Exclusive: Once a Washington groupthink takes hold, as it has in the fervent belief about Russia-gate, respect for facts and logic fly out the window since all these important people can’t be wrong, writes Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
A curious feature about the Russia-gate “scandal” is that its proponents ignore the growing number of moments when their evidence undercuts their narrative. Instead, they press ahead toward a predetermined destination in much the way that true-believing conspiracy theorists are known to do.
The New York Times building in Manhattan. (Photo credit: Robert Parry)
For instance, The New York Times ran a story on Monday, entitled “Operative Offered Trump Campaign Access to Putin,” detailing how a conservative operative “told a Trump adviser that he could arrange a back-channel meeting between Donald J. Trump and Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, according to an email sent to the Trump campaign” — and apparently described to the Times by a helpful source on Capitol Hill.
The Times quoted the email from National Rifle Association member Paul Erickson to Trump campaign adviser Rick Dearborn as saying, “Putin is deadly serious about building a good relationship with Mr. Trump. … [Putin] wants to extend an invitation to Mr. Trump to visit him in the Kremlin before the election.”
An NRA conference in Louisville, Kentucky, was supposed to be the location for the “first contact” between the Russians and the Trump campaign, according to the email.
The Times treated its new information as further confirmation of nefarious connections between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Immediately after introducing this May 2016 email, which had the subject line, ”Kremlin Connection,” the Times reprised the background of former FBI Director Robert Mueller conducting a special-prosecutor investigation into “Russian interference in the election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.”
Note how the Times’ reference to “Russian interference” was treated as flat fact although the Times still hedges on “possible collusion” between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign. Like much of the U.S. mainstream media, the Times no longer bothers to use “alleged” in front of “Russian interference” even though no solid evidence of a coordinated Kremlin effort has been presented.
But there is a bigger problem with this “scoop”: If the Russia-gate narrative were correct – that the Kremlin had identified Trump years earlier as a likely U.S. president and undertook a multi-year campaign to bribe and blackmail him to be Moscow’s Manchurian candidate or Putin’s “puppet” as Hillary Clinton charged – the Russians wouldn’t need some little-known “conservative operative” to serve as an intermediary in May 2016 to set up a back-channel meeting.
The Contradiction
In other words, assuming that the Times’ story is correct, the email suggests the opposite of the impression that the Times wants its readers to get. The email is either meaningless in that it led to no actual meeting or it contradicts the storyline about a longstanding Russian operation to plant a patsy in the White House.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7, 2017. (Screen shot from Whitehouse.gov)
Times reporter Nicholas Fandos noted that it was unclear what Dearborn did in response to this overture, although the Times reported that Dearborn had forwarded a similar proposal by Christian conservative activist Rick Clay to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who rebuffed the offer.
On Monday, I read the rest of the Times email story looking for some acknowledgement of the problems with its implied scenario, but found none. Fandos made references to other low-level efforts by Russians to make contact with Trump’s advisers (without noticeable success, I might add), but again these examples actually run counter to the image of Trump as the Kremlin’s prized chump.
If Putin had several years ago foreseen what no one else did – that Trump would become the U.S. president – then these ad hoc contacts with members of Trump’s entourage in 2016 would not have been needed.
The Times’ scoop parallels the story of the plea deal that Russia-gate prosecutors struck with low-level Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos who admitted lying about his contacts with an obscure academic in Stirling, Scotland, who supposedly offered to be another intermediary between Trump’s team and the Kremlin.
According to court documents, Papadopoulos, a 30-year-old campaign aide, got to know a professor of international relations who claimed to have “substantial connections with Russian government officials,” with the professor identified in press reports as Joseph Mifsud, who is associated with the University of Stirling.
The first contact between Mifsud and Papadopoulos supposedly occurred in mid-March 2016 in Italy, with a second meeting in London on March 24 when the professor purportedly introduced Papadopoulos to a Russian woman whom the young campaign aide believed to be Putin’s niece, an assertion that Mueller’s investigators determined wasn’t true.
Trump, who then was under pressure for not having a foreign policy team, included Papadopoulos as part of a list drawn up to fill that gap, and Papadopoulos participated in a campaign meeting on March 31 in Washington at which he suggested a meeting between Trump and Putin, a prospect that other senior aides reportedly slapped down.
In other words, at least based on the reporting about the Dearborn email and the Papadopoulos overture, there is no reason to believe that Trump was colluding with Moscow or had any significant relationship at all.
If these developments point to anything, it is to the opposite; that Russia was fishing for some contacts with what – however implausibly – was starting to look like a possible future U.S. president, but with whom they were not well-connected.
Gotcha Moments
There have been similar problems with other Russia-gate “gotcha” moments, such as disclosures of a possible Trump hotel deal in Moscow with Mikhail Fridman of Russia’s Alfa Bank. Though Trump’s presumed financial tie-ins to Russian oligarchs close to Putin were supposed to be fundamental to the Russia-gate narrative, the outcome of the hotel deal turned out to be a big nothing.
Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn speaks at the Defense Intelligence Agency change of directorship at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, July 24, 2012.(DoD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo)
One source knowledgeable about the proposed deal told me it fell apart because Trump was willing to put little on the table beyond the branding value of the Trump name. However, if Putin were actually trying to buy Trump’s loyalty, money presumably would have been no obstacle. Indeed, you would think that the more money used to line Trump’s pockets the better. But the hotel deal collapsed; there is no Trump hotel in Moscow.
Other Russia-gate cases are equally disconnected from what had been the original narrative about senior Russians spending years cultivating Trump as their Manchurian candidate.
The accusations against Trump’s onetime campaign chief Paul Manafort focus on his alleged failure to report income from — and pay taxes on — work that he did for the elected government of Ukraine before any involvement in the Trump campaign.
Last week’s guilty plea from former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn related to purportedly false statements and omissions that he made when questioned by FBI agents about calls to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition, i.e., after Trump had been elected.
Despite the breathless coverage on MSNBC and the Times’ excited headlines about how the “inquiry grows,” there remain other core problems for the narrative. No matter how often the U.S. mainstream media asserts the suspicion of Russian “hacking” of Democratic emails as flat fact, no solid proof has yet been presented – and the claim has been denied by both the Russian government and WikiLeaks, which published the key emails.
Sleight of Hand
The Times and other mainstream media outlets play their sleight of hand on this key point by asserting that “U.S. intelligence agencies” have “concluded” that Russian intelligence services “hacked” the emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton’s campaign chief John Podesta, but that summary ignores the specifics.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, Arizona. March 21, 2016. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)
First of all, by using this summary of the facts, the Times and other outlets continue to give the false impression that all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies concurred in the conclusion, a false claim that Hillary Clinton and the mainstream press have asserted over and over, although it is now clear that no such consensus ever existed.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified that the Jan. 6 report on alleged Russian interference was produced by “hand-picked” analysts from only three organizations: the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency.
And, even those “hand-picked” analysts stipulated that they were not asserting Russian guilt as fact but only as their best guess. They included the disclaimer: “Judgments are not intended to imply that we have proof that shows something to be a fact. Assessments are based on collected information, which is often incomplete or fragmentary, as well as logic, argumentation, and precedents.”
Even New York Times reporter Scott Shane initially noted the absence of evidence, writing: “What is missing from the public report is what many Americans most eagerly anticipated: hard evidence to back up the agencies’ claims that the Russian government engineered the election attack. … Instead, the message from the agencies essentially amounts to ‘trust us.’”
Former senior U.S. intelligence officials, including the NSA’s ex-technical director William Binney, have raised further doubts about whether a “hack” occurred. Binney conducted tests on download speeds and determined that the extraction of one known batch of Democratic emails was not possible over the Internet, but did match the speed of a USB download onto a thumb drive, suggesting a leak from a Democratic insider.
So, rather than the many disparate strings of Russia-gate coming neatly together more than a year after last year’s election, the various threads either are becoming hopelessly tangled or flying off in different directions.
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com).
Why are you making this issue so complicated? Anyone observing Mr. Putin can tell that he is a professional, personable, intelligent, acts with deliberation, has great integrity, and a strong character whereas Mr. Trump is a manipulative con artist with little to no integrity, is a bloviating egocentric, impulsively insulting of others, and very unstable. If anyone was inclined to collusive dealing, it was Trump, not Putin. If you doubt me, check with the Europeans who deal with both men. If Trump didn’t inherit a prime fiat currency, his buffoonery would get him laughed ou of the room.
I just started reading the book, “Collusion” by Luke Harding, It is really rather revealing, but not in the way that Mr. Harding probably intended it to be. It is a slick propaganda piece, and those who follow foreign affairs will immediately recognize such quasi-intelligence entities as Freedom House and Chatham House as dubious sources of the truth, especially since Sir Andrew Wood (cited by Harding), is an associate of Christopher Steele (of the “Steele Dossier”) and of Steele’s likely SIS (MI6) spinoff spy agency, Orbis Business Intelligence, Ltd. But not everyone is as dumb as the crew over at the New York Times, the New Yorker, and WAPO. What good little lap dogs all.
It is old news that Trump has been doing business with the Red Maffiya for three decades – his mentor was the amoral mob-lawyer Roy Cohn. Trump is the head of his own crime family. The Don has a very likely history of funding illegal drug trades, laundering criminal profits through his casinos and real estate businesses, and he has been accused as one of the rapist of a woman, who fourteen years old, at the time, and who has two corroborating witnesses. The brutal rape took place at Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, where she and her witnesses maintain that Epstein raped her too.
Nevertheless, are we supposed to believe that with the coordination of the “Five Eyes” system of digital spying that is overseen by the NSA and GCHQ that Putin would have been stupid enough to have attempted to do what is claimed by the MSM, i.e., to rig the 2016 election in Trump’s favor? That is simply a load of boob-bait for the bubbas.
The Deep State will continue to call the shots! Do yourself a favor and buy a copy of these two books: “The Nebula: A Political Murder Traces back to the NWO’s Absolute Power” by Walter J. Baeyens and “Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia” by Paul L. Williams, but before you do that please read the following online dissertation: CIA and the Narcotics Trade SCRBD. This brief gem is free of charge and loaded with a fantastic bibliography. It will give you plenty of material to discuss over holiday dinner: Enjoy!
House representative, (R) Jim Jordan asked FBI official Christopher Wray in house testimony today whether recently demoted FBI agent Bruce Orr met with Fusion GPS and former British intelligence official Robert Steele. Jordan went on to ask Wray if the FBI then used the infamous dirty and phony dossier Steele created as a document the FBI presented to the FISA court as an excuse to spy on the Trump campaign.
Wray refused to answer all questions related to the Steele dossier and its suspected use as the instrument used to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on Trump.
Wray also refused to answer questions concerning FBI agent Peter Strzok who also allegedly met with James Steele and discussed and promoted the fabricated Steele dossier. Strozk is also believed to have changed the wording of the Clinton email probe conclusion from grossly negligent to extremely negligent well before the investigation was complete. Sadly only Fox news is covering these house inquiries.
The hard-core right-wing U.S.-based NRA (which even has Russian citizens as members) is up to it’s assault rifle neck in Trump-Russiagate.
Abe,was clinton selected too?She was one that msm should be a landslide.
All quoted things are true.It should why a sheeple was blinded to the truth?Hasbara?
“1000 percent” Israel-Firster Trump was appointed to help save Netanyahu’s nuts from roasting on an open fire.
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Netanyahu-There-is-no-peace-that-doesnt-include-Jlem-as-Israels-capital-517224
However, as Russia-gate morphs into Israel-gate, the frost is definitely nipping at Trump’s orange nose.
Any Trump-brokered “deal” for Middle East peace is now dead on arrival. But that’s just fine.
Netanyahu doesn’t want peace. He wants lots more weapons and aid, and one more war.
Washington’s MIC were making soooo much money on Russia being the enemy that now they need to spread more money around to the Media corporations, Think tanks, USG trolls, University propagandists, Google, Facebook, Intel agencies and any other person, place or thing that will join the Propaganda Program. Capitalism has No boundaries when it comes to spreading the Taxpayers money – as long as they, the USG and friends, get the millions, billions and trillions – They never deserve. Those conversations between Flynn and the RU. Ambassador should be played non-stop on the MSM , so that the public can make their own mind up , as to what is collusion and what is a normal diplomatic conversation – Never Happen though – SNAFU until the American public gets awakened.
Grand armanents require two types of enemies. One is grand, and so far, China is less credible in this respect than Russia. Moreover, the web of mercantile dependencies between China and USA makes it awkward to declare it as the official enemy — forcing Apple to move its production somewhere else is very bothersome for Apple, and the full list of companies that would be affected is very long. So Russia it is. The second type is required for anti-missile weapons that cannot possible work against Russia — Russia is capable of improving her missiles to be beyond the current capabilities of anti-missiles, can overwhelm the defense by sheer number of projectiles etc. etc. But there is some plausibility of those system working adequately against North Koreans and Iranians, so these two countries are necessary on the list of enemies.
With luck, USA can scare the allies into large purchases of overpriced hardware etc. That requires money, so it helps to scare the petro-monarchs of the Persian Gulf. Note that “securing oil supplies” makes very little sense: Western hemisphere is self-sufficient in oil, and whoever controls a part of the Gulf region — or any region with oil — is keenly interested in selling it. But a protection racket in the Gulf is very lucrative, and this is a fully sufficient reason to declare the region as central to US interest (it helps to dearly love a weeny-teeny country within the region to exterminate all sceptics of our “profound interests”).
Scaring Japan, South Korea etc. is also a good business.
Replacing arms with other type of government purchases is troublesome because American political system is not friendly to investments that can actually help the citizens. Russia can expand subway systems, build huge bridges (well, one bridge), improve highways in Siberia AND upgrade weapon systems. And thus props industries, preventing cities in the country side from breaking down. China invests gazillions in the infratructure (as did Japan). In USA, the largest subways system is on the verge of total collapse.
WaPo headline today: “Trump to Recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital; Drawing Backlash.” When are stupid Americans going to realize what country is really interfering in our politics and dictating our foreign policy – along with our BFFs the Saudis, of course. This strategic catastrophe will further embolden the evangelicals, who will view it as a step along the road to the Second Coming. Every day, I unfold my newspaper or go online and wonder if it can get any worse, and sure enough, it does.
“… more than a year after the election, we still have exactly zero evidence of any cooperation between the Trump campaign and the Russian government—nor, it must be repeated, any evidence to back up US intelligence officials’ claims that the Russian government meddled in the election…. What we do have is evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Israel to subvert the US government’s official position at the United Nations Security Council” (Aaron Maté, in The Nation, 5 Dec).
As Americans love to ask: Where’s the outrage?
How many times are you going to write this article? You have basically been writing the same article for months. I have been coming here less and less lately, primarily because I am reading the same things over and over again.
Anyone who is receptive to your argument here has already heard it many times, so what is the point?
Since the odious deep state propaganda campaign is continuing, and new phony wrinkles as documented in the article continue to be propagated, the exposure has to be ongoing.
Would it be a safe assumption that the folks who read him regularly are already aware of the situation? Do we need to have it reinforced every few days? Does everything in your life require that you are reminded of it every few days, just to make sure you dont start “not understanding”?
While I will admit that occasionally I need reminding of some aspect or another on a particular subject, for the most part once I “know” something, until contradictory information comes along refuting that knowledge, I dont need to be reminded that I know it.
Mr. Parry runs this site on donations, correct? If you donated a dollar to a guy to play the jukebox and he played the same song repeatedly, how long would you continue to donate your dollar to him? Also, having donated a dollar for the jukebox, do I have a right to complain about the content, or does that make me a troll and someone who has “a remedial hearing issue”? h/t Abe
Year end troll roster (Week 1):
“I will admit that occasionally I need reminding” – “David Fisher”
“Its always worth reminding people” – “john wilson”
“Very drunk sorry” – “David Kinnie”
Note how all three clowns are curiously preoccupied with the topic of “donation” and loudly proclaim their “reading” preferences.
Surely it’s all just coincidence.
How many times are you going to write this gripe, David Fisher?
Evidently you have been struggling with a remedial reading issue or an attention deficit disorder for months.
Reading actual investigative journalism does require a capacity for sustained attention and the ability to process detailed information.
Everyone who is familiar with internet trolls has already heard your grumble many times.
If you can’t identify the point in an argument or the value of sustained investigative analysis, the New York Times, Washington Post, Bellingcat, and any “First Draft” coalition “partner” should suit you just fine.
Obviously you have been going there more and more lately.
Care to point out where I have written this “gripe” before? What new information was in this article, that hasnt been pointed out before, by Mr. Parry?
I love how you call me a troll, impugn my reading ability, and assume I read a rag like the NYT. Simply because I pointed out the simple fact that he has written this article twice a week for months. If you could point out how what I stated is simply not true, then you might have a point concerning the troll or reading ability.
Otherwise, go fuck yourself.
Simply stated, while this article may be repetitive to you as a recurring visitor to this site, many new visitors will be reading Bob’s content for the first time. And, It is often necessary to reiterate certain content to put new information into context.
You’re like a roadie complaining that the band keeps playing the same songs night after night. But the audience in each town feels as though they are seeing the show for the first time.
Comrade “David Fisher”
You impugn this site and its editor with your gutter variety troll “gripe” about “reminding”.
The simple fact is what you stated is not true.
You are welcome to retract your false statements and apologize to folks here.
Otherwise…
What the troll “David Fisher” stated simply is not true.
Let’s point out the simple facts.
In numerous special reports during the past months, Consortium News Editor Robert Parry has examined several different news stories, including multiple angles, ongoing developments and new information in the Russia-gate melodrama.
Here is a list of the past three months of CN exclusives by Parry:
The Tangled Threads of Russia-gate (December 5, 2017)
– Once a Washington groupthink takes hold, as it has in the fervent belief about Russia-gate, respect for facts and logic fly out the window since all these important people can’t be wrong.
The Scalp-Taking of Gen. Flynn (December 1, 2017)
– The Russia-gate prosecutors have taken the scalp of ex- National Security Adviser (and retired Lt. Gen.) Flynn for lying to the FBI. But this case shows how dangerously far afield this “scandal” has gone.
The Lost Journalistic Standards of Russia-gate (November 20, 2017)
– The Russia-gate hysteria has witnessed a widespread collapse of journalistic standards as major U.S. news outlets ignore rules about how to treat evidence in dispute.
Russia-gate Spreads to Europe (November 16, 2017)
– The Russia-gate hysteria has jumped the Atlantic with Europeans blaming Russia for Brexit and Catalonian discontent. But what about Israeli influence operations or, for that matter, American ones.
America’s Righteous Russia-gate Censorship (November 14, 2017)
– Arriving behind the anti-Trump “resistance” and the Russia-gate “scandal” is a troubling readiness to silence dissent in the U.S., shutting down information that challenges Official Narratives.
Did Al Qaeda Dupe Trump on Syrian Attack? (November 9, 2017)
– Buried deep inside a new U.N. report is evidence that could exonerate the Syrian government in the April 4 sarin atrocity and make President Trump look like an Al Qaeda dupe, reports Robert Parry.
Trump and Democrats Misread Mandates (November 8, 2017)
– Neither the Democrats nor President Trump learned the right lessons from the 2016 election, leaving the nation divided at home and bogged down in wars abroad.
Learning to Love McCarthyism (November 6, 2017)
– Many American liberals who once denounced McCarthyism as evil are now learning to love the ugly tactic when it can be used to advance the Russia-gate “scandal” and silence dissen.
Sorting Out the Russia Mess (October 31, 2017)
– The U.S. mainstream media finally has its “smoking gun” on Russia-gate — incriminating information from a junior Trump campaign adviser — but a closer look reveals serious problems with the “evidence”.
Guardians of the Magnitsky Myth (October 28, 2017)
– In pursuit of Russia-gate, the U.S. mainstream media embraces any attack on Russia and works to ensure that Americans don’t hear the other side of the story, as with the Magnitsky myth.
Russia-gate Breeds ‘Establishment McCarthyism’ (October 26, 2017)
– As Russia-gate gives cover for an Establishment attack on Internet freedom and independent news, traditional defenders of a free press and civil liberties are joining the assault or staying on the sidelines.
What Did Hillary Clinton Know? (October 25, 2017)
– With the disclosure that Hillary Clinton’s campaign helped pay for the original Russia-gate allegations against Donald Trump, a new question arises: what did Clinton know and when did she know it.
Man Bites Dog: NYT Does Journalism (October 19, 2017)
– When the Trump administration blamed Cuba for a “sonic attack” on U.S. diplomats, a New York Times reporter did something unusual for his newspaper: he tried objectively to assess the evidence.
Blaming Russia for the Internet ‘Sewer’ (October 18, 2017)
– As the Russia-gate hysteria spirals down from the implausible to the absurd, almost every bad thing is blamed on the Russians, even how they turned the previously pristine Internet into a “sewer”.
How Netanyahu Pulls Trump’s Strings (October 15, 2017)
– It turns out that Hillary Clinton was partly correct: President Trump is a “puppet,” but his puppet master isn’t Russian President Putin but Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The Legacy of Reagan’s Civilian ‘Psyops’ (October 13, 2017)
– When the Reagan administration launched peacetime “psyops” in the mid-1980s, it pulled in civilian agencies to help spread these still-ongoing techniques of deception and manipulation.
Russia-gate Jumps the Shark (October 10, 2017)
– Russia-gate has jumped the shark with laughable new claims about a tiny number of “Russia-linked” social media ads, but the U.S. mainstream media is determined to keep a straight face.
President Zigzag (October 6, 2017)
– President Trump boasts about his “zigzag” foreign policy as if inconsistency is an attribute in dealing with a fragile world, but his zigzagging endangers backchannel intermediaries handling outreach to North Korea.
The Mystery of the Russia-gate Puppies (October 4, 2017)
– The U.S. mainstream media is determined to prove Russia-gate despite the scandal’s cracking foundation and its inexplicable anomalies, such as why Russia would set up a Facebook “puppies” page.
How 2nd Amendment Distortions Kill (October 3, 2017)
– The Las Vegas massacre underscores the intellectual dishonesty of the “gun rights” lobby, which falsifies Second Amendment history and pretends armed citizens could shoot back to stop slaughters.
The Slimy Business of Russia-gate (September 28, 2017)
– As the U.S. government doles out tens of millions of dollars to “combat Russian propaganda,” one result is a slew of new “studies” by “scholars” and “researchers” auditioning for the loot.
The Rise of the New McCarthyism (September 26, 2017)
– As the New McCarthyism takes hold in America, the neocon Washington Post makes Russia the villain in virtually every bad thing that happens, with U.S. dissidents treated as “fellow-travelers”.
WPost Pushes More Dubious Russia-bashing (September 25, 2017)
– The Washington Post has published another front-page story about Russia maybe placing some ads on Facebook, but the article violates a host of journalistic principles in hyping its case.
What We Do – and Why (September 25, 2017)
– Honest journalism is vital to a genuine democracy. But what we’ve seen from the U.S. mainstream media – of which I was a part for many years – is something dangerously far from honest.
The Crazy Imbalance of Russia-gate (September 22, 2017)
If the U.S. government and mainstream media are really concerned about foreign influence in American politics, they might look at Israel and other nations with much more clout than Russia.
Trump Falls in Line with Interventionism (September 19, 2017)
– President Trump’s U.N. speech showed that despite his America First rhetoric, his policies are virtually the same as the neocon strategies of George W. Bush and liberal interventionism of Barack Obama.
Harvard’s Cowardice on Chelsea Manning (September 17, 2017)
– In an abject display of intellectual cowardice, Harvard’s Kennedy School withdrew a fellowship from Chelsea Manning after hearing protests from accomplices in the war crimes she exposed.
The NYT’s Yellow Journalism on Russia (September 15, 2017)
– The New York Times’ descent into yellow journalism over Russia recalls the sensationalism of Hearst and Pulitzer leading to the Spanish-American War, but the
Reagan Documents Shed Light on U.S. ‘Meddling’ (September 13, 2017)
– “Secret” documents from the Reagan administration show how the U.S. embedded “political action,” i.e., the manipulation of foreign governments, in ostensibly well-meaning organizations.
Has the NYT Gone Collectively Mad? (September 11, 2017)
– Crossing a line from recklessness into madness, The New York Times published a front-page opus suggesting that Russia was behind social media criticism of Hillary Clinton.
Early Fall Fund Drive Target: $35,000 (September 11, 2017)
– We are setting our Early Fall Fund Drive target at $35,000, an amount needed to continue our independent journalism which has been challenging misguided conventional wisdom for almost 22 years.
Echoes of Iraq-WMD Fraud in Syria (September 10, 2017)
– Just as the West ignored signs in 2002-03 that anti-government Iraqis were fabricating WMD claims, evidence is being brushed aside that Syrian jihadists have ginned up chemical attacks.
U.N. Enablers of ‘Aggressive War’ (September 8, 2017)
– U.N. investigative reports, like a new one condemning Syria for alleged sarin use, are received as impartial and credible, but are often just more war propaganda from compromised bureaucrats.
A New Hole in Syria-Sarin Certainty (September 7, 2017)
– A new contradiction has emerged in the West’s groupthink blaming Syria for an April 4 chemical attack, with one group of U.N. investigators raising doubt about the flight of a Syrian warplane.
How ‘Regime Change’ Wars Led to Korea Crisis (September 4, 2017)
– The U.S.-led aggressions against Iraq and Libya are two war crimes that keep on costing, with their grim examples of what happens to leaders who get rid of WMDs driving the scary showdown with North Korea.
Russia-gate’s Totalitarian Style (September 2, 2017)
– The New York Times is at it again, reporting unproven allegations about Russia as flat fact, while anyone who questions the Russia-gate groupthink faces ugly attacks.
The troll “gripe” that “he has written this article twice a week for months” is false.
Tucker Carlson had a good opening on Monday night re the F.B.I. going rogue. At the 5:25 mark, a former U.S. attorney for D.C. speaks about how the Bureau has been politicized.
At 9:35, Tucker speaks with Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch who had to sue the F.B.I. to obtain documents. Fitton discusses getting documents re the “accidental” tarmac meeting between Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton, how the F.B.I. were more concerned with finding out who the whistle blowers were than with the actual meeting. He sees a significant crisis not only at the F.B.I., but also at the Justice Department, as they are refusing to hand over documents to him. He says the Clinton investigation needs to be reopened, and the Mueller investigation needs to be shut down until they can figure out how badly it’s been compromised.
At 20:47, Tucker speaks about the Supreme Court upholding Trump’s travel ban. The Federal Courts and the Department of Justice (unelected) are attempting to override the President and Congress (elected). Democracy is being turned upside down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQYb-VBkiKY
My goodness. I’d like to support Mr Parry on his website or his home with $20 OR SO; sorry capslock but $10 ACLU/month is not even most I can do but also at end of a month I’m stretching $3, and eating only other day. More than most.
Media of reality is thwarted. North, South, Southwest…
And I meant–obviously this article should be viewed by millions of complicit Americans, and Journalists, and any monks in an ether cloud who could record facts instead of BS. Maybe The Watcher (Marvel comics version). Anyway…
Very drunk sorry. Occurs, as being alcoholic.
But just wow, of CNN and MSNBC and FOX and INTERCEPT and ALTERNET who all just chose to be safe and afk complicit.
Hi Dave: never feel embarrassed to send in a small amount because its the number of small amounts that add up. Retail moguls are multi millionaires on the basis of a few dollars that the public spent on small items. May I respectfully suggest you imbibe far less of the fire water and then you would have funds for other more worthwhile things and do your health as bit of good as well.
My goodness. Intelligent people understand “David Kinnie” is a troll.
But just wow, “john wilson”. May I respectfully suggest you imbibe far less of the Hasbara fire water.
Well put Robert Perry
The whole charade has become a fait encomplit. The masters of the universe have got what they wanted. The y have pulled aJoseph Goebbels on the sheeple. No evidence no ties only lies. From Yugoslavia,9/11,WMDs Libya,Yemen and Syria. Tell a lie enough times use goup think and confirmation bias enough times and voila the lie becomes fact and the fact becomes modus operandi in order to further your nefarious agenda. Just think about how successful they have become since Yugoslavian civil war. The military industrial complex has increased their sales since then and further more with Trump the frump new arenas will emerge of nefarious conflicts. Just look at recent bellicose arenas like the Philippines and Myanmar just to mention a few and then let us not forget the grand daddy of them all the Iranian and DPRK. More obfuscation from reality just to ratchet up the war industry . The fraudulent stockmarket the aging infrastructure the widest wage gap now superseding the Gilded age. Further more let us make Russia our enemy.
The sad reality is Tolstoi was rite “HISTORY WOULD BE A WONDERFUL THING IF ONLY IT WAS TRUE”. The west is knee deep in having created the post Reagen disasters of the 20and 21st century. Their hands are all over it they can use plausible deniability as much as they want but any individual with a scintilla of grey matter and with the capacity to discern with honesty recent history can smell a rat. Hence to Perry’s article what the recent Flynn fiasco have proven is that Russia gate should be rebranded with total honesty and it should be called Israeli gate.
It seems Flynn’s case can now be DISMISSED due to what is called a GIGLIO VIOLATION–the fact that the rogue FBI agent who was one of the main witnesses against him was dismissed for his unethical/biased actions should have been disclosed to Flynn’s Defense Attorney and if it wasn’t the whole case should be thrown out!!! It’s a Constitutional Violation it seems and is Prosecutorial Misconduct by Mueller and if it wasn’t Flynn’s case may now be thrown out completely….US Supreme Court Case!
So, Mr. Parry, do you think it’s a good idea for Trump to hire Erik Prince and Blackwater, as is being proposed, for his private intel / black ops force supposedly to combat “DeepState” enemies of Trump? The stink of Gestapo is overpowering.
I think it’d be a good idea for Trump to have backchannels to bypass the Deep State for foreign diplomacy, but I’d choose Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. Fighting stink with more stink is never a good idea.
One could only say that the scientific approach to determine the validity of Russia-gate certainly wasn’t implemented here, which is truly an understatement. Biased investigators, based on circumstantial evidence come up with a best guess? Then the mass media pushes it to a public uninformed in the scientific approach buys it. Perfect!
That Russia would think that Trump would be elected president one day would truly speak to a remarkable sense of clairvoyance, the likes of which I have never heard before.
He is designating Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. I hope they impeach him, not for Russia-gate, but for being an Israeli stooge.
Russiagate Becomes Israelgate
Who was corrupting the American political system?
PHILIP GIRALDI • DECEMBER 5, 2017 •
http://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/russiagate-becomes-israelgate/
Moderate what? A link to an article written by Philp Giraldi. You have to update what ever it it is that moderates comments, Mr. Parry. It’s insulting!
Ive really had it with all this nonsense. The Olympic event today sealed it. .We need to understand this will never ever stop until we collectively get off our asses. The media lies to the extent at which eventually lives will be lost and it may be someone close to you. Or you !! Time to take the kid gloves off and let these bastards in the media know, , there will be consequences.. They do it because they assume we are too docile. Maybe its time for a million leaflets strewn around a large metro city with valuable survival info like……Wanna wage battles with info? Fine 2 can play that game. (Perry your a treasure)
Here’s 30 facts about 9/11 most don’t know. 1. The Project for a New American Century was written in Israel in 1996 under the name – A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm. Requires a new Pearl Harbor for their plan. 2. Zionist Jew Silverstein purchased WTC 6 weeks prior. First time the WTC was ever put into Private Hands. Friends with Israeli Prime Ministers & Intelligence Services, along with Fed Reserve President & World Bank Presidents. 3. Zionist Jew Frank Lowy paid $127 million in May 2001 for a 99-year lease on the retail area beneath the New York World Trade Center. Member of the Golani Brigade & fought in the Israeli war of independence. 4. Zionist Jew Ronald S. Lauder was key individual who lobbied for the privatization of the WTC. Lauder has funded a school for the Mossad in Herzliya, Israel. 5. Airline Security Company at BOTH the Boston & Newark airports on 9-11 was a wholly-owned subsidiary of an Israeli company (ICTS). Most employees were ex- Shin Bet Israeli agents. 6. Security at the WTC was run by Kroll Associates, owned by Jules Kroll & Jerome Hauer (BOTH Jews). Hauers mother involved in the creation & maintenance of the State of Israel. 7. Zionist Jew Philip Zelikow (Jewish Dual Citizen of Israel) wrote the fraudulent 9 11 Commission Report. 8. Zionist Jew, Richard Perle, Chairman of Pentagons Defense Policy Board, was expelled from Sen. Henry Jacksons office in the 1970s after NSA caught him passing highly classified documents to Israel. 9. Dual Israeli citizen Michael Chertoff was assistant attorney general for the criminal division of the Justice Department; later, Director of Homeland Security. 10. Israeli messaging service Odigo sent AT LEAST 2 Israelis prior warnings on 9 11, 2 hours prior to attack. Odigo has offices in New York & in Herzliya, Israel. Herzliya happens to be the Head Quarters of Mossad. 11. Zionist Jew Pete Zalewski was the air traffic controller responsible for 2 of the planes on 911 & another plane full of top Pakistani military officials whose plane (Egyptian Fl990) crashed 2 years prior to 911. 12. Israeli Mossad Jews caught & arrested filming & celebrating WTC prior to & after 1st plane hits WTC. Jumping up & down, lighting lighters & holding them up in air. 13. Ted Olsen’s wife supposedly placed an impossible cell phone call from on the plane during 9 11, Ted Olsen was Israeli Spy Jonathon Pollard’s attorney. 14. Israeli Mossad Jews caught with explosives near George Washington Bridge on 9 11. 15. Zionist Jew Alan D. Ratners Metals Management merged with the SIMS group & the Hugo Neu Corporation & sold over 50,000 tons of crime scene evidence. 16. Over 60 Israeli spies arrested on 9 11 & days afterwards. 17. Zionist Jew Adam Pearlman is the AlQaeda spokesman. Lived with grandfather prior to joining AlQaeda, grandfather on board of ADL & huge Israeli supporter. His father helped run the Hippie Movement in SoCal then moved family to run a Kosher farm. 18. S.I.T.E. website releases AlQaeda tapes but is owned by an Iraqi Jew who was in Israeli IDF. Her father was an Iraqi Jew & was sentenced to hanging after being caught SPYING FOR ISRAEL in the 1967 war. 19. Zionist Jew Dov Zakheim was CEO of SPC International which developed Remote Control Flying Technology & leases Boeing 767 refuel tankers, the same planes used on 9 11. He also authored PNAC & was Comptroller of Pentagon when $2.3 Trillion went missing. 20. According to FBI, in the Year 2000 Israeli Mossad had penetrated secret communications throughout the Clinton administration, even Presidential phone lines. 21. After 9 11 Israeli Prime Minister Sharon said: We Jews own America & the Americans know it. 22. Popular Mechanics so-called (Debunking 9 11 Lies) article had as its senior researcher Benjamin Chertoff, the cousin of Dept of Homeland Security Head Michael Chertoff at the time, Israeli dual citizen. 23. Israeli Mossad pretends to be Al Qaeda in Palestine but is caught by the Palestinian Authority in 2002. 24. October 10, 2001 (2) Israelis arrested inside Mexican Congress building with explosives, detonators & guns. 25. November 2, 2001: FBI Fury As Israeli citizens With US Nuke Plans & Valid Israeli Passports Escape custody. 26. Israeli citizen Philip Zelikow led the 9 11 Commission Report. 27. US Army released on 10 Sept 2001 a study on Israel, which said: Of the MOSSAD, the Israeli intelligence service, the SAMS Army Officers say: Wildcard. Ruthless & cunning. Has capability to target U.S. forces & make it look like a Palestinian/Arab act. 28. Israeli Mossad Motto: “By way of Deception, thou shalt do war.” (Motto Removed prior to 9 11). 29. Bin Laden constantly denied committing 9 11, until 4 days before the 2004 election. Video considered fake. 30. Ehud Barak, the prime minister of Israel until March of 2001, came to the U.S. shortly after leaving office. He came, ostensibly, to work as a special advisor for Electronic Data Systems and as a consultant with SCP Partners, a Mossad-run private equity company focused on “security related” work. SCP Partners did business with Metallurg Holding, Inc., as well as Advanced Metallurgical Group, both sharing the same Wayne, PA address. AMG specializes in the production of the same super-thermite used to collapse the three skyscrapers on 9/11.
Inverted Hasbara (false flag “anti-Israel” / “anti-Zionist” / “anti-Jewish”) propaganda trolls scuttle around to “defend Israel” by posting the “Zionist Jew” 9/11 “conspiracy theory” rant.
For example, see the September 2017 comment by “jordan” here
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2017/09/12/why-did-robert-mueller-obstruct-congresss-911-probe/
Any critical mention of Israel and the Hasbara troll army gets busy.
Inverted Hasbara propaganda sites and trolls recycled the 9/11 “conspiracy theory” canard in an online disinformation campaign six months prior to Israel’s attack on Gaza in 2014
http://careandwashingofthebrain.blogspot.com/2014/01/911-air-traffic-controller-pete.html
Abe
I beg to differ with your assessment.
The inverted Hasbara never mention ‘Zionist’ as the culprit, it sticks to ‘Jew’ only. The Zionut believes itself to represent all who adhere to the Jewish faith. Their aim is to generate anti-Jewish sentiment, which is then cited when rebutting any reference made regarding Zionut abuse of Palestinians.
Another concept a Hasbara will avoid, if not unimaginable to it’s bigoted brain … there is no Israel, only Palestinian land upon which the Zionut squats, reveling in it’s vile project to eradicate a nation and colonize that nation’s land while defying humanity’s greatest epiphany in the 20th century … genocide is wrong … riding on the coattails of sympathy to dehumanize an entire nation, targeting them for extermination, all the while we cheered them on … yours truly included.
The claim that Inverted Hasbara “never mention [sic] ‘Zionist’ as the culprit, it sticks to ‘Jew’ only” has no factual basis.
Inverted Hasbara (false flag “anti-Israel” / “anti-Zionist” / “anti-Jewish” / “anti-Semitic”) propaganda definitely can and often does include mention of “Zionist”, “Jews” and “Israel”, as well as references to “anti-Semitic” forms of “conspiracy theory”.
The online Inverted Hasbara false flag “Zionist Jew” 9/11 “conspiracy theory” rant from 2014 (cited above) mentions “Zionist”, “Jews” and “Israel” in the most lurid racist terms.
Like all Hasbara propaganda, the aim of Inverted Hasbara is to “defend Israel”.
Inverted Hasbara attempts to generate the appearance of “anti-Jewish sentiment” in order to reinforce claims of a purported “new anti-Semitism”.
Another Inverted Hasbara propaganda tactic involves deliberate references to “Holocaust denial” literature.
Inverted Hasbara false flag “anti-Jewish” vile racist rhetoric aims to offend both Jews and non-Jews, directing them away from fact-based critical information about Israel and the pro-Israel Lobby.
The Israeli apartheid regime and the pro-Israel Lobby do not want American Jews in to be informed about the facts.
Inverted Hasbara false flag “Jew hatred” was invented to divert, distract, and deceive the public in general and Jews in particular.
Inverted Hasbara works in tandem with Conventional Hasbara (overtly pro-Israel / pro-Zionist) propaganda.
Thanks for your comment, Common Tater. However, the assertions you made simply are not correct.
I have read most this evidence on the net some time ago, Inthemix, but Its always worth reminding people of the facts again and again. I see even Parry manages to bring in the conspiracy mantra to his blog. Its as though intelligent people like Parry are terrified of being thought a conspiracy theorist regardless of the glaring fact of the obvious before them. No matter how eminent the engineer or scientist who are in their thousands, who all to a man claim that its OBVIOUS to the meanest of intelligence that 9-11 was a professional explosives job and a conspiracy by the deep state, the Jews or whoever from start to finish, they are all called conspiracy nuts and shouted down. The current Russia gate farce is much the same except there is no collapsed buildings and crashed planes to point to, only innuendo and finger pointing. As always, it comes down to the lack of complete independence of the so called independent press and media. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of all this stuff like Kenney’s magic bullet, 9-11, Russia gate, fantasy sarin attacks at home and abroad in Syria etc, is that the perpetrators of these lies and totally fake information (can’t call it news), is that its now blatant with no attempt at even the most basic cover up or disguise.
The current Russia-gate farce, and the underlying Israel-gate scandal, have absolutely nothing to do with an Inverted Hasbara propaganda rant found somewhere “on the net”.
Intelligent people understand this very well.
Intelligent people understand why Hasbara trolls are projectile vomiting even more propaganda bullshit right about now:
https://www.jta.org/2017/12/06/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/winners-and-losers-as-the-us-recognizes-jerusalem-as-israels-capital
The glaring fact is that Hasbara propaganda trolls target investigative journalism sites and critical analysis of Israeli government actions or the pro-Israel Lobby.
Inverted Hasbara (false flag “anti-Israel” / “anti-Zionist” / “anti-Jewish”) propaganda uses 9/11 “conspiracy theory” rants as a Hasbara tactic for changing the subject from Israel to “the deep state, the Jews or whoever”.
Hasbara trolls weave lies, hoaxes, and “anti-Semitic” invective about “Zionist Jews” with a few actual facts in order to distract, divert, and discredit the facts about Israeli interference in American elections and foreign policy, pro-Israel Lobby influence, and Israeli warmongering in the Middle East.
The Hasbara troll army will make use of any lie, including false flag racist “anti-Jewish” and “anti-Semitic” remarks, for propaganda purposes.
There is no question that the official government narrative concerning the 9/11 attacks is incoherent and inconclusive, and that the 9/11 Commission Report featured significant factual omissions and contradictions.
However, Inverted Hasbara (false flag “anti-Israel” / “anti-Zionist” / “anti-Jewish”) propaganda troll mantras about 9/11 are just another deception tactic to divert attention from Israel and the pro-Israel Lobby.
Manipulating the desire to know what really happened on September 11th 2001, Inverted Hasbara trolls wave the “9/11 truth” banner and spew false flag “Jew hatred” distraction when Israel or the pro-Israel Lobby are under scrutiny.
Thanks, Abe, for bringing up “inverted Hasbara”. (I don’t think I’ve encountered that name for it before, but it’s a good description.) I don’t think it gets enough attention.
There’s also this case at Common Dreams where they actually were able to expose them:
https://www.commondreams.org/hambaconeggs
Robert Parry is always so polite and calm. He could just write. A few Russia haters over at the CIA were picked to write some ridiculous bullshit about Trump and the Russians. Showing these sleaze balls any respect is really a bit too ‘nice’.
Mr.Parry may want to avoid being too easily labeled a “conspiracy theorist” or a “biased partisan”.
“Your friendly neighborhood propaganda identification service” has the easy labels covered:
http://www.propornot.com/p/the-list.html
To say nothing of that ever-so-eager promoter of PropOrNot, the Washington Post, and all the other heroic “verification” experts at the Google-sponsored “First Draft” coalition.
It’s impossible to avoid libel and slander, but discrediting libel and slander is always possible and easily accomplished by publishing factual truth.
Bob is extremely disciplined in his investigations and sourcing, and as an avid reader of Consortium News have never found him to make a statement he can’t back up with facts, and that’s what gives credibility to his reporting and analysis. So, while it may be gratifying to see the bastards hammered on the operating table, isn’t it better to have a highly skilled surgeon do the job?
Parry’s style is excellent. Low key is better and more difficult to attack except irrationally like they are doing. He also lays out all of the facts which expose the falsity of the official narrative. Any of those propagating it have lost any legitimacy, even though, as well documented by Abe’s comment, Trump’s policies are also largely steered by the same element.
The question people need to understand and work through is how they can all be willfully dishonest and not caring about foisting nonsense on the public. Is it all honest mistakes and group think? No. It’s CIA/FBI false flags led by people working for the same gangs that control the CIA & FBI.
The majority of the tangled threads of Russia-gate trace back to Israel.
One theme in mainstream media bloviations has been “Trump’s presumed financial tie-ins to Russian oligarchs”.
In fact, Trump’s significant ties are with Russian Israeli oligarchs and leading pro-Israel American oligarchs.
For example, billionaire Mikhail Fridman is a Russian Jewish oligarch with Israeli citizenship and close ties to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister. Fridman is the owner of the Alfa Group, which owns Alfa Bank. He has been tagged by Forbes as Russia’s second richest person, with a fortune valued at $15.3 billion.
In addition to Netanyahu, Fridman has close ties to Natan Sharansky, the former Russian refusenik who today heads the Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental arm of Israel. In 2012, Fridman cofounded and endowed the Genesis Prize, an annual $1 million award given, as the prize’s website boasts, to recognize “exceptional individuals whose values and achievements will inspire the next generation of Jews.”
Even though Trump’s contacts with Friedman turned out to be a “big nothing” in terms of the mainstream media’s beloved Russia-gate scenario, evidence is emerging of a coordinated Israeli effort to influence both the 2016 US presidential election and the actions of the Trump administration.
On 3 December 2017, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser on Middle East/Israel issues, was the keynote speaker at the Saban Forum at the Brookings Institution.
Haim Saban, a Democratic mega donor who was a key supporter of Hillary Clinton, praised Kushner for attempting to derail a vote at the United Nations Security Council about Israeli settlements during the Obama administration.
Kushner reportedly dispatched former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to make secret contact with the Russian ambassador in December 2016 in an effort to undermine or delay the resolution, which condemned Israel for settlement construction.
Saban told Kushner that “this crowd and myself want to thank you for making that effort, so thank you very much.”
Kushner and Saban framed Middle East peace as a “real estate issue”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZyGpirUMvk
Leading pro-Israel war hawks from the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution authored the June 2009 document “Which Path to Persia? Options for a New American Strategy toward Iran”
Martin Indyk, the “director” of the Saban Center, is a former AIPAC staffer. Indyk cofounded the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in 1985 with the wife of AIPAC Chairman Lawrence Weinberg and former president of the Jewish Federation, Barbi Weinberg. Despite his well known affiliation with the Israel Lobby and his Australian nationality, Bill Clinton appointed Indyk as the first foreign-born US Ambassador to Israel in 1995. The issuance of his US nationality had been expedited for his previous appointment by Clinton in 1993 as Middle East adviser on the National Security Council.
Kenneth M. Pollack, the “director of research” at the Saban Center, is a former CIA analyst and National Security Council staffer under Bill Clinton. A prominent “liberal hawk” cheerleader for the Iraq War, Pollack is credited with persuading liberals to endorse the invasion of Iraq. His 2002 book, The Threatening Storm, was influential in selling the “WMD” case. His 2005 book, The Persian Puzzle, recycled many of the same arguments, this time directed at Iran.
Michael E. O’Hanlon, the “director of foreign policy research” at Brookings, is a war hawk and frequent op-ed writer for major news outlets like the Washington Post. In recent years, O’Hanlon has pushed for U.S. intervention in Syria. In April 2007, O’Hanlon and Fred Kagan urged the United States to invade and occupy Iran.
In March 2003, shortly after the United States invaded Iraq, O’Hanlon contributed his name to an open letter published by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a neoconservative advocacy outfit closely associated with American Enterprise Institute that played a major role generating public support for the invasion of Iraq and pushing an expansive “war on terror.” Among those contributing their names to the document were hardline neocons like Max Boot, Eliot Cohen, Joshua Muravchik, and William Kristol, as well as liberal interventionists like O’Hanlon and Ivo Daalder, also a scholar based at Brookings.
In a March 2006 update on activities of the Israel Lobby, American political scientists John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt noted that media mogul Haim Saban is an “ardent Zionist”.
Mearsheimer and Walt observed that “Saban Center publications never question US support for Israel and rarely, if ever, offer significant criticism of key Israeli policies.”
In their landmark book, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy (2007), Mearsheimer and note that the Saban Center at Brookings is “part of the pro-Israel chorus” (pg 156).
The Trump administrations statements and actions toward Russia, Syria, and Iran obviously conform to positions of the pro-Israel Lobby and the Netanyahu regime.
Multiple false Russia-gate narratives have been propagated to distract, distort, and divert attention from Israeli meddling in American elections and foreign policy.
The mainstream media Hasbara ‘splainers obviously have no interest in discussing the decades-long scandal of Israeli influence.
Independent investigative journalists are left to report the facts and untangle the threads of Israel-gate.
In support Abe, instead of Russia gate, they should be investigating Israeli influence on US politics.
These are very interesting pieces. The last is hilarious but so true about the NYTimes and the Mid East.
“Flynn Pleads Guilty to Lying About Trump Sabotage of Security Council Resolution Against Israel Settlements”
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/01/flynn-pleads-guilty-to-lying-about-trump-sabotage-of-security-council-resolution-against-israel-settlements/
“Muhammad bin Kushner, Jared bin Salman, Daffy Duck & Co”
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/muhammad-bin-kushner-jared-bin-salman-daffy-duck-171203092338779.html
I forgot to add this extra on Israeli interference:
“Israel lobby billionaire praises Kushner for collusion with Netanyahu”
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-lobby-billionaire-praises-kushner-collusion-netanyahu
Thanks Abe. I really value your detailed comments here. I learn from you almost every day.
Yes, thank you Abe!
One thing keeps occurring to me. By making Jerusalem Israel’s capital (an action led by Deep State), Trump will trigger another war or two to benefit the military industrial complex. Maybe it’s all about money and war.
Oh yes, and domination!
At the end, Israel is exposed as a supremacist state with murderous inclinations. Young Israelis are leaving in droves for Germany (for all the other places) and other western countries. A surprising number of Jews have returned to Russia. http://www.newsweek.com/return-jews-126399
In Hollywood lingo, that’s a wrap. Mr. Parry has succinctly finished off the “scandal”. I would laugh and laugh if it were not so democratically disheartening that we have all found ourselves dragged through this nonsense.
A good simplified summary of what many of us here at CN already know, but the public is still exasperatingly in the dark about. I think the story of Seth Rich’s murder could have spiced up the story and perhaps gained some interest from an uninformed reader of the piece. Nevertheless a concise and digestible effort.
Yes, this is a good summary needed for new readers as counterpoint to the mass media propaganda.
Those who would like to petition the NYT to make Robert Parry their senior editor may do so here:
https://www.change.org/p/new-york-times-bring-a-new-editor-to-the-new-york-times?recruiter=72650402&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink We have 726 signers to date.
While Mr. Parry may prefer independence, and we all know the NYT ownership makes it unlikely, and the NYT may try to ignore it, it is instructive to them that intelligent readers know better journalism when they see it. A petition demonstrates the concerns of a far larger number of potential or lost subscribers.
I sincerely believe a big reason for the Russiagate narrative is to distract from Seth Rich’s murder. There is also the the issue of Shaun Lucas, process server for the DNC Fraud lawsuit found dead in his apartment with a strange mix of drugs in his system 2 weeks after serving the DNC.
Russiagate serves many purposes, one of which is to deflect the corruption and criminality of the Clinton cabal controlled Democratic Party.
If they tried this with another Bush or someone else more establishment, it would be too obvious a psy-op to be believed. That or the majority of the left’s brain matter turned to mush under Obama. I’m not ruling that out.
A simple answer is that there is a concerted effort to distract us all away from the real reasons Trump won. The most damning evidence is the complete lack of coverage of possible other sources of election interference we all watched on TV. Somehow like hogs with nose rings we are led off the obvious facts in front of our eyes as we react to the Russia Gate story yet never look beyond it.
What about James Comey reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s Server Gate 11 days before the election? Did this have no effect even when it reached saturation in the MSM right before the election? It was a big deal when it happened but all of a sudden it was The Russians! Forget about the Department of Justice which warned Comey not to do it because it would be widely seen as election tampering. We are completely unconcerned with that reason now and the MSM has not covered it one iota since the election. It is the Russians!
What about the Supreme Court Decisions opening the floodgates to dark money? Did dark money have no effect? I certainly think it did but yet no coverage of it by the MSM. Why are we just learning on some websites that an anonymous donor gave 27 million to support Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court no doubt to protect and preserve the SCOTUS ruling that dark money was a protected form of free speech like the secret ballot where billionaires could spend unlimited millions of dollars in secret to their favorite candidates and causes while resting assured that nobody had a right to see their contributions. Dis the promise of secrecy have an effect on campaign donations which were used to fund ad campaigns for Trump? We don’t know because of the Supreme Court sold our democracy to the highest bidder.
What about gerrymandering?
What about the decades long attacks on the Clintons by the Conservatives which was amply covered in every detail like salacious gossip in the MSM news. Did that have an effect?
What about black box voting where there have been numerous reports of statistical anomalies between election vote tallies and historical exit polling?
What about voter disenfranchisement laws such as voter purges and voter ID laws designed to intimidate voters and eliminate them from the vote totals?
I watch the news with awe these days as they behave just like Sarah Huckabee denying what is obvious and hiding the truth about everything. They simply self censor themselves into a corporate list of talking points about how wonderful everything is. Meanwhile Net Neutrality is on the chopping block but not reported on, Global Warming and CO2 emissions are taboo subjects and we only have the Russians to blame for the last national election.
How self serving a scapegoat. Gin up a foreign devil and justify massive defense increases and lots of sanctions against a cold war enemy. It has never been done before! Russia and Communism have never been used as convenient excuses for a military buildup and foreign wars. Honestly this has never ever ever never happened. Of course I am wrong on this.
What a better way to direct us away from all the real reasons that the last election happened all for money and democracy be damned than to purvey the stunning upset for all the real reasons into a witch hunt seeking an enemy nation with which we can justify massive military spending and pass laws favoring domestic commercial enterprises from space exploration to fighter jets.we really do not need.
Every one of these reasons has roots here in America and we are being misled.
The primary reason for Russia Gate is it is a useful tool to get more of what the MIC wants (money) while distracting us all away from the real reasons like the actions of the FBI before the election and Dark Money enshrined by the SCOTUS.
Hogs with rings firmly affixed in the noses led about like farm animals. That is what we are to them.
It has worked for so long it like child’s play by now.
No reason either to think that the latest propaganda war blaming Russia for all our faults won’t work. They do it because they know it will work.
I believe that as long as people believe what they are told by their masters and never questioned we will continue to go down the road to serfdom and permawar.
Taking some liberties with a former credo to walk softly and carry a big stick, our best future is to talk honestly and carry a big stick which the people wield against all who threaten democracy including foreign as well as domestic antidemocratic and unjust forces backed by power or wealth.
Getting rid of Trump based on trumped up charges that Russia is the guilty party will only ensure that the power structures that provided us with Trump will continue to enjoy free reign to corrupt democracy in secret to the future detriment to us all.
Lois Gagnon, I totally agree with your comment. When I first saw the video which I will link, I found it unbelievable, then to find out that Shaun Lucas was found dead was as they say “a bridge too far”. Then, of course, Seth Rich probably an American Hero. Thanks for keeping this in front of us…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FMgZruOXE
It is a gift which keeps giving even when it is exposed as a fraud. Those propagating it like the New York Times are criminals for promoting potential annihilation via nuclear war, the logical endpoint of their desire for total power.
Very true, as are all the responses.
Double standards anyone? Celebrated American swimmer, Katie Ledecky, has the hairline of a 45 year old man. In other news the IOC bans Russia from the Winter Olympics. And anyone who thinks Ledecky’s the only dirty American athlete is as naive as all get out.
(For those a bit slow on the uptake, PEDs in women athletes often have a masculinizing effect.)
IOC banning Russia from Winter Olympics; It was anticipated long time ago. It is a part of the Empires plan to meddle in 2018 Russian Presidential election. A month or so ago, there were these articles in main British papers to move the 2018 World Soccer Cup from Russia because of social unrest in that country – the reason given that the players will not be safe.
From the Saker, the IOC board as currently constituted is:
Mr Thomas BACH, Germany
Mr Zaiqing YU, China
Mr Juan Antonio SAMARANCH, Spain
Prof. Ugur ERDENER. Turkey
Ms Anita L. DEFRANTZ, USA
Mrs Gunilla LINDBERG, Sweden
Mr Gian-Franco KASPER, Switzerland
Mrs Angela RUGGIERO,USA
Mr Sergey BUBKA, Ukraine
Mr Ser Miang NG, Singapore
Mr Willi KALTSCHMITT LUJÁN, Guatemala
Dr Robin E. MITCHELL, Fiji
Mrs Nicole HOEVERTSZ, Aruba
Mr Denis OSWALD, Switzerland
China is only country which is not beholden to the Empire. Looking ahead to the World Soccer Cup in Russia, there will be some fire works. The West is worried. It’s hegemony in the World is in danger after five centuries of domination when the whole world was their colonial play ground.
Great post. I work and socialize in a very mainstream liberal environment and the Russophobia is relentless. Thank you for your very sane and informative post.
My sympathies … that must really suck.
It can be tiresome, pathetic and exasperating all at the same time.
I think the USA officials, which are always acting out on the other side of the curtain, are well aware that the Russian athletes will/would win their events. After all the mocking of Russia, a Russian sweep of the Olympic games would turn the USA officials pink in the face. Hence, the fake doping charges. Just look at what happened to Maria Sharapova. That was a first shot at them. She was caught taking a Dr. prescription that was perfectly legal until the first of this year. So USA end of the Olympic committee changed the rules on her.
I meant the relative Tennis equivalent committee changed the rules on Sharapova, not the IOC.
Right! The smearing of Sharapova was disgraceful.
And what really pissed me off was the IOC not allowing the Russian Special Olympics players from competing. Just heart wrenching to see.
Drew Hunkins – “IOC bans Russia from the Winter Olympics.” Absolutely disgusting!
It’s tragic. Just another dangerous and pathetic provocation from the Zio-Washington-militarists.
All the sheeple who drink from MSDNC, WaPo and NPR are pulling out the, “I told you so! Russia is full of cheating bastards.”
Yes, It is disgusting. The West is in panic since the election of Trump. They wanted a person very loyal to The Empire, like Obama or Hillary who will expand the Empire. Trump has no inside desire to do it – in fact he is the opposite. The Empire run by Anglo- American- Zionists is ruthlessly creating wealth exploiting all over the World with guns but in the process has ruined the Western Civilization – of course raining death, destruction in other countries ruining their cultures, and civilizations. Trump’s actions are now just to save his own skin. The Establishment is relentlessly after him for two years now. He is keeping his base of thirty eight percent. Otherwise they will get rid of him tomorrow. He is very smart in that respect.
Obama was a complete African American loyalist selected by the Financial Elite – Pritzkers – in Chicago. The professor – I forget his name – from University of Wisconsin was in talk show with Chris Hedges rated Obama number third among all the U.S. Presidents in Expanding the Empire.
Looking at the map this huge Eurasian Country Russia is the ultimate prize for The Empire as some person wrote in his comments not too long ago on this website. The Western Empire is going after it now with every weapon in their arsenal – including cyber warfare, censorship, truth suppression, in sports . . . I would not be surprised if they delegitimize Sochi Olympics just like they are trying to delegitimize Trump Election. It seems like gloves are off now.
And for the devastating long term effects they cause look up what happened to the East German women’s swim team from the early 80’s Olympics. Hint: Most are dead or seriously ill. Cheating, sad to say exists. Devastating to the athletes who think the have to use drugs to compete. Sad.
Those are clear signs of male pattern balding … I recognize the symptoms … I looked up some images of Katie Ledecky and her receding hairline,
Way off topic. Ledecky’s hairline could be a family trait. As far as we know, she has always tested negative for banned substances.
I just found this photo of Ledecky when she was a young child. Her hairline was the same then as it is now. I’m pretty sure that steroids were not being used then, and probably not now either.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BnOtevBIMAAkjHo.jpg:large
She’s so obviously dirty. She’s putting up earth shattering times the world has never seen before. She’s dirty. Along with many other American athletes across all kinds of sports.
Remember cyclist Lance Armstrong, four or five times Tour de France winner. And what they found out afterwards. He was a American Hero for a long time.
Catch the Russians, they are the only bad ones !