| By Bill Bonner, Chairman, Bonner & Partners So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from hell
Blue skies from pain Did you exchange
A walk-on part in the war
For a lead role in the cage – Pink Floyd BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Bad Guy Theory, BGT, was back in the news this week. It was used to justify the assassination of Qassem Suleimani. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, with a deadpan delivery, as though he had been taken over by zombies, explained the killing: “This was a bad guy… we took him off the playing field… It’s very clear that the world is a safer place.” Here at the Diary, money is our beat… not foreign policy. But nothing is “very clear” to us. Murky is the best we can do. But as we explored yesterday, when the money goes bad, almost everything seems to go bad with it – including foreign policy. At least, that’s our cloudy hypothesis. Funny money corrupts the whole society. It leads the Secretary of State, for example, to think a war zone is a “playing field.” And it turns the elected president of what is supposed to be a peace-loving democracy, into an executioner and an assassin. Not that Mr. Suleimani didn’t have it coming. But how do we know? | Recommended Link | | Important Notice: Teeka’s team just confirmed… There is still space in the pre-IPO deal detailed during FREEDOM 2020. But that might not be the case tomorrow. As Teeka revealed, things just kicked into high gear… A billionaire and legendary VC had already acquired a seven-figure stake in this pre-IPO company. If you want to join them now and potentially turn $250 into a fortune in 2020… | | | -- | Serious Business Killing people is a serious business. The Constitution requires an act of Congress before the U.S. goes to war. And it anticipated that the politicians would also find the real money to pay for it: The Congress shall have Power… To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years. – U.S. Constitution, Article I,
section 8, clauses 11–16 If you’re going to wage war, after all, you’re going to have to make sacrifices. In a civil setting, killing people isn’t easy, either. An accused man typically stands trial before he gets the death penalty. Witnesses are called. Evidence is weighed by a jury. Often, a verdict, which seemed certain at the trial’s beginning, is turned around by its end. But BGT maintains that no declaration of war is required. No trial is necessary. No jury needs to deliberate. No witnesses need to be presented. No judge needs to preside. If the president thinks you’re a “bad guy,” you’re finished. No mercy. No appeal. No pardon. | Recommended Link | | Jeff Brown’s Dirty Little Secret (historic 100% win rate… extraordinary 27,245% peak gain…) For the past few decades, Jeff has kept this a secret… A way to pinpoint, with a historic 100% accuracy, the exact moment a stock’s share price will skyrocket 314%… 2,462%… even an extraordinary 23,200%. In a matter of months. Weeks. And, in rare cases, a single day. It has nothing to do with technical indicators. Shadowing insider trades. Or anything you’ve heard of before. But it is the most predictable, certain way Jeff knows of to put an extra $128,000 in your pocket in the coming weeks… And much more in the months and years ahead. On Wednesday, January 22, at 8 p.m. ET, Jeff will reveal it all… And you’re invited to take part in it. | | | -- | Ordinary Men In the case of General Suleimani, even Trump critics agreed that he was a “bad guy.” They quibbled about Trump’s recklessness. They objected to what they saw as a foreign policy mistake. Thomas Friedman, in The New York Times, added that not only was Suleimani evil, he was stupid. And yet, when Christopher Browning studied the bad guys who exterminated Jews in WWII, he found that they were not monsters at all. They were just “ordinary men.” Similarly, when Hannah Arendt covered the Adolf Eichmann trial for The New Yorker in 1963, she discovered that the man who was charged with such horrible war crimes was “terrifyingly normal.” Most people did not appreciate Ms. Arendt’s insights. She suggested that the line between good guys and bad guys was, well, murky… and almost all guys were capable of doing bad things. Or, as we say here at the Diary, people are neither all good nor all bad… but always subject to influence. And the influence of bad money is particularly corrosive and dangerous. | Recommended Link | | Why Is John Boehner So Darn Rich? There’s no denying the former Speaker of the House is filthy rich. His current net worth is estimated at $5 million. But he could soon become even richer. All thanks to a massive bet he’s made in the legal cannabis market. | | | -- | Sinners and Saints Germany couldn’t fund its WWI spending by raising taxes. Instead, it borrowed. This left it deep in debt by the end of the war. Plus, it was forced to use its remaining gold to pay reparations to the Allies. What could it do? It printed up fake money. The German pre-war mark had been worth one ounce of gold. Before the hyperinflation was over in 1923, it took a trillion marks to buy an ounce of gold. Germany – so recently the most sophisticated and prosperous society in Europe – was ruined. And then, when a half-mad corporal came forward and blamed Germany’s collapse on bad guys – Jews, communists, “international capitalists,” and others – people listened. But how did he know the Jews were “bad guys”? And how would Donald J. Trump – former leveraged real estate speculator and reality TV star – know General Suleimani was a “bad guy”? How can he – or anyone – separate the sinners from the saints? Isn’t that what God does? Gates of Heaven Let’s imagine that we stood at the gates of Heaven on January 3, the day a U.S. airstrike killed Suleimani. There, before us, appeared the Iranian general. We interrogate him: “General, you have a long and distinguished military career. But we don’t like professional killers up here. What do you have to say for yourself?” “Well, I began my career working on a construction site, to pay off my father’s farming debts. Then, I joined the army to fight the Iraqis – who were backed by the Americans. The Iraqis had invaded Iranian territory, not the other way around. I signed up to defend my homeland. And the war was brutal. They used chemical weapons against us. Altogether about half a million people died. “I myself was seriously injured in the battle of Tariq al-Qods. “After the war was over, I continued my career in the army. For example, when you Americans asked for our help after the World Trade Center bombings – another strike by Sunni extremists – we worked with you to destroy the Taliban in Afghanistan. We also helped define Al-Qaeda targets for your bombing campaign. “But then, for reasons I don’t understand, George W. Bush named Iran as part of the ‘Axis of Evil.’ He said we were bad guys, and the cooperation came to an end. This was especially strange to us, because all of the terrorists involved in 9/11 were Sunni jihadists. Al-Qaeda, too. And ISIS. And the Taliban. “And we’re Shia. We were fighting against the Sunni terrorists, not with them. “Later, I was given the task of supporting our allies in the region. For example, I helped the Kurds fight against the ISIS terrorists. I helped the Syrian government fight against terrorists. And I helped the Iraqis against their American invaders.” “But General, Mr. Trump says you are a terrorist who deserved to be killed. How do you respond to that?” “I am just a soldier, doing my duty as best as I could. “Mr. Trump had heel spurs, remember. He never put on a uniform. Never was in combat. Never was wounded. How can he judge me? “And who’s the terrorist here? He killed me. I didn’t kill him. He has his troops all around Iran… bombing… droning… assassinating. Do we have our soldiers in Mexico? Did we invade Canada? “The American CIA overthrew the democratically elected government of my country in 1953. It was called “Operation Ajax.” Did Iran ever bring about a coup in the U.S? “The U.S. has invaded 42 different countries since its founding in 1776. Iran? None. “The U.S. has nuclear bombs. Iran agreed not to make nuclear weapons. The U.S. is also the only country ever to use atomic weapons in war; it killed some 185,000 women and children in Japan with them. “Who’s the terrorist? Who’s the Bad Guy?” Bad Guy Theory makes it sound so easy. But only Heaven knows. Regards, Bill Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to feedback@bonnerandpartners.com. FEATURED READS Michael Bloomberg Says He’ll Take on Trump With the Economy
Despite the president’s assertions that the economy is “the best it has ever been,” Bill showed in November why that isn’t really the case. Now, Bloomberg is running his 2020 presidential campaign on building a stronger, more prosperous economy for everyone, including the communities he says Trump has left behind… More Mixed Signals in an Uncertain Economy
We can view the health of the economy through multiple lenses, such as job numbers or the manufacturing sector. In this uncertain economy, one way to gauge future growth or decline is by looking at the Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Managers Index… and it’s currently signaling contraction. Read on for three other mixed signals you should keep an eye on… How Killing Iran’s Suleimani Will Impact Oil Prices
This week Casey Research Group chief analyst Nick Giambruno discusses turmoil in the Middle East, specifically the killing of Iran general Qassem Suleimani, and what we can expect next for oil… MAILBAG Strong words from Dear Readers after Bill exposed America’s two most disastrous mistakes of the 21st century: perpetual war and perpetual fake-money inflation… Your lack of foresight and appreciation of reality is frankly astounding, if not surprising. In particular, this bit sticks out: “But the U.S. is neither indispensable nor exceptional. Americans are like all the rest of the world’s bipeds – subject to vanity, delusions of grandeur, and imbecility…” If you don’t consider the U.S. exceptional for a variety of positive reasons on the world stage, then it’s time you hang it up and stop trying to garner “followers” with what I can only describe as juvenile pseudo-intellectual rhetoric. You know, like when we were college students and thought we knew everything? Yeah, that’s it: you’re misguided (at least “mixed up”) and, ironically, exactly exhibiting the three traits you list above. To wit: “We usually accuse others of what we fear and don’t like to see in ourselves.” – Michael P. I note a growing tone of cynicism that I believe is overdone. Americans… even in this “new age”… are much more resilient than just about everyone believes… including sometimes myself. As for the “mistake” of invading Iraq… the most important mistake was underestimating the effort involved to win that battle decisively early on. Had our defense chiefs and military committed resources necessary, the vast majority of commentators would now say how “brilliant” was our decision to fight the enemy… which is what I am sure was the intent. Had we taken out Suleimani and others like him 15 years ago… we would be in much better shape relative to global affairs. Though I agree with the basic thrust of your win-win concept… please acknowledge that such an ideal has never occurred here on earth at any time without much “static” going on all around. We have to deal with reality. – John M. But not all Dear Readers see eye to eye with Michael and John… Excellent analysis of our current mess. The only way to solve the current crisis is to go back to the gold standard worldwide, write off the current personal and national debt, and eliminate the Federal Reserve! The new U.S. currency would be issued by the U.S. Treasury. We go to a value-added tax of 17-20% on all new goods purchased, with food and medicine being exempt. This would also allow us to eliminate the IRS!! I don’t believe we can have a Universal Health Care because the government can’t even run the current VA health system. I would consider privatizing the system using a Kaiser Health-type system and put it out for bids! – Robert R. The war on terror, the war on poverty, and the war on any other indefinable enemy is simply a war on the freedom of the American people. They take our freedoms to fund these wars, which then take more of our freedoms in the name of safety, national security, free health care, free education, basic income for everyone, etc. More than half my minimum wage is seized to pay a plethora of taxes to fund these “wars” and handouts. That is slavery, not freedom. The only free people in this country are the rich because they can buy their way out of the slavery the rest of us are suffering. – Linda H. Is going back on the gold standard the only way out of economic turmoil, as Robert argues? Has the “War on Terror” impacted you financially, as it has for Linda? Write us at feedback@bonnerandpartners.com. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… Watch Teeka Tiwari’s FREEDOM 2020! Before you cast your ballot this November, there’s an even more important decision heading your way. A small group of Americans will be exposed to a pre-IPO deal that could literally change their lives, overnight. The chance to make $250,000 – even $500,000 to $1,000,000 or more – is definitely there. Click Here To Watch FREEDOM 2020 for FREE. 
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