of its borders.”

(1) Migrationpolicy.org: August 2013 Immigration US legislative reform

NPR Morning Edition 11/17/2016: Border Patrol Agents’ Union Confers With Trump On Securing The Border

NPR: Immigration Employees File Suit Against Obama’s New Immigration Policy 2012
Border Patrol Council (union)

BBC – Secure Fence Act to a real wall?

Wikipedia: Secure Fence Act of 2006

Center for Immigration Studies: Sanctuary Cities

Wikipedia: Sanctuary cities

A review of the “Building a North American Community” meeting from March 2005

Migrationpolicy.org: US unaccompanies children through southern border

CFR report: Northern Triangle violence Jan 2016

NBC: More than 10,000 unaccompanied minors on US southern border

MSNBC: Mexico’s southern border

Canada preparing for a potential flood of Mexican migrants

National ICE Council (union)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

US Citizenship and Immigration Services

US Immigration and Citizenship information

Coming to America: Mexican refugees from Pancho Villa

Mexican Immigration 1910 – 1920

Mexican refugees

Between 1910 and 1920 during the chaos of the “complex and bloody conflict” of The Mexican Revolution nearly a million Mexicans are estimated to have died.  Another million fled from the conflict in the first large wave of Mexican immigration into the United States. The social, economic  and political power struggle even drew in the United States military to cross into Mexico in 1916 in pursuit of Pancho Villa. Villa was a revolutionary general and is a hero in Mexico, but he is considered to be a rampaging bandit by my family.

Map image from Rand McNally and Company 1914 located in the Newberry Library in Chicago (Perspectives on the Mexican Revolution)

Refugees

Refugee = a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

My maternal grandparents’ family had deep roots in Mexico. During The Mexican Revolution my grandparents became refugees. They were part of the economic class targeted by the Villa revolutionaries, who seized their land and stole their property. The Villa army terrorized and killed and worse. A brave great-grandmother protected her family and home, standing off some of Villa’s forces with a rifle, before fleeing. A great-grandfather collapsed and died of a stroke watching his burning business. My grandfather hid in the hills to avoid being killed. My grandmother fled across the border by train with their young children, parents, other family and members of their household. She sewed some coins into her skirt. Arriving in San Antonio, Texas with only what they could carry, they began a new life in the United States. My grandfather was able to join them later. Some of the group of extended family eventually returned to Mexico after the conflict ended. (see addendum ***)

Below is a photo of Pancho Villa from Getty Images.

My grandparents stayed in the United States, but kept their roots in Mexico with cross border businesses and relationships living on the border in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. They raised a family and successfully integrated into the United States. Their sons fought in WWII and had successful professional careers. My mother was the youngest and born in the United States, as were some of my uncles.

Some Enchanted Evening

My father was an Indiana farm boy whose ancestors had immigrated at different points from Europe and Britain. My mother and father meeting was unlikely, but definitely kismet. In their long life together they contributed to the US economy and society in many positive ways. My parents believed in higher education. My father and mother were both bi-lingual in Spanish and English. Both earned advanced degrees, as well as making sure all of us kids were able to go to college. My grandparents and family have contributed to the United States as good citizens in many ways.

The song “Some Enchanted Evening” always reminds me of my mother and father. (1958 recording of movie “South Pacific” sung by Giorgio Tozzi)

#Nowall

Thankfully my grandparents and my young uncles fleeing from war in Mexico did not find a “Wall” of rules or a high fence to block their entrance. There was a legal way to arrive and to stay in the United States and work towards becoming naturalized citizens.

Thank you, Pancho Villa and Thank you, America

My appreciation for Pancho Villa is because his revolution helped bring my mother’s family to the United States. I am very fortunate to have been born a citizen of this great nation and I do not take that privilege for granted.

*** Memories from another sibling on what we were told about family story:

“I was told Pancho Villa personally shot one relative’s husband because the relative did not gather up his horses fast enough to turn them over to Pancho Villa’s men. One of Grandfather’s brothers was kidnapped and the family had to ransom him back.

I was told one of the cousin family groups (like a cousin twice removed relationship) saw a dead young woman in the streets with a little girl clinging to her trying to nurse. They grabbed up the child and kept running taking the child with them to America and making her a daughter of their family. When Grandmother was delivering identical twins (our uncles) one twin was breach. Grandfather went out to get a doctor in the town, but every time he came to a street he was asked “Who are you for? Who are you with?”. He feared being shot for a wrong answer. Grandfather was not able to find a physician to come. Grandmother’s mother managed to deliver the twins.” Only a few days old these twins were brought to America and contributed to and loved this great land, even as they also loved their original homeland of Mexico.

Immigration in the United States: New Economic, Social, Political Landscapes with Legislative Reform on the Horizon By Faye Hipsman, Doris Meissner

Library of Congress: The History of Mexican Immigration to the U.S. in the Early 20th Century

The Mexican Revolution and the United States in the Collections of the Library of Congress U.S. Relations with Mexico Post-Columbus, NM

Mexican Migration to the United States Historian Miguel A. Levario, from Texas Tech University, interviewed on 15Minute History

Perspectives on the Mexican Revolution historical collection in the Newberry Research Library in Chicago

USA Immigration and Citizenship 1865-1924 historical collection in the Newberry Research Library in Chicago

Senator Brown grills Steven Mnuchin, nominee for US Treasury Secretary

US Treasury Secretary Confirmation Hearing by US Finance Committee

Nominee: Steven Mnuchin

Senator: Sherrod Brown of Ohio

Date: Thursday, January 19, 2017 

Time: 10:00 AM

Location: 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Senator Brown (B): Let’s clear up one thing.. your words…

“Banks are not highly incented to do modifications for their borrowers.“

That’s why we had a systemic breakdown. That’s why so many families lost their homes and banks were forced to pay millions of dollars in fines and remediation. So put that aside… I want to talk about your situation.

Senator Brown leans on his hand during questioning

You bought the ability to help families stay in their homes. That’s not what you did.

I understand your defensiveness, both in individual meetings – mine and others, and in this committee about what happened at OneWest.

But… let me lay this out, in 2006, businessman Donald Trump responded to a question about the possibility of a real estate crash by saying “I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy.”

Now you didn’t just buy properties. You bought the bank. You bought the ability to help families stay in their homes. That’s not what you did.

So my questions are these. You’ve been saying that OneWest is a success. Let’s look at the record, I really want yes or no answers because I have a lot of questions and what I will say is factual in my view. I’d like you to confirm with yes or no.

Is it true that community groups say that OneWest, specifically the California Reinvestment Coalition, foreclosed on 60,000 families nationwide and denied 3/4ths of mortgage modification applications.

Mnuchin (M): I am not aware of that, I know they…

B: Well, they did.

Steven Mnuchin frustratedly looks down and waves hands while being questioned.

If you know they did, then why are you asking me? I don’t have it in front of me.

M: If you know they did, then why are you asking me?

B: I want to hear it from you. If you don’t know it…

M: I don’t have it in front of me.

B: I’m going to keep interrupting because we don’t have a lot of time. I apologize if you see that as rude.

M: I don’t see that as rude. That’s okay. Thank you.

B: Is it true that OneWest regulators, that’s the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of Currency – US Department of the Treasury), said that you had deficient mortgage practices, closed on 10,000 plus borrowers without proper procedure and at least 23 who were current on their mortgages?

M: So, what I would say is we followed the same procedures that the…

B: Did the OCC say that?

M: …the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) followed. We inherited the FDIC procedures.

Senator Orrin Hatch: Let him answer the question.

Senator Brown presses the questions gesturing with both hands

Yes or no?

B:   Is it true that OneWest independent audit firm said that it violated the Service Members Civil Relief Act by initiating foreclosures on 54 active duty military families? That’s what the independent audit firm said. Yes or no?

M: Well, you have the document in front of you. I don’t. Ok, so… let me just say..

B: I’m pretty surprised… sorry Mr. Mnuchin that I’m surprised you don’t know these things because you’ve been rather defensive, for probably good reason, about what happened at OneWest.

M: I do want to just comment for the record. We unfortunately did foreclose on certain people in the military. It was quite unfortunate. It was inappropriate. We responded to those people and made them whole. As I said, that every single person had the opportunity to have their mortgage reviewed and we corrected any errors. Our errors were less than anybody else, so it is not that I’m being defensive but I’m proud of our results.

Mr. Mnuchin twitches and purses his lips while answering questions

it is not that I’m being defensive

B: I would not be proud of these findings, but…

Is it true that the California Attorney General’s office said that OneWest backdated 96% of the documents they examined and then you aggressively obstructed their investigation? That’s what the Attorney General’s office said. Did they say that?

M: So first let me comment that I sought the leaked memo, as you did. I think it is highly inappropriate that somebody at the Attorney General’s office would leak internal..

B: Was there no truth to backdating…

M: Again, what I would say is the primary regulator was the OCC. They were the one’s who had the obligation to regulate.

B: The OCC said… Mr. Mnuchin, I’m sorry, but OCC said you had these deficient mortgage practices, which you couldn’t remember when I asked you about OCC. Now you are citing OCC in response to California Attorney General.

Senator Brown asks tough questions.

Is it true…

Is it true that one of the employees who was in charge of the modifications. One of employees accused OneWest of not having any process to help its 3,000 FHA and VA mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure and that this same employee, who was in charge of modifications, has accused OneWest of not having a proper process in place to help those VA mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosures and submitting false claims.

M: It seems to me, in all due respect, that you just want to shoot questions at me and not let me explain what are complicated issues.

B: I’ll let you explain after I go through the questions because I know one answer will take my whole time, so I’ll let you explain when I’m done.

M: Well, then let’s… at least understand these are complicated questions.

B: They are complicated questions.

Mr. Mnuchin is frustrated in having questions asked with no chance to explain.

Let me explain…

M: Let me at least explain them and otherwise there is no point in shooting them all at me when I don’t have the ability to respond.

B: You don’t, but these are factual things.  You can follow-up a response later in more detail.

One example of, you can answer this and take as long as you need, One example of an insider loan that was a Relativity Media deal that the FBI denied a FOIA  (Freedom of Information Act) request related to Relativity Media where you were co-chair siting enforcement procedures. Have you been questioned by law enforcement on this? Yes or no?

M: I have not and I saw that you wrote that letter yesterday. I assume that the FBI did a thorough review of my background report. I have no idea why they didn’t approve the FOIA issue. I’ve been told that we have no reason to believe that’s any issue associated with me.

B:  Fair enough.

M: That you should direct that to the FBI. When I had the opportunity to meet with you…

Mr. Mnuchin often purses his lips when looking frustrated at the questions.

Mnuchin purses his lips and twitches his shoulders when appearing frustrated at the questioning.

B: I accept your answer that you are not being investigated, but I find it interesting that you know about the letter I sent yesterday. The letter I sent with all those questions detailing all of the issues that I just asked about with Bank West – West Bank – One West.

M: OneWest

B: OneWest, I apologize.

M: My father forgot the name sometimes as well.

B: But the letter I sent you back in mid-December about this you’ve not even taken the time to answer and it really laid all those… I think the issue is the OneWest purchase went well for the Treasury Secretary designee, but it was a disaster for homeowners, for employees, for investors in Relativity and for taxpayers. We can talk more about taxpayer cost on this whole process and the amount of money that he bought it for and sold it for, but mostly subsidized by taxpayers.

Orrin Hatch: Senator your time is up. Now you take as much time you want to answer.

M: Thank you very much. First of all, Senator. I did enjoy meeting you.

B: Thanks.

I don’t believe we had the opportunity to meet before that time. If I’m confirmed I look forward to spending more time with you.

B: Thank you for saying that.

M: I know that you have some.. although we may not agree on everything, there were certain things we did agree on when we met and I have a lot of respect as you as a Senator to hear your issues. Now I did tell you, I did acknowledge that you sent me the letter. I was advised by the staff that the appropriate thing was for me to come here and answer questions , or meet with all of you independently and answer questions that you have. And if I don’t satisfy that you have the ability to make questions afterwards which I will respond to.

When I came to your office I told you that and I said that I would spend as much time with you as you wanted answering those questions and they were quite significant and, you know, because I knew they were complicated. So I did tell you although I wouldn’t respond to them in writing. At that point that I did understand your questions and I wanted to address them.

Steven Mnuchin chastised Senator Brown for not letting him answer questions, then ends without actually answering anything.

I did tell you although I wouldn’t respond to them in writing.

Mnuchin stopped speaking without actually addressing any of the questions. He sat up straight and stared straight ahead. Another Senator started to welcome him to begin their questioning.

End of transcript. (Transcribed by my listening to Hearing with screen grabs on 01/24/2017)

Senate Finance Committee Hearing to consider the nomination of Steven Mnuchin for Secretary of the Treasury

Is this who should be our next Secretary of the Treasury? I vote no and have written to my two state Senators.

Contact your state Senators to let them know what you think about this nominee.

Senate.gov

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www.senate.gov US Finance Committee

https://www.finance.senate.gov/library/executive-session-transcripts Official transcript of meeting should show up in Library in a couple of months after session.

Wikipedia: US Senate Finance Committee

Wikipedia: Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio)

Wikipedia: Steven Mnuchin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_the_Treasury

US Secretary of the Treasury

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency The OCC charters, regulates, and supervises all national banks and federal savings associations as well as federal branches and agencies of foreign banks. The OCC is an independent bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), formerly known as the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act (SSCRA), is a federal law that provides protections for military members as they enter active duty. It covers issues such as rental agreements, security deposits, prepaid rent, eviction, installment contracts, credit card interest rates, mortgage interest rates, mortgage foreclosure, civil judicial proceedings, automobile leases, life insurance, health insurance and income tax payments.

Onewest Bank

Wikipedia: Onewest Bank

Relativity Media

Wikipedia: Relativity Media

FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States, which simultaneously serves as the nation’s prime federal law enforcement agency.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency created by the Congress to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system by: insuring deposits; examining and supervising financial institutions for safety and soundness and consumer protection; making large and complex financial institutions resolvable; and managing receiverships.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law that gives you the right to access information from the federal government. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government.

FHA Loans – Housing and Urban Development An FHA loan is a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Borrowers with FHA loans pay for mortgage insurance, which protects the lender from a loss if the borrower defaults on the loan.

Veteran’s Administration (VA) Loans The VA Loan is a home-mortgage option available to United States Veterans, Service Members, and eligible surviving spouses. VA Loans are issued by qualified lenders and guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

President Pied Piper = Donald Trump

Is the selection of President an Illusion of Choice?

The globalist neo-liberals were confident that Hillary Clinton would win the Presidential election. They were stunned and surprised by the Brexit vote, then equally and perhaps more surprised by the election of Donald Trump.

The coastal and Washington elites control a major part of the regular old school press. (1) There is merely an “illusion of choice”for the news. The press claims to not be biased, but only the deluded or naive believe that anymore. Those reporting the news won’t admit to being neo-liberals or operators for the globalist agenda. The special “pet” press members were secretly invited to private dinners with Hillary Clinton to get their marching orders. (2) “We need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to (take) them seriously.” (3) (4)

Pied piper

The elites thought that through the media they would as usual control the minds of the population and attempt to control the electoral process. They could move a story or bury a story and push their agenda. The purpose was to manipulate the voters  to consider the wildcard candidates, including Donald Trump, as valid candidates when in actuality the candidates were just straw men for Hillary Clinton to knock down in her eventual victory.

Meanwhile the Democratic National Committee was secretly maneuvering their party to make sure Hillary was their nominee and used the press to push down Bernie Sanders. Hillary made sure to round-up a number of super delegates in her pocket.

Wasn’t America already pretty great?

Donald Trump tweeted and spoke at his campaign rallies. The press covered every outlandish statement and twisted other statements to make them appear even more outrageous. Trump didn’t even have the support of the Republican party and was treated with contempt. Trump still kept rising to the top of the polling numbers and other Republican candidates dropped to the side. The press was glad, as well as appalled, when Trump won the Republican nomination. They thought that Trump was making it easy and there was no way that Hillary could lose now.

Trump went from being a Pied Piper to a Jack-in-the-Box who couldn’t be  kept in his box. Trump did end runs around the main stream press with his tweets. The main stream media kept covering his every word, as they had been instructed. He could yank their chain with a politically incorrect tweet and dominate the news feeds. The media became his puppet and the Trump train kept rolling on.

Infowars.com or ‘Washington Post’ or Aunt Betty?

Alternative news sources also emerged as a player. There are more options now, even beyond conservative talk radio. Comedy shows are even a news source for knowing about trending topics. Foreign news is accessible now on the internet, which can give a broader perspective. The control of the news slipped away and people were biased, jaded and just not listening.

Trump’s nationalist, pro-America stance resonated with many in middle America.

The distrust of main stream media was apparent to anyone paying attention. The elites talked to themselves reading “The New York Times” and  “The Washington Post” and “Financial Times”, which all require a paid subscription. Do the elites actually think they are talking to anyone but themselves with these newspapers? Fewer people were reading any newspapers, much less newspapers requiring paid expensive subscriptions. Even for reputable news organizations there is a failure to report the real news. Many merely parrot a trending story. Filling 24 / 7 airtime or website content streams ends up with endless speculation as filler and jumping onto stories without proper vetting. The news has lost credibility by their lack of quality, which only leads to further loss of viewers and readers.

Cartoon: Uncle Sam US Govt has a box of

Web Wide Wrap by JoelLeafsFeb 5 2013

Fewer get their news from television or the networks. More people have “cut the cable” completely, so no one is even listening. On the internet the filters of search and social media used to do targeted advertising also help mirror back views. People end up in their own bubble, including the politically correct liberals staying in their own safe zones where Hillary would win. People in the big cities and in Washington are not hearing the stories of real people outside their own bubble zone. If people step outside their bubbles, then they do so only to mock and ridicule the other bubbles.

The media establishment, let’s face it, we do live in New York, Washington, and in Silicon Valley and Hollywood. That’s the west coast and the east coast.

Judith Miller (member Council on Foreign Relations) (5)

The elites thought maybe the race could be close, but convinced themselves that Hillary had her “firewall” states. She would surely get as many votes as Obama. She would win women and non-whites. She would garner the support from co-opted Bernie Sanders voters. She must win because she had worked so hard for so long and she “deserved” to be President. It was her turn after all.

http://memeshappen.com/media/created/it39s-my-turn-to-be-president-Bill-promised-me-meme-30717.jpg

The Donald Trump / Mike Pence ticket was labelled racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, and xenophobic. Anyone considering voting for him were considered ignorant “deplorables”. The main stream press dug up recordings from 10 years ago and old New York tax returns. They pulled out the stops to find dirt or insinuate dirt, which included that he was in the pocket of Russia’s Putin. Meanwhile Trump would mock the press and his deplorables loved him for it. He continued to draw large crowds while Hillary couldn’t get a crowd even pulling famous popular singers to rally for her. The elites still didn’t see it.

Mar-a-Lago club member Rosemary Harder arrives in a costumed hat with Trump's campaign slogan in glittery letters on her hat

The polls were quietly going off the rails. People were lying to pollsters about whether they were actually voting for Trump to avoid the politically correct crowd hounding them. Why not lie after all? Isn’t that what Hillary would do?

There are huge populous forces at work here that are being missed.

We failed to see this enormous revolution coming.

Judith Miller

The disenfranchised were in pockets of the internet sharing their views and tuning out the mainstream filtered propaganda from the Hillary surrogate press corps. The American workers tossed on the ash heap of globalism rose up, as did women and minorities taken for granted. (6) The elites of the coasts and large cities smug in Ivory Towers were not prepared for the quiet insurgency of American populism. They were not prepared for losing control of the narrative through the owned media puppets. Facebook was said to be filtering out conservative voices (7), which only added more to the distrust of the news feeds. People turned to alternative sources for opinion and information, including sharing emails with information from dubious sources. Politically incorrect completely bogus news stories bounced around in emails and private instant messages.

Here’s the problem for the ordinary voter… without the media they are not going to learn what Donald Trump is doing that he doesn’t want them to know. We need a check and a balance in the form of the media however flawed we are or how much we get wrong.

We are there to tell people what the powerful, be they corporations or powerful politicians, don’t want them to know. Without us it is really hard to run an effective democracy whatever our flaws, which are many.

Judith Miller

Judith Miller, Pultizer prize winning reporters, fails to admit that media too often is actually there to tell people what the powerful DO want us to think. They report and opine on what the powerful want us to know while failing to report on other news. The whistle blowers are silenced by the same powerful forces. The media of all sources and the advertisement by the corporations all try to feed thoughts to the “ordinary voter” to influence their minds. They view the people as uneducated, ignorant and even stupid. The powerful and their media spokespeople fly over the Heartland of America and think they know better what is necessary to make an “effective democracy”.

Trump campaigned to the electoral college and worked every vote, even in the Hillary “fire wall” states. He did campaign stops till the very last-minute. He was campaigning while Hillary was getting over pneumonia and while she was “preparing” for debates.

Now the shocked liberal elites try to figure out how they could possibly have lost to such a buffoon. How could their polls have been so wrong? Do we think that Hillary and the DNC understood cyber-security to keep Podesta’s emails safe from prying eyes? Did it have to be Russian secret cyber agents doing the releases? They blame Russian spies for Hillary’s loss. All the emails did was show the hypocrisy and subterfuge of the Hillary camp, which many already suspected. Her smugness that she would win and deserved to win and was owed the Presidency was apparent. That she was part of the globalist elite agenda was also quite clear.

The media was stunned that all their hard work and smug superiority merely ended with them being snookered by the American people. Yes, this is real life.

Trump won the election. President Obama and Hillary Clinton accepted the result. Hillary graciously and tearfully conceded to Trump. The Western elites scratched their heads at how this could have happened and was the world order going to fall into the sea now? Henry Kissinger, a respected globalist member,  has tried to calm the hysteria making the rounds including to the Chinese leadership. (8) (9)

The elites wrote opinion pieces for each other to read in their elite publications and complained of their shock on talk shows. How can they make sure this doesn’t happen again? How did they go so wrong in their campaign strategy? How did they fail to know the right poll numbers? How did they fail to brainwash enough people to vote the way they wanted? How can they take back control of the news feed? How can they make use of the large young population and direct them to their future purposes? Did they spend enough money? Should the electoral college be abolished? Can the internet be controlled or news filtered to make sure people don’t read the wrong sites? They want to gain their control back and will be pulling the levers of power to work towards that end. The minions of the elite and the powerful globalists are meeting and talking and trying to figure out how to control the internet and what we see and what we can know, so they can again claim to be there for our good.

Some non-elite liberals continued in denial. Placards were raised and people chanted “Dump Trump” in the streets, as if that would accomplish anything. People cried on their social media. (10)

Zebro's sign (reading

Trump went on a thank you victory tour speaking directly to the people without need of the national press corps. (11) He continues to use Twitter to his millions of followers, which also sparks more news coverage. He continues to draw outside the lines of the approved Presidential coloring book. Elites wait for a chance to travel to Trump Tower to have a meeting and try to talk some sense into him. They leave behind advice for him in papers they’ve worked on about things like Middle East doctrine. They tell him that Assad must go and it is okay for Saudi Arabia to bomb Yemen with US cluster bombs. Henry Kissinger, Al Gore, President Obama, Madeleine Albright and many more are all hoping that Trump will take their advice. (12) (13) Meanwhile Hillary Clinton goes on walks in the New York woods doing fan selfie snaps. (14)

Some die-hard deluded liberals hoped for a coup within the Electoral College. That dream was laid to rest. There is discussion about abolishing the Electoral College, as an attempt to move the power to a “mob rule” democracy where the elites think they can control the narrative. The argument they comfort themselves with is that Hillary won the popular vote in the nation. They do not want to face the reality that Hillary did lose. If the race was run on a popular vote, then other variables would have come into play and Hillary probably still would have lost. (15)

The Electoral College system worked as it should. It did not “misfire.” The election’s outcomes were ultimately about what Americans wanted and what they did not want — not about electoral mechanics.

James E. Campbell

Donald Trump is now officially the President-Elect. Obama is winding down the last days of his administration.

(1) Business Insider: The Illusion of Choice

(2) Wikileaks: Journalists Dined at Top Clinton Staffers’ Homes Days Before Hillary’s Campaign Launch

(3) Podesta emails from Wikileaks: April 2015 DNC plans regarding the 2016 Republican presidential field

(4) Politico: They Always Wanted Trump

(5) Judith Miller – Youtube video: Media were completely shocked by Trump’s win.

Wikipedia on Judith Miller Judith Miller is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, graduate of Princeton University, and worked at New York Times etc. As of 2016, she is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

(6) NBC: Trump did had more minorities and women than Romney in 2012

(7) Gizmodo: Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

Snopes: Is Facebook censoring conservativenews

(8) Kissinger says give Trump a chance to world order elites

(9) Businessinsider: Henry Kissinger talks to China leadership about Trump

(10) Unhappy liberals still voicing their frustration in the streets and social media

(11) Donald Trump closes Thank you tour

(12) Madeleine Albright and Stephen Hadley advice for Trump on Middle East

(13) Al Gore talks to Trumps on climate change

(14) Hillary Clinton doing selfies with fans in NY woodlands

(15) Why Hillary Clinton Supporters Need to quit whining about the electoral college

James E. Campbell is a UB distinguished professor of political science at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, and is the author of “Polarized: Making Sense of a Divided America”.

Updated on 01/25/2017: