Not all foes of Trump are allies of progressives – especially the hawks, spooks and perjurers who parade across CNN and MSNBC every day, Jeff Cohen reminds us.
By Jeff Cohen
When the “War on Terror” was launched in 2001, mainstream media – especially cable TV news – started a parade. It was a narrow parade of hawkish retired military and intelligence brass promoting war as the response to the crime of 9/11, predicting success and identifying foreign enemies to attack.
MSNBC coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003
We can look back at this parade and laugh at the total nonsense dispensed. But the more human response is to cry – over the toll, still mounting, of hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond, and violent instability across the region, including countries that were relatively stable and prosperous on Sept. 10, 2001. (Not to mention militarization and loss of civil liberties at home.)
I witnessed the parade of disinformation from inside cable news, where I worked as an on-air contributor at Fox News and MSNBC at the beginning of the War on Terror. In fact, this parade eventually knocked me off the air – and out of my job at MSNBC, three weeks before the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
It’s now been 15 years since the tragic invasion of Iraq. The huge mainstream media failure in the run-up to the invasion is taught in college journalism courses, including mine.
Who can forget CNN’s Chief News Executive boasting that, before the Iraq invasion, he’d sought prior approval and received “a big thumbs up” from the Pentagon on the ex-generals that CNN featured as allegedly independent analysts?
Who can forget David Barstow’s 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning expose for the New York Times – based on 8,000 pages of internal Pentagon emails and transcripts – showing that network TV’s hawkish retired generals were not only being paid by big military contractors, but were being spoon-fed talking points and spin by the Pentagon month after month as they paraded on TV?
Who can forget that NBC/MSNBC’s top military analyst, ex-Gen. Barry McCaffrey, relentlessly pushed for war based on falsehoods (“thousands of gallons of mustard agents, sarin, nerve agent VX still in Iraq”), offered continuously ridiculous punditry (like praising Defense Secretary Rumsfeld’s advance-planning of the Iraq occupation), and famously crowed on MSNBC, “Thank God for the Abrams tank and the Bradley fighting vehicle” – without mentioning his role at military contractor IDT that made millions for doing God’s work on the Abrams and Bradley?
Who can forget all these things?
MSNBC, apparently.
I turned on the “progressive” news channel a few nights ago to see Chris Hayes politely interviewing Gen. McCaffrey. Did Hayes – during the week marking the 15th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq – press McCaffrey on his role in that disaster? Perhaps demand an explanation or an apology? No. The topic was Trump’s weird attraction to Putin. That’s a worthy topic. But Barry McCaffrey as expert and arbiter! Still?
Just as they did in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion, MSNBC and CNN now serve up a steady parade of war hawks, spies and liars, presenting them as credible and almost heroic as long as they criticize the despicable man in the White House.
I’d turned to MSNBC that night after disgustedly turning off Anderson Cooper softly interviewing a CNN contributor who seems to appear every hour: ex-National Intelligence Director James Clapper. You remember Clapper? Five years ago this month, Clapper infamously perjured himself before the U.S. Senate by denying NSA bulk surveillance. His perjury is not a topic that CNN asks Clapper about – while he discusses the lack of ethics and honesty in Team Trump.
When it comes to Trump critics, CNN and MSNBC regularly serve up a basket of elite deplorables from the military/intelligence establishment – for example, the appalling ex-CIA Director John Brennan and horrific former acting CIA Director John McLaughlin. The hollowness of their Trump critique on “liberal cable news” was on display last week when both men endorsed Trump’s choice for CIA chief, torture-overseer Gina Haspel.
I’m worried about anti-Trump activists, even some quite progressive, who’ve come to see corporate news channels like CNN and MSNBC as their saviors. It’s a dangerous illusion.
A few points to consider:
Not all foes of Trump are allies of progressives – especially the hawks, spooks and perjurers who parade across CNN and MSNBC every day.
Progressives should be wary of the growing alliance between Clintonite/MSNBC-style liberals and neo-con militarists forever in search of the next enemy – an alliance that began before the Trump campaign and will likely continue after Trump is deposed (hopefully soon).
Trump is doing enormous damage to our country and the world – but you won’t see most of it on MSNBC or any mainstream outlet that covers the Trump White House as a TV soap opera.
When you hear nightly on CNN and MSNBC about Putin’s “attack on our democracy,” let’s not forget that – whatever impact Russia had on the 2016 election (evidence so far suggests it was small) – “our democracy” has been under attack for decades by internal enemies: big money control of both major parties, corporate media dominance, Democratic subservience to Wall Street, Republican suppression of voters of color and youth, an archaic election system protected by both parties, etc.
I would like to see even 10 percent of MSNBC’s “Russiagate” coverage diverted to any of the above issues, but I’m not holding my breath. Nor am I waiting for the Comcast-owned channel to offer thorough coverage of Trump’s biggest threat to the First Amendment: ending Net Neutrality.
Progressives can easily agree that it’s a top priority to end Republican control of Congress and depose Trump.
Yet the fight for justice and democracy will also require battles against powerful and oppressive institutions that may now seem to be anti-Trump: certain media conglomerates and the military-industrial-surveillance complex.
Jeff Cohen is director of the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College. He co-founded the online activism group RootsAction.org in 2011 and founded the media watch group FAIR in 1986. He is the author of “Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media.”
“Elite deplorables.” That’s a great turn of phrase. Yes, the fake progressives of the Democratic Party learned nothing. They want more money, more consultants, more lobbyists, more generals shaking their war metals at the 2020 convention. More celebrity idiots telling progressives they are being ridiculous, more sad expressions of solidarity based on bad renditions of old songs by old folk singers. Between Trump and Putin, the 2020 convention will have more to be embarrassed about than Obama’s Greek columns of 2008. We need true progressives fighting for real causes. Let the neoliberals fester in their elite corner.
It’s a shame how lazy/complacent the average citizen is…… considering the bombardment from the MSM of the “all new” socialist agendas…….The USA is a nation in debt….serious debt……slave to the lender. Say hello to your old master.
To: Independent Comment
Through the ages, people have come and gone. Topple the Income Tax* and restore a measure of Freedom** for a lasting effect.
* with a decentralized form of Edgar Feige’s APT tax with limits on extreme inheritance and monopoly
** Bill of Rights
“But the more human response is to cry – over the toll, still mounting, of hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond […]”
Why do we still shy away from the true magnitude of deaths we caused in the many wars we waged around the world since 9/11?
Why do we still hesitate to use the correct term of magnitude: “millions” instead of “hundreds of thousands”?
Just a few days ago, this best estimate appeared on this website (https://consortiumnews.com/2018/03/22/how-many-millions-of-people-have-been-killed-in-americas-post-9-11-wars-part-one-iraq/): 2.4 million deaths in Iraq alone from 2003 through 2018.
The 2.4 million deaths in Iraq do not yet include the 0.5 million children who died due to the 12 years of sanctions put on Iraq between 1991 and 2003. And those 0.5 million children do not even include the untold adult deaths that surely must have accompanied those 0.5 million children.
Neither do the 2.4 million Iraqi deaths include the millions of Afghan deaths from 2001 until the present day, nor do they include the deaths in Pakistan, Libya, Syria, South-Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, etc.
The 2.4 million deaths in Iraq alone include only a very, very conservative estimate of non-violent deaths as a result of the war: deaths due to hunger, thirst, exposure, infections, diseases and epidemics, as a result of displacement and the break-down of civil infrastructure (bombed out homes, destroyed water supply and sewage systems, disrupted food supply, electricity and health care).
So it’s high time to stop feeling affraid of being called “conspiracy theorists” or “doom sayers” or whatever and call a spade a spade: no more “hundreds of thousands”, but “many millions of deaths” since 9/11.
Global Research article by Peter Van Buren today says 16 House reps sent Sessions a letter demanding that Al Jazeera register under FARA as a foreign agent, even though FARA’s original wording did not include journalists (many years ago). Letter comes after Al Jazeera filmed a documentary critical of the Israel lobby’s influence in US government.
“whatever impact Russia had on the 2016 election (evidence so far suggests it was small) ”
STOP it, just STOP IT!
The use of “whatever” instead of “whether” continues to provide a bias toward the “Russia did it” meme. Sorry, but a good journalist knows to pick their words.
There is ZERO evidence that the sovereign state of Russia, the Russian government did anything. Russian individuals, perhaps (as indicated by stupid ads) might likely have done so (but here to, the US Deep State is so able to fabricate just about anything that even this cannot be fully trusted as “fact”).
Gives me a perfect segue to return and post the following article which tends to support an earlier theory that the CIA was responsible for meddling in US elections (I asserted that they’d helped to subvert Sanders [I didn’t support Sanders, so I’m not stating this as some disgruntled Sanders supporter]).
http://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/lets-investigate-john-brennan/
The odds of being able to peel the onion back to what precipitated the DNC leaks is probably nil, in which case my theory of the CIA having their hands in the derailment of Sanders won’t likely ever proven. But, and I’d stated it before, that there are all these former CIA folks acting as media experts and that the Sanders campaign was more than significantly underreported would tend to show the possible collusion.
I was looking to see if anyone else would make this point before posting a comment. The trouble I have with progressives like Jeff and Glenn Greenwald is that they can’t quite go all the way and realize that Russiagate is nothing, nothing at all … ZERO, as ‘Seer’ notes. I understand the hatred of Trump, but true objectivity means you can get to the place where you see that the attack on Trump that is Russiagate is a total fabrication, a complete lie.
And driving the World towards a thermonuclear war for petty, peevish disappointment at losing an election (Hillary) is about as selfish as a human being can get. It’s just slightly more important than ‘net neutrality’.
What “progressives”? That parrot is dead, deceased–not stunned or pining. Whatever the left once was it is no more and is purely made up of stooges and naïve youth and other chumps and chumpettes who believe sexual orientation and lack of effective gun laws are the most important issues in the world as dictated by the CIA through CNN. So-called progressives were utterly fooled by Obama who did more to kill the left than all Republican Presidents combined ever did.
It’s possible to revive a vital left as Bernie showed (he could not say anything about the permanent war State because the military is overwhelmingly popular with the American people) but it requires the fake-left to move away from these phony media-promoted issues to real issues–the environment, class-struggle, health-care, minimum-wage, and yes, peace as well other real progressive issues.
Yes, Obama showed how completely phony the democrats leftish pretenses were.
Mike, here’s an article addressing this issue you might find interesting:
https://blackagendareport.com/building-movement-politics-means-fighting-democrats
Peace.
And now we are being led to believe that Omar Mateen (Pulse Nightclub shooter) never actually targeted gays at all, that he had cased out other places (like Disneyland), but they were too well policed. He only decided on the Pulse Nightclub that day, and it had nothing to do with gays being there. He had never cased out Pulse Nightclub.
They’re also letting out now that his father had been an FBI informant for 11 years prior to the shooting. I guess at the time they wanted to stir up sympathy for gays and hatred towards Muslims, but now it’s time to undo this narrative, so they’re letting the truth trickle out.
They’re onto bigger things now, like Stormy’s breasts!
At 25:30 minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FME58C3q2V8
Interesting comments. However it strikes me that the conversation is always confined to that space inside the same walls. The same walls set up by the system so many seem to loath. The walls that this system has set in place to confine the conversation. Control the conversation. Setting up false ideas and getting people to believe in those false ideas allows the system to control the conversation. Because the system is based on deception, based on lies, it does not matter whether the conversation is pro or con.
I see comments mentioning Democrats, Neocons, Zionists etc. One comment made describing the Democrats as the most evil enemy. Comments that unfortunately are based on a deception.
Are you not aware that there are no real political and moral differences between Democrats and Republicans in congress? They all work for the same corporation. “An Act to Provide a Government For the District of Columbia.” “The Act of 1871.” February 21,1871. The United States (Corporation) of America.
The Democrat and Republic congress was conceived by the corporation as a deception from the beginning. It is one of the oldest techniques in the book. It is called “divide and conquer.” This keeps the American people fighting amongst themselves. (Your a liberal! Your a conservative!) In the meantime the congress says and does what the corporation tells them to. Any “disagreements” are simply for show to keep the people thinking that there is an actual difference.
So the idea that one particular political party is more responsible than another for the present debacle that we know as America, is a deception. A deception that the corporation has very carefully cultivated. You only have to look at our history and the various administrations that have come and gone over the last 60(?) years to see that the corporation’s agenda continues unabated. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Mr. Trump is no different than any other president before him. He is nothing but the “monkey” behind the microphone. I can assure you that he does and says what the corporation tells him to do. He was made president (yes, made not elected) because of who he is. Trump is the ultimate distraction.
I do not believe that Mr. Trump has any choice in the matter. Do you honestly believe that the corporation is not aware of Mr. Trumps indiscretions? Do think that they are not aware of his alleged money laundering? I believe that the Mueller investigation is being used as a “leash” on Mr. Trump. If he doesn’t do as they say, they can drum him out of office or even put him in prison. If he does do what they say, they can make the Mueller investigation go away. Don’t forget, Mr. Mueller is a life long employee of the corporation. He also does what he is told. The corporation cannot lose. The idea that the Democrats are behind this investigation is a deception.
If you look up who owns the Federal Reserve bank on the net you will see who “owns” America. There is your “Deep State.”
Until you realize that the entire American system is a deception within a deception your thoughts will always be confined within those same walls that the corporation has set up to confine them.
MisterMister – I think you are right. So whatever “has” happened and whatever “will” happen is exactly what the Deep State wants to happen. Kennedy got in the way, so he was bumped off, along with his brother and MLK. Want another war? Just pull off a 9/11. Want a war with Russia? Crank up some collusion, poisonings, false flags, down a plane. Citizens getting too uppity? Censor their Internet under the guise of protecting them, then spy on them and track them. Want to take guns away from the citizens so you have more control over the masses? Just have the FBI look the other way while people they’ve had on their radar for years commit heinous acts. After all, it’s only a matter of time before they pop off.
All lies and jest,
Still a man hears what he wants to hear,
And disregards the rest.
It’s all a show. The MSM, Hollywood, the New York Times, the Judicial Branch, the Executive Branch, Congress, the Federal Reserve, Google – all arms of the same machine.
MisterMister thank you for your excellent & concise information which I guess 90% of Americans are not aware of.
https://www.scribd.com/document/355085824/Embezzlement-by-Federal-Reserve
It’s a closed system and we aren’t invited.
Ha, ha! She played “My Little Margie” way back when.
http://i3.lisimg.com/7004863/280full.jpg
I do hope this is not the same old déjà vu again ?
Afghanistan was found guilty of 9/11 even though they denied it & asked for proof.
Now Russia is found guilty of the Salisbury spy poisoning ,denying it & asking for proof.
In both cases no proof looks like being forthcoming & we know what happened to Afghanistan !
You have write a very good article. I want to know more.
Meanwhile criminals like Brennan has a job at msnbc
And Clapper and other neo cons are talking heads on CNN
Who do you think they voted for?
Trump?
Or their neo cons queen Hillary who was empirically worse than bush
Wanna hint?
I also read that Google is working with journalists of major outlets to bring them in line with their “algorithms for fake news”, think i saw that on Zero Hedge.
Wow, this is really Big Brother watching! Just what do they define as “offensive”? This is illegal and unconstitutional. There are all kinds of potential abuses in that statement. Thank you for that scary information, Realist.
So, this just came to my attention: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2018/03/27/microsoft-ban-offensive-language-xbox-skype-office-account/
Apparently, starting 1 May 2018, Microsoft plans to monitor everyone’s use of digital media–all your emails, skypes, internet postings, even digital games like Xbox use–to eradicate “offensive language” from the public arena. Right, they are so terribly concerned about propriety and good taste all of a sudden. Just an auxiliary to the ubiquitous God Squad already pestering people and sniping away at the first amendment. Might I offer that this is yet another warning signal that a major war is on the horizon. The only practical reason they would do such a thing is to spy on and control everyone who is not an insider elite. If they can ban you for “style” they can ban you for content. Once that begins, the “authorities” can start disappearing inconvenient nonconformists.
See you at the re-education camp Realist! We’ll have to have a CN commenter’s party on the sly.
Already MicroSoft Windows 10 uses your internet connection to send your private files and information to themselves. This “cloud service” could be disabled in the original version (by a suspicious software engineer), but they “upgraded” so that it cannot be stopped. Not a word in the totalitarian mass media.
I stopped this in my original Win10 version, and disabled their “updates” to prevent them re-installing it, but a later software issue forced me to do an update, and now it cannot be disabled.
I quit trying to conceal my identity long ago. It’s too late for that now anyway. Where we are going there will be no need for identity cards.
Trump may mange to bankrupt a good part of the world with his new trade war, before the neocons can really ramp up their multiple escalations against russia….this trade war could easily destroy the US economy in a short period of time…This is gonna be a wild year folks…
regards
D
The “authorities” may be too busy trying to deal with their own radiation poisoning to care about nonconformists, after the war to end all wars that they are engaging in the early phases of now.
The people knowingly elected a money laundering bigot. It’s unlikely he will be deposed.
Putting that aside it seems you have a good grasp of what’s going on in the progressive movement.
How can Americans fall for such hogwash? The most TV brainwashed people on the planet! This is “da mockery” of democracy, how many really believe this b.s. or is it that they have nothing better to do than turn on TV? As long as you do your duty to “buy, buy, buy”, you are fine. ‘Bye, ‘bye…
“When you hear nightly on CNN and MSNBC about Putin’s “attack on our democracy,” let’s not forget that – whatever impact Russia had on the 2016 election (evidence so far suggests it was small)”
Tiny, tiny, if any impact at all. And definitely not state sponsored!
Remember how we ended Republican rule in congress in 2006 and deposed Bush and all we had to show for it was Romneycare and ramping up 2 wars to 7?
Check out Global Research today and Rudy Giuliani’s March 22 trip to the capital of Albania at invite of Maryam Rajavi, head of MEK, which is dedicated to overthrowing the Iranian government. Giuliani spoke directly of “regime change” in Iran and John Bolton’s appointment as “national security advisor”. The hawks are definitely gearing up for war! Giuliani must be taking up McCain’s role now that McCain is sick.
“Progressives can easily agree that it’s a top priority to end Republican control of Congress and depose Trump.”
This statement by Jeff Cohen is extremely simple-minded. First of all, depose Trump and you get Pence. Are there any real progressives who see this as an improvement? And currently our choice for ending Republican control of congress is to elect corporate sponsored warmongers from column B. Are there any real progressives who see much to be gained by that. I guess the best we can hope for is for our regime change wars abroad and police state tactics at home to be furthered by elected representatives wearing pink pussy hats while decrying those “evil Ruskies”.
Agreed, not a carefully reasoned article. Too many errors to comment in detail.
Our politicians and our news media have discovered that they can lie with impunity as long as they all tell essentially the same lie. Now I hear some of our revered leaders today denounce Russia for violating international law citing the illegal annexation of the Crimea, which had been part of Russia for hundreds of years. This line is repeated over and over, yet there is no mention in our media about how Israel is illegally annexing territory that it is illegally occupying, and with annexing the Golan Height seized from Syria by war. There is no mention that the United States has placed troops in Syria without permission or an invitation from the government of Syria.
Now we are expelling 60 Russian diplomats on the grounds that it is considered “highly probable” by those who regard Russia as an enemy to begin with, that Russia poisoned an ex-Russian spy now living in England. Some would claim that it is “highly probable” Trump had an affair with Stormy Daniels and others.Notice that with respect to this charge Trump’s defenders react by claiming there is “no evidence” to support this. Yet there is no solid evidence that Russia did the poisoning, but no one except the Russians, demands to see the evidence. I guess when “we know” someone is guilty we don’t need to have evidence. This in an age in which false flag operations are increasingly encountered, and when the intelligence services of the West have repeatedly been guilty of outrageous, egregious lies over the years.
Democrats are now the Bush = Cheney neo con Party as they were under Obama and Hillary.They are now the biggest cheer leaders for WW3 with Russia ruse and stand shoulder to shoulder with proved criminals like Mueller and Brennan who now has a job at MSNBC.
Trump ran against the bush republicans
Trump ran against the neo cons who want WW3 with Russia
Trump is a greedy baboon who wants a Trump tower in Moscow and has now been cornered by democrats and their neoconservative allies.
Democrats are now the greatest evil and are more dangerous than Bush ,Putin or Trump.
There is an interesting conspiracy theory at the “Of Two Minds” site. The version I prefer (he has two) is that the Deep State has cut a complicated deal with Trump. Mueller might end up getting muzzled. The Clintons might lose their protection from that Deep State – they’ve become a liability. (?)
Trump’s entirely senseless eviction of the 60 Russians could be a “good faith” gesture. That 10 are being removed from the UN might be another – a first step to neutering Russia in that organization.
None of this makes any sense, so we might as well speculate about all of it and maybe draw some kind of conclusions which are as silly as the events themselves.
The only thing I can deduce for now is that Israel appears to be on the verge of taking the steering wheel in the White House.
Decrypting the Appointment of John Bolton
Mr Jeff Cohen it is befitting that you should post your well articulated article here on Robert Parry’s site. As I’m sure you are aware of Mr Parry didn’t yield his journalistic integrity to write to guide people, as like yourself Robert Parry was here to report the truth. You belong to some other greats I read such as Paul Craig Roberts, and Chris Hedges, who among others gave up the MSM lifestyle to report the needed truth, and may I add sensibilities of reporting the facts of an event.
I’m amazed at how much within the last two years this country’s news reporting, which was for the past forty years just bad infotainment, went to an even worst format as to evolve to our news becoming one big spectacular reality tv show.
We are a nation whom consume to much gossip. A nation without a hero, or heroine. A nation who breaks international laws, but passes these horrific warring actions off under a pretext of establishing true democracy when the reality of our nation’s endeavors create death and chaos, as our MSM does what it does best as this type of news gets ignored.
We taunt and we intimidate nations who resist our hegemonic values. We condemn a nation without evidence of being homophobic while our closest ally puts gays to death by stoning. With that our MSM shouts down Russia with its child mature viewing laws with no mention of gays to be found of the Kremlin to being a great abuser of LGBT rights, but never a mention in our MSM about Saudi Arabia’s gay death sentence. How is this considered coverage of the news? How is any of these omissions to be accepted as reporting?
At the rate we are going we will all be talking about Trump and Hillary swapping partners with a Hollywood movie mogul all the while WWIII will have started…. hey upon second thought maybe that’s the way to do it.
Not one mention of Fox News. Tells me all I need to know.
In America today many have forgotten the January 17, 1961warning from President Eisenhower. About the dangers of the military industrial complex. Because too many cities in America today profit from a war economy. Because too many American high schools campuses have too military recruiters in them.
Thanks for this much-needed piece, Jeff.
I am alarmed at all my many liberal Dem friends who now blindly adore Mueller like he is their newfound fuhrer-savior, as well as Brennan, the Clapper, et al, and our corrupt, off-the rails spy/security-state agencies in general
–these depressing liberal Dem friends who also continue to turn a blind eye to the illegal USA wars these men and their corrupt agencies have fomented–or even cheer for these wars, and more to come against Iran and Russia.
That said, I was confused at your statement that you hope to see Trump deposed–and soon.
If Trump goes, we get Pence. Do you want Pence? I’m baffled by this comment of yours. I didn’t vote for Trump but I certainly prefer him to Pence–and I do not wish for an illegitimate coup of a legally elected US prez, even if he has orange hair and is nutty. He’s not a fascist, anymore than Putin is–although one could certainly make a case that Trump is in the thrall of the fascistic Deep State. If only we had a prez as cool-headed and competent as Putin!
I see far more worrisome fascist tendencies in all my aforementioned liberal Dem friends. All well-educated and priding themselves on staying informed as they suck up the latest propaganda from MSNBC, CNN, NY and WaPo.
I still prefer Trump to Hillary, whom I also did not vote for. He unmasks the off-the-rails corruption, incompetence, venality and stupidity of US Empire–hastening the necessary and inevitable crumbling of the Empire much quicker and more effectively, perhaps. On the other hand, Hillary has such terrible judgment, she might have been equally effective. Who knows?
Let’s rip that band-aid off and get to healing.
“War Profiteer Story”
http://warprofiteerstory.blogspot.com
presents a lot of key background facts in a readable form that might get some of your friends to stop and re-think some things. The section on JFK might especially interest long-time Democrats. What would JFK do today?
Africa + European colonization, British interests ( some don’t know, most don’t care.)
link below = expansion of knowledge (of history).
[for they that care to know]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/scramble_for_africa_article_01.shtml
Mangled posting.
I agree with the characterization of the network commenters as pernicious war propagandists.
However –
“Progressives should be wary of the growing alliance between Clintonite/MSNBC-style liberals and neo-con militarists forever in search of the next enemy – an alliance that began before the Trump campaign and will likely continue after Trump is deposed (hopefully soon).”
That our political system ought to be conducted by “deposing” disliked, but elected leaders, means we’re headed internally for the same methods that Deep State players regularly conspire to use against foreign governments that better represent their own peoples than our elites.
It so happens that #NeverTrumpers, including many progressives, have suddenly become unquestioning supporters of the Deep State’s unaccountable players, seeing organizations which are hardly transparent to democracy like the NSA, FBI and CIA as fully deserving of their unquestioning support. But they have, as stated above by referencing Clapper and Brennan, their own political power agendas which have nothing to do with the heartland interests of almost all the American people.
Fran, thank you for straightening it out. This entire Cohen piece is a mangled, unfocused article. And I would have expected something more.
Yes, the article is old news, poorly written, and advances as many unsupportable propositions as otherwise.
I agree withProgressives should be wary of the growing alliance between Clintonite/MSNBC-style liberals and neo-con militarists forever in search of the next enemy – an alliance that began before the Trump campaign and will likely continue after Trump is deposed (hopefully soon). the characterization of the network commenters as pernicious war propagandists.
However –”
“Progressives should be wary of the growing alliance between Clintonite/MSNBC-style liberals and neo-con militarists forever in search of the next enemy – an alliance that began before the Trump campaign and will likely continue after Trump is deposed (hopefully soon).”
That our political system ought to be conducted by “deposing” disliked, but elected leaders, means we’re headed internally for the same methods that Deep State players regularly conspire to use against foreign governments that better represent their own peoples than our elites.
It so happens that #NeverTrumpers, including many progressives, have suddenly become unquestioning supporters of the Deep State’s unaccountable players, seeing organizations which are hardly transparent to democracy like the NSA, FBI and CIA as fully deserving of their unquestioning support. But they have, as stated above by referencing Clapper and Brennan, their own political power agendas which have nothing to do with the heartland interests of almost all the American people.
“
I welcome and appreciate your comments here.
My only contention is that the nebulous “Deep State”
is Front and Center with the presence of John Bolton.
Trump takes the gloves off his heretofore hidden agenda with
appointment of the perilous warmongering absolutist Bolton.
Remember Y2K in Florida when he personally
SHUT DOWN THE RECOUNT OF VOTES –
which led to the SCOTUS Installation
of GW Bush into the Presidency that
planned and allowed 9/11 and the icy-smooth
Pathway into the destruction and conquest of
what had been Know As The Middle East
now subjugated into Oil Company Domination
by Western Oil Conglomerates which had
been stealing oil from Hussain by “sanction”
even Before he “unlawfully attacked” Kuwait
and was subjected by Western Government
“Rule of Law” into a total eclipse of sovereignty
for Iraqi People as a Nationally Existent Group.
We then proceeded into evisceration of Iraq as a
Nation of People forcefully supported by the
extermination of existing Gov’ment norms/replaced
by US Military Takeover with Harsh Occupation
that could easily be compared to Nazi occupation
in WW2 Europe with arbitrary camps and prisons.
Where is the American “heart” viv-a-vis these
Displaced, Wretched, Yearning to Breath Free
Arabs BOMBED out of the safe existence known
from Biblical history as People of the Euphrates River
Let us now be clear, “We create history” and
We are the dominant culture in/of The World.
THERE IS NO SOVEREIGN ENTITY ABOVE US.
Fran MacAdam, your comment including the following:
“That our political system ought to be conducted by “deposing” disliked, but elected leaders, means we’re headed internally for the same methods that Deep State players regularly conspire to use against foreign governments that better represent their own peoples than our elites.”
Excellent commentary. Pleasing excuse me if I sound like I am grading you, but it is something I see as well. If we can do it in the Ukraine, why not in America.
I want to share here my response to the Saker’s profound sharing of his present state of mind:
mike k on March 26, 2018 · at 6:30 pm UTC
Of course any aware person – there are a few of us – will agree with what you have said Saker. When you are awake, it is clear what is preparing to happen – nuclear war in the near future. This year is by far the most likely time for this to occur. And this is an unspeakable horror, that will signal the final irreversible failure of the human race.
I strive to be a spiritual person and have spent years studying, praying and meditating, with many Guides and Teachers. I began to be deeply concerned about our world in 1961, and I have spent a lot of time studying subjects relevant to that concern. I was an antinuclear activist in the 70’s, and have continued to contribute and follow that situation to this day.
I have come to believe after all these years of study and activism that the real problem is in the hearts and minds of modern humans who have lost belief in any higher values beyond their own safety and comfort, and for this reason they have become capable of the most selfish and evil behavior, while refusing to own up to what they are doing to hurt others, and destroy our beautiful world. Unfortunately reforming and healing this disastrous mindset requires willingness and prolonged sincere efforts (I know this from my own experience. I was once a sleeping fool like so many of my brothers and sisters). This Great work on ourselves will not happen now, so I am profoundly sad and pessimistic, like yourself Saker. God have mercy on all of us.
http://thesaker.is/what-happened-to-the-west-i-was-born-in/
We’ve all seen football games, hockey games, etc turn around in a few minutes. The Oligarchs could fumble. A viral breakthrough could awaken the whole country overnight to a decisive piece of information. Look for openings, post links to Consortium News at mainstream news sites, take breaks, and keep firing away. Fighting for justice is a spiritual act.
You are right. That peaceful fight needs to continue no matter what even if all is due to end soon. And also, black swans do occasionally appear unexpectedly.
Mike – Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts and feelings. My intuition had always told me that you have a fantastic background.
I turned off the tv (our airwaves) back in the 80’s with Iran Contra.
And, I never did sign up for facebook, twiiter, skype, etc.. .. I guess that I have just always had a creepy feeling about signing on with a corporation, where at the end of the day, they have the right(?) to tell me that they own my privacy. .. (.. and, I have since heard from friends, that yes with some hassle, you may be able to deactivate these accounts, but you can never truly wipe them out. .. (..Who owns the 5th Amendment?))
And my telephone, it is a 2006 LG model. Up until then, I was still using my landline (.. ty Frank Church for all of your fight..!), but my wife, she got the LG’s with her job because she has to have the phones for her work. .. Hey, it was “free” to us. .. But, I ‘am now in the process of trying to hook up an old Soviet pay phone, this in line with a pulse to tone converter, in order to use the old rotary dial. .. hahaa!!
And, I don’t go to very many websites. I mostly just come to this one for the “(k)new’s”, because you folks are in my opinion, the most seasoned, and the most knowledgeable at deciphering the “(k)now” for me. So, I thank you for turning me on to the Saker. He writes well, and with passion.
It is difficult to watch (.. and criminal to broadcast these known perjurer’s to our Congress..), Hayden, Clapper, Brennan, etc., who are now given front and center (..jobs(?)) on our airwaves, when in fact they belong in a jail cell. .. But, like you say, it takes a very “sincere effort” to resist these fools and their brainwashing of our public space.
Back in 1982, it was very shortly before the Plowshares 8 were going to be sentenced, and in the “heat” of that moment, they made a low budget, but truly heartfelt documentary of their experience. It is called ‘In The King Of Prussia.’ If you have never seen it, there is a few full length listings of it on youtube, in which they are about an hour and a half in length.
Mike, ty for what you have done. And what you do.
yep…i learned it wasnt all a wonderful country, when the u$A government assassinated students at Kent State because they didnt agree with the government…
we are at a knifepoint for the world right now…i wish us well
regards
D
I feel exactly the same as do you and the Saker. Even if one has no emotional or spiritual attachment to this beautiful planet, your fellow humans (who can be fascinating and endearing) and all the endless possibilities in just being alive, even if you are just a Wall Street/MIC corporate bean counter with love only for your bottom line, I implore you to consider a cost/benefit analysis of the actions you are contemplating in the quest to accrue ever more material stuff. You will still have immense wealth, pathological riches, even if you lose a few games to the foreign competition. Why go all in just to totally bust the other players?
The likeliest outcome will be you destroy any semblance of quality of life for every human being that survives your premeditated mass murder. This is the maniacal thinking of a bad sport who shoots everyone else at the table when he goes bankrupt in a game of Monopoly. It’s just beyond the bounds of all reason. It’s a death wish, is what it is… by uber-control freaks who are deciding the fates of everyone else on the planet, something they have no right to do. Why do we let them have such power, which is the end game of totally unregulated capitalism? The Roosevelt’s had clipped their wings, but our modern-day presidents and congressional leaders deliberately sold out for a piece of the action.
The below link is an A-list of Lilliputians / Liars, Warmongers, Defense Dept. thieves, War Profiteers, Libertarians,and the Koch Brothers cabal of Shot Calling Lilliputian billionaires.
http://www.reasoned.org/e_PNAC2.htm
Most of us are “worried” about the pathetic rehabilitation of WOT warhawks, and have been since it started with Frum and others.
Since when did MSNBC or CNN become “liberals” or “progressives” of the “man in the street” variety? We don’t see them as our saviors just as allies in the war against the orange turd.
Interesting article at link below.
———————————————————-
Finian CUNNINGHAM | 26.03.2018 | WORLD / Europe, Middle East
France’s Bling-Bling Sarkozy Haunted by Ghost of Gaddafi
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/03/26/france-bling-bling-sarkozy-haunted-ghost-gaddafi.html
Libya was another illegal war promoted by the corporate media. See article at link below.
October 30, 2011
“The War Criminals Who Bombed Libya”
…
Libya has been bombed non-stop for around eight months all in the name of a “humanitarian mission.” The main perpetrators of this atrocity are the so-called “civilized political leaders” of the western world. Their partners in war crimes are NATO and the Al-Qaeda [2] led rebels. The propaganda merchants for the war were mostly the mainstream media who gave credibility to its illegality and mostly covered up the Al-Qaeda led connection to the rebels.
http://graysinfo.blogspot.ca/2011/10/war-criminals-who-bombed-libya.html
Bravo! Excellent commentary!
While Gulliver is the principled character in Swift’s book, the lilliputians represent organized disruption and perverse reasoning.
The U.S. Senate, under Obama, and now under Trump have the character of lilliputians vis-a-vis their abdication to those Monied Interests, unto whom they are OBLIGED to act in obedience to – and – not to the people they theoretically “represent”.
As the “corrupted media” story reveals – along with corrupted Politicians, corrupted Banks, corrupted Drug Companies, corrupted Environmental Scientists, Judges, Lawyers and Police; one hustle applies; “The Love of Money (Filthy Lucre) is the Root of All Evil.”
We The People, from the Cities to Appalachia to the barren Plains of Native American “Reservations” are UNDER THE CONTROL of
lilliputian-esk Representatives who punish Sound and Constructive Opinions, and The Peoples’ wishes / while Favoring and Approving the destructive desires of PROFIT SEEKING/POLITICAL MANIPULATING/CASH DONATING Corporations. They ARE the present day
“shot calling” lilliputians that Tie Up We The People in Obdurate “legislative agendas” which act as the ropes that Tie Down (Gulliver)/ We The People.
HOW WILL WE-THE-PEOPLE FIX OUR LILLIPUTIAN SENATE/FEDERAL GOVERNMENT?
https://www.c-span.org/video/?442970-3/washington-journal-ira-shapiro-discusses-book-fixing-senate
we have returned, after 200 years, to taxation without representation”…
kind of a pointless journey, eh?
regards
D
Followed by:
My guess: Drogon is a good Ukraine patriot. Or a Hillary-bot.
Thanks Zachary for digging that up. Michael Kenny was gone for a few months, but like a bad penny, he’s recently resurfaced. Let’s hope that Drogon is sincere about his departure.
Was this article about media bias or Trump. Trump is fair game, as are all politicians, but when we think we are about to read about the extent of the media bias regarding our foreign policy, the writer interrupts his damning criticism of the media and its use of Generals and the deep state leakers and goes on a rampage about Trump. Do writers need to earn their credentials by inserting something about Trump, no matter the subject. The article needs to make clear that the “progressives” and liberals are more aggressive in floating propaganda about Russia than conservatives. I would even go so far as saying that they are a greater danger to starting a horrendous war than Trump. As to their use of the deep state, who is using who since both are getting benefits from the partnership.
If you want to write about Trump, and there is plenty to write about, write about Trump. But please stop trying to convince us regardless of the issue that he is not your kind of guy.
I agree with you.
I agree. I’ve been saying all along that the Russiagaters are more dangerous than Trump supporters. They also reveal a total lack of historical knowledge regarding the intelligence agencies’ priority of destroying the left both domestically and internationally. As if that agenda has been abandoned.
I agree. But as it is, in this New Era there is no such thing as “Left” exists out there any more. With some shades of grey here and there, the whole pack who controls the Finance, and in charge of Media and Entertainment is just one rotten pack. They have enslaved the minds of most of the population, and are in control of all levers of power in the government.
The russiagaters and general neolib crowd are playing exactly the part that was given to them, to forward the deepstate and MICF(dont forget the finance boys) plans for the remainder of the world, they dont absolutely control already…
reminds me of Saruman in the Lord of the rings….”and he had just the wit to play the part i set him..”.
regards
D
Mr. Cohen nicely said. I had a very lively conversation with my conservative (useful idiot) neighbor concerning what you seem to tread lightly around the edge of. The deep state. I’d like to submit something to you if you are interested.
If you were to visit Bombs Away Bolton’s web site what you will find is the story much like many of those who went to work for the U.S. Department of State Department. Carlucci started that way, Col. Edward Lansdale, and a very long list of others.
Are you aware of Jane Mayer’s book Dark Money. It provided my with the first real proof that CIA was ran by the “SUPER WEALTHY ELISTS, “SWETS”, I call them. Robert Blum worked hand in hand with Allen Dulles to craft the CIA in the manner they desired. I would recommend you obtain a copy of Arthur B. Darlings “THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, an instrument of government to 1950, Copyright 1990, by the Pennsylvania State University Press.
This volume was classified by Allen Dulles for over 20 years. If you look up Blum and read what is written about him and Dulles in this volume you will see why. Blum wished CIA be totally funded by trusts and foundations and early on as reported in Mayer book CIA ran afoul of the law by doing just that.
P 104 DARK MONEY “if the Olin Foundation was less than transparent about its mission, it was not for the first time. Between 1958 and 1966, it secretly served as a bank for the Central Intelligence Agency. During these eight years, the CIA laundered $1.95 million through the foundation.”
If you are not familiar with this book you should get it. The notes for p 104 attribute the discovery to, ” Ramparts magazine blew the cover on the covert CIA program. Additional reports revealed that the CIA had been secretly funneling money through as many as a hundred private foundations in the country that were acting as front groups and passing the money on covertly to Cold War anti-Communist projects. Some of the money was spread to domestic groups such as the National Student Association. Liberal organizations, including teachers’ unions, acted as fronts to.”
Until all Americans understand the forces at work that control the lobbies and there for the Congress we will never break their hold on the U.S. government. CIA has owned the media since before they killed JFK. If not before then surely right after during the Warren Commissions hearings.
Thank You
Thank you robert e williamson jr, my many years of looking at the JFK Assassination not only confirms that, but indicates that Alan Dulles loved playing the game. That is until a graduate student accurately called his bluff. I think that incident was discribed in “The Devil’s Chessboard”…
One can get a sense of how it worked for Mr. Dulles here…
http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKgeorgetown.htm
Interesting link, thanks!
Well I hope Dullies & all his evil SOB friends are enjoying, playing his games in HELL! That’s the place where all these scumbags are going to end up in, the just reward for all their scheming, lying & murderous actions? No crime ever goes unpunished & although they may have escaped justice in this life, they are not escaping justice in the afterlife & I hope their rotting in hell!
You are so right KiwiAntz, that not until we the people of America take to the streets in peaceful protest and community boycott of corporate functions and profits we of the world lose out bigly. This continual global American led loop of one war after another must be brought to an end. I think what confounds and confuses the issue if not more so is in bulk we Americans have a National Security Deep State run MSM, and that’s hard to overcome in order to coalesce a large enough consensus around to make a difference.
On another note, if the same MSM isn’t sidelined with Dark oversight, and it is allowed to get behind something of value then just take at look at the youth movement for stricter gun laws. Now, I’m all for hearing out these gun restriction advocates, as I support all freedom of speech in the form of peaceful protest, but why cant our MSM breath the cool breeze of peace over fanning the flames of war all the time? It’s well known marches for peace are slightly covered.
Be careful KiwiAntz when these creeps come to your beautiful nation in order to seek refugee….lock them out. Ah better yet give them a swimming lesson. Joe
Thanks for the post and info about Jane Mayer’s book Dark Money. Our local library has it and I will be reading it. Truman did not intend for the CIA to perform covert operations, and that was not in the law he signed authorizing its existence.
Yes, the true mission on the CIA is to further and protect American business interests. Hence they launch coups against good, reasonable governments and install dictators who oppress the people for corporate dollars. This, together with all the bombing and shooting and killing the US army does overseas, is why the world hates america.
More and more, the once great nation resembles Nazi Germany….just with better PR.
It is not the Generals who appear on these shows that are creating all of these endless wars. One must look a little deeper. Here is a good article that explains the reason why the Generals are on the shows in the first place.
http://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/americas-jews-are-driving-americas-wars/
….
That’s just antisemitic drivel of the lowest sort. No different from claiming that America’s immigrants are all rapists and murderers, etc. It’s not even the somewhat-more-accurate claim that the Israeli government has a major hand in American foreign policy (it certainly does, but not much more than the Saudi or UAE government does).
In reality, these wars are fought for Wall Street, for the shareholder profits, and those profits are delivered via fossil fuel corporations (Exxon and Chevron and Halliburton made billions off the Iraq War), arms dealers (the Iraq War was a cash cow for Lockheed, Raytheon, Northrup, United Defense, and about a hundred smaller arms dealers and private military contractors).
Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE – these entities all see major benefits from these wars and from their associations with the American Empire, but they’re not the controlling parties. Israel gets its $4 billion a year from the US taxpayer (a good chunk gets recycled to US arms dealers, however) and Saudi Arabia and the UAE pay what amounts to protection money to Wall Street in exchange for military and covert support, which keeps those bloated corrupt dictatorships from going the way of the Shah of Iran (for how much longer?).
This is Wall Street running the war game, that’s always how empires operate in this system.
I agree that greed and money pull the strings. But whose money? To claim that Israel is minimally involved is desperate silliness. Israel controls the US Senate elections. Zionist money has had a clear and central role in the war profiteering business (even before Zionism) e.g.
“War Profiteer Story”
http://warprofiteerstory.blogspot.com
Oh, Israel is majorly involved! But not the controlling interest, that’s what I mean. While Israeli AIPAC lobbying is massive, it’s not like they have more power than the financial services lobby, the Wall Street bank deregulation bills go right on through, or the pharmaceutical lobby. Not only that, look at how the Saudi prince is being received by corporate executives and Congressmembers – clearly, MBS has just as much pull as Netanyahu does with the pack of prostitutes in Congress.
Note I didn’t say ‘minimally involved’ – I just pointed out that if you look at Israel, Saudi Arabia and UAE, then neither one really has more power in the United States than the other. The important point is that these decisions, this control of the media – it’s Wall Street shareholders running this show. Israel and Saudi Arabia and UAE really are along for the ride, reaping what benefits they can – but Netanyahu doesn’t call up the head of TimeWarner or Comcast and tell them what kind of media coverage he expects. No, that’s the majority Wall Street shareholders who hold controlling interests in Time Warner, Disney, Comcast etc., they’re the ones making those calls.
Thomas Friedman says he can name 25 neocons, almost all of them Jewish, that engineered the Iraq war. This fly’s in the face of your theory.
https://www.haaretz.com/1.4764706
Here is Thomas Friedman:
“Is the Iraq war the great neoconservative war? It’s the war the neoconservatives wanted, Friedman says. It’s the war the neoconservatives marketed…… So this is not a war that the masses demanded. This is a war of an elite. Friedman laughs: I could give you the names of 25 people (all of whom are at this moment within a five-block radius of this office) who, if you had exiled them to a desert island a year and a half ago, the Iraq war would not have happened.”
I agree that the power ultimately resides with money, and hence with the biggest banks. The lead bank on the Zionist project is the Rothschild bank. Jacob Rothschild spoke on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour letter to his uncle Walter. The reason his family funded Israel, and made the necessary political arrangements, was for “that sacred goal, the return of Israel to its ancestral homeland” (8:50 in video).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FMVhjv42Gs
Interestingly, this is a direct appeal to the extremist “settlers” to keep on going. And they remain the dominant faction in Israeli politics. There’s a possibility, based on their previous strategies, that the Rothschild bank was mainly interested in the continuous war profits that would come from starting a religious war in Palestine, e.g. “War Profiteer Story”. Jacob Rothschild did not make the sacred move to Israel. And note the amount of attention he gives to the humans he sacrifices for his “sacred” goal.
On the UAE and Saudi Arabia comparison, only Israel weeds out Congressional candidates by requiring a pledge of allegiance to Israel so they don’t get knocked out by a financial boulder at election time. Seems to me there’s no point in trying to steer attention away from Israel anymore.
Mr. “Nonsense factory” claims that the article that I linked to above by Phillip Giraldi is “antisemitic drivel of the lowest sort”. But Phillip Giraldi, a retired career CIA agent, has published many articles right here on Consortium News.
Do other fellow Consortium News readers think Phillip Giraldi is antisemetic ????
Here is the link again.
http://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/americas-jews-are-driving-americas-wars/
Yep pretty accurate. The fundamental control is over the financial system and money supply. From that, control over all other industries follows. The media and Hollywood are probably the most important link in the chain.
Oh, and do US citizens realise there is no law or statute requiring you to pay federal income tax?
You’re going to quote Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, chief propaganda monkey outlet for the Iraq War, home to William Broad and Judith Miller, as an authority on anything?
Was the Carlyle Group involved in the Iraq War? Did the Carlyle Group have a member on the NYT board of directors? Where the bin Laden family on the Carlyle Board? Yes, yes, yes.
It’s the big money players who directed the Iraq War. Sure some were Jewish, like Haim Saban and Sheldon Adelson, but many more where Christian, and just as many were Muslim.
As far as trusting retired CIA agents on anything, I don’t even bother with that anymore. Retired or not, they’re still playing the disinformation game much of the time. It’s just their nature.
As far as all their criticism of Israel, I find it particularly curious that so many of these ex-CIA people refuse to make the Israeli nuclear weapons program a topic of discussion; maybe discussing it would go against their CIA severance policy, they’ve signed documents saying that they can’t talk about it?
I don’t trust people who are living their lives under security clearances and publication reviews, at the end of the day. And yes, Wall Street is driving America’s wars, period. Everyone else is just along for the ride.
Bullshit like “the Jews control the banks and finance” is just more Henry Ford “The International Jew” business, spewed out by the alt-right along with hatred of immigrants and everything else neo-Nazi. Yes, Trump is a vile clown, yes, Zionists are racist apartheid scumbags in bed with evangelical Christians and Wahhabist Sunni jihadis, a bunch of religious fanatics out to overthrow democracy and gain wealth and power for themselves, just like in Europe under the Spanish Inquisition.
Let me point out something else: one could easily write a similar article pointing to Clinton and Bush and saying that “white Anglo-Saxon Protestants” are behind America’s wars. The truth is rather different. The real architects of the wars are a little cabal, but it is a mixture of political insiders – Protestants, Catholics, evangelicals, Jews, Muslims, even some Hindus – all who feed off the government trough, all with links to Wall Street and defense contractors and fossil fuel corporations, that’s how this system is run. The goons at the CIA are well aware of this, more and more of them have gone over to the private sector and work as CIA contractors at Booz or wherever, for much larger salaries.
It’s just imperial Byzantine corruption, trying to pin it on any one group is dishonest distraction.
Your points are all basically wrong.
Not only the entire NYT but WaPo and nearly all US mass media are zionist controlled, mostly directly and the rest indirectly. Do your homework. They do not even conceal this.
No one here says that “Jewish” but rather that zionist interests cause the US Mideast wars. Why do you bring up “Jewish”? Most zionists are not jewish and many Jews are not zionists. You are making the old warm-up for false and racist “anti-semitism” accusations.
“Wall St” can be seen in all national affairs but is clearly not generally driving the US to wars in the Mideast. Most businesses see that as expense without benefit. Neither are oil companies that lose money in wars. The others are zionists.
Retired CIA people are not necessarily playing the same game, especially those who left for blowing the whistle.
No “nonsense factory” has long been peddling nonsense attributing the US wars in the Mideast to anything but Israel and KSA. If anyone is an “hasbara troll” it is he, using the full list of scams like “it’s the oil interests.” I have read Giraldi for quite a while and found nothing anti-Jewish. Of course “anti-semitic” is non-existent since Semites include Arabs as well.
Let’s have some more hasbara lines, “nonsense factory.”
Isn’t it just the Israeli propaganda army that uses the ‘hasbara’ line? You know, the Israeli Zionists who infect comment threads with antisemitic drivel so they can say they’re being victimized?
Or is it the Saudi-UAE propangada army, that tries to distract public attention away from its corrupt monarchy by howling about “the Jews” when in reality, the rulers of the UAE and Saudi Arabia are in bed with Israelis who provide them with mass surveillance technology?
Or is it Wall Street bankers trying to distract attention away from their own leading role in American war policy, since they’re the one raking in the profits from Halliburton, Lockheed, etc?
Or is it just a pack of alt-right trolls regurgitating their old KKK / Nazi lines?
American WASPs are behind America’s wars! No, American Catholics (Opus Dei, right?) are behind America’s wars! No, it’s the Jews behind America’s wars! What a load of BS. The corporation is run for profit, not for religious ideology.
It’s pretty ignorant, no matter how you look at it. But that’s American today, dumbed down and spoon fed.
Thanks for that link. A very fact-based, soberly reasoned article, fully supporting its potentially controversial title.
Pay more attention to Dispensationalist Protestants.
A small set of Elites in the constant push for more War are Jews, just like many mass shooters are white males. Doesn’t really reflect on most Jews or most white people who are against War and mass shootings.
Dear God, the overall quality of Consortium News (especially the comments section) has dropped off a cliff since Robert Parry died. I’m officially done. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
“The highlight of my baseball career came in Philadelphia’s Connie Mack Stadium when I saw a fan fall out of the upper deck. … And, when he got up and walked away, the crowd booed..”
— Bob Uecker
Beautiful cmp. Thanks.
CMP…Good One!
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out……………
Above comment meant for Drogon.
Mike…another good one!
I my opinion, all the corporate media conglomerates are as guilty of war crimes as those setting and carrying out the policy. Especially since we have now invaded at least 7 countries illegally and remain in those countries illegally yet the corporate press refuses to allow anyone to say so on their programs.
We are in desperate need of a war crimes tribunal for the US and its allies in this mindless slaughter of innocents.
Yep. Would be salutary for all concerned.
Not going to happen.
Instead we’ll watch the Empire continue to crumble–and take us down with it.
Follow the money trail to the Hall of Mirrors owned and operated by the .01 percent, where what you see is never what you get and:
“I’m sure I’ll take you with pleasure!” the Queen said. “Two pence a week, and jam every other day.”
Alice couldn’t help laughing, as she said, “I don’t want you to hire me – and I don’t care for jam.”
“It’s very good jam,” said the Queen.
“Well, I don’t want any today, at any rate.”
“You couldn’t have it if you did want it,” the Queen said. “The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam today.”
“It must come sometimes to ‘jam today’,” Alice objected.
“No, it can’t,” said the Queen. “It’s jam every other day: today isn’t any other day, you know.”
“I don’t understand you,” said Alice. “It’s dreadfully confusing!”
The American people have all been shoved down the rabbit hole and can’t seem to wake from the nightmare.
We are in a jam for sure, and trying to eat our way out!
Many don’t really want to.
Indeed, it is the money trail that exposes the true agenda behind US corporate media propaganda agendas:
(1) “MSNBC is owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of the NBCUniversal Television Group division of NBCUniversal (all of which are ultimately owned by Comcast). MSNBC and its website were founded in 1996 under a partnership between Microsoft and General Electric’s NBC unit, hence the network’s naming.”
(2) “Cable News Network (CNN) is an American basic cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner.”
The trick here is you want to check into the list of top shareholders at Comcast and TimeWarner, using something like yahoo finance and their ticker symbols, CMCSA and TWX. Once you get their main page, find the ‘major holders’ link; this is the list of financial entities that hold the highest amounts of shares in these corporations.
The funny thing is that these entities, which really control Wall Street, are almost never discussed in the corporate media. Their names don’t get much play. Blackrock, State Street, Fidelity, Vanguard, etc. They manage a lot of pension funds, they have their fingers in all the big fossil fuel and pharmaceutical and military armaments corporations. So with Iraq, well, that was an opportunity for Big Oil, Exxon and Chevron – same majority shareholders as in TimeWarner and Comcast; it was also an opportunity for arms dealers – Lockheed and Northrup and Raytheon and so on, again with the same set of majority shareholders.
So these majority shareholders, they appoint the executives of these corporations, people like TimeWarner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes, who for example, claims that overturning Citizens United and putting limits on money in politics is an ‘assault on free speech’. Then there’s Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, and Comcast is literally the most hated corporation in America (Verizon is a competitor for that title), enemy of net neutrality, complete corporate overlord plutocracy mentality. These guys are in bed with their majority shareholders, people like Lawrence Fink, CEO of Blackrock (controlling $6 trillion in assets invested on Wall Street), or Joseph Hooley, CEO of State Street, who makes over $16 million a year in salary alone, more than 250 times the average State Street bank employee.
I mean, nobody in the media ever, ever talks about this structure, because then they’d have to admit that they are just the propaganda arm of the plutocracy, not much different from the media system in Brezhnev’s Soviet Union, with these plutocratic billionaires playing the role of the Soviet Central Committee, with their role being that of the Ministry of Information, or as George Orwell called it in 1984, “The Ministry of Truth.”
This, incidentally, is really why they all hate Putin so much – when Putin came into power, he soon divested the billionaires who controlled Russian media at that time, mainly Berezovsky and Gusinsky, of their media holdings and put the vast majority of Russian media under state control.
That’s not the best approach, I would say instead that the United States should introduce anti-trust legislation forcing all the media conglomerates, TimeWarner and Comcast and Disney and Newscorp, to sell off all their media holdings, they should literally be broken up into hundreds of independent media companies, with no holding companies of any kind allowed in the media business. That would do the trick, but they’d fight like hell to maintain that control; they know that this mass propaganda machine is critical to their future survival as plutocratic rulers and oligarchs.
The 1996 Telecommunications Act led to the consolidation of 90% of media under six owners. The Smith Mundt “Modernization” Act of 2012 repealed the anti-propaganda laws and allowed the government to legally bombard the people with Deep State propaganda through the six owner MSM. Together with the NSA monitoring American citizens in violation of the 4th Amendment, these two laws completed the Police Surveillance state that America has become.
After Trump just expelled another 60 Russian diplomats and shut another consulate they must really be whooping it up. According to George Galloway, that leaves only about 40 Russian personnel in this country to carry on diplomacy with the Washington regime. No chance that could lead to grievous mistakes and misunderstandings now could it? Ending civilisation is just a small cost to redeem Killary’s honor… well worth it, to Madeleine Albright’s way of thinking. The big question is, will the world make it to April Fool’s Day?
I think Trump has made a deal with the Neocons in exchange for letting them in the door to control foreign policy. In exchange, the Neocons will neutralize the Mueller dog pack, and allow Trump to escape.
Notice that neocons Max Boot and Bill Crystal have not been seen recently on MSNBC and CNN. Now that Trump is on their side they won’t want to bad mouth him.
I wonder if Hillary will advise her progressive followers to support Israel’s war against Iran? And it remains to be see how thoroughly gullible those followers are. There may be a limit.
j
JWalters–respectfully, please stop calling anyone assholesiated with Killary, “progressive”. They are not progressive. Killery isn’t progressive, no matter how pathetically she squirmed to try to fit into that suit. None of her followers are progressive. They are liberal. Many are corpora-bots, republicrats, and Yuppy scum, who have proud liberal “values” which they will toss away in a heartbeat. They suck.
RamboDave – It is not Mueller only. There is Stormy Daniels, and many others lining up to be in the cast in this bizarre soap opera. And then they are probably showing Trump all his real estate deals, tax returns and all that, in the secret. It is dream come true for the Neocons. As you said NeoCons have been let in the door to control the Foreign Policy – completely.
Not to be left behind, the Vassal States of EU across the Atlantic have joined under the flag of this Theresa May show. It is apparent that all the events of the last three weeks including the false flag poisoning incident at Salisbury were most likely preplanned and coordinated between U.S. and U.K..
These are your Statesmen of the very Advanced and Civilized West. Unfortunately, the moral collapse of the West is complete. It is beyond the stage of recovery now. It is going to take the whole World down with it.
EVERY DAY IS FOOLS DAY IN THE USA !!!!!!!!!!
And the EU, Canada and of course Ukraine complementing to a sum of above 100.
There was a good comment by Sjursen on antiwar.
The pattern is the same as with the tomahawks in Syria and as in Iraq: shoot before guilt is established. Is this what the rule of law is about? Another parallel is who had a motive? Of course, this time, the confrontation is far more threatening than in Syria, and also even than in Iraq.
Who can or would stop these lunatics?
Maybe Russia is responsible, but this should be established first.
Given the precedents like Iraq, why should anyone trust the word of Western governments?
Realist I heard a clip on the car radio of Theresa May pumping iron boosting to how 18 nation’s had signed onto their expelling their Russians diplomats out of respect for England…. this Salisbury poisoning gimmick in someways is worst than going into Iraq. I’m probably forgetting a lot from back in 2002, but the theatre of the absurdity wasn’t so much there in our ramp up to invading Iraq, as the bizarre nature of May’s accusations are not even enough to convince Porton Lab’s own scientists from what I gather…. yet allied leaders to England are jumping on board May’s sinking ship, as if it were going somewhere. What was that Churchill reference of rats swimming towards the sinking ship all about? Joe
The whole business is clearly a sham, clearly a prelude to a war (or wars) that Washington dearly wants. When, where and how the shooting starts is still uncertain because Uncle Sam has so many irons in the fire, so many loci and casi belli that it can pick and choose from.
The vast decimation of the diplomatic corps between East and West alone makes a mistake or a misunderstanding leading to war much more likely. Of course, they know that.
A critical question is will the war unfold piecemeal in slow motion like this transparent new cold war has? Or will it be a sudden escalation to full out nuclear Armageddon? Russia may have some programmed stop points or kill switches before final extinction, just like they have a dead hand switch to retaliate even after they are wiped out in a first strike. Knowing the cussedness of the Washington junta, I doubt they have any scheduled TV time outs in which to re-think matters before the last bacterium on the planet is dead. Hey, here’s a new catchphrase for that old hyena John McCain: “We are all cannon fodder now!” Or, “War: it’s not just for the troops any more.”
The dumb you know what’s now loss their spy’s to the Kremlin. Well at least former CIA agent Phil Giraldi said that by throwing out the Russian diplomats out of our country like our allies did, and by Russia’s retaliation to do likewise, we now have loss our spy ring in Russia.
The other thing is, is that in the past while observing on going ABM agreements that a couple to a few times Russians held back while seeing strange things appear on their radar screens, but the Russians were very cautious before starting WWIII and delayed responding. So now without any treaty observation to be found I’m wondering to how just exactly all sides of this geopolitical rub will respond without any signed agreement to hesitate their starting a nuclear war?
The worst part is, is that it is our side who are acting like out of control child like little weasel instigators who’s enjoyment is making trouble in the unsupervised schoolyard. It’s like our leaders think they are playing a big game, and that we have the winning hand, and that in my estimation is never a good sign. Joe
Here read to how disjointed our Patriot missile systems are ….
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/03/two-failures-in-one-day-missile-defense-is-an-embaressment-it-wont-work.html#more
Thanks Joe, Edward Teller (remember him) convinced “Ronnie” that a missle hits a missle was a viable option, (Star Wars) how many Billions later it Still doesn’t work. I think the Russians knew all along!
Bob, seeing all those flaming missile fragments falling to the ground in Saudi Arabia recently makes me question how useful exploding dozens or hundreds of nuclear devices above your own cities would actually be. Even if a strike prevents detonation, a mushroom cloud, a huge shock wave, intense radiation and an EMP, your landscape is still going to be littered with lethal doses of plutonium fragments all over creation. If the warhead itself survives damage to the missile it rides, it will still blow up when it reaches its targeted altitude. So, the blast may happen over Paris instead of London. In any case, the earth’s atmosphere and landmass will be saturated with deadly radionuclides. Good luck to our troglodyte descendants.
Realist, Bob, what we are talking about here are weapons systems, both defensive and offensive, which for all practical purposes have never really been tested in real time or on real life situations or landscapes, as far as that goes. So if the military is still as it was when I served some 46 years ago, and recalling to how there were many a ship and gun which upon any given moment something didn’t work properly, and with that knowledge I then would hold out for any early celebration of our country to our devastating anyone, and us all being saved from anything of any real circumstances which would arise from any such happening. Think of it, to how just one failure could mean an entire American city, and that’s all you need to know.
I’m usually the most optimistic, and I always see the glass as half full, but in these immediate days of our life’s I’m getting to the feeling that war will break out any day now. Let’s all hope we can make fun of me this time next year, and that I was wrong once again. I’m not always right, just ask my wife.
Reference also the 59 missiles where I believe 26 didn’t reach their target….okay?
Always a good thing to converse with you guys, take care the both of you. Joe
Joe, only an enemy of the entire human race would choose to start a nuclear war that cannot be “won” and which would destroy the sum total of all human progress. Just consider how far out of the muck terrestrial life and eventually the human species has crawled. The things we have learned and what we now can do would seem like miracles or magic to our ancestors just a couple generations ago. I myself can hardly believe what we can do today compared to what was possible when I was born in the 1940’s. And, the stuff they have promised for the near future? Extended life and good health probably way past 100 years of age. The sum knowledge of our species on tap in our own brains linked in to AI. Self-driving, self-flying or self-sailing vehicles of every type. Virtual reality entertainment beyond your dreams, and probably space travel tourism within our solar system, all before the century ends–at least until the resources run out. What maniacs would want to destroy all that we have attained and are on the verge of realising? Demons or hostile space aliens are the only such things I can think of. Bolton, Pompeo, Haspel and all the rest of that lot need to be DNA tested before they even go up for a vote.
Realist I have nothing against technology advancement, but rather than we chase after technology advances we should have technology chasing after the demands by human need. On the other hand no one in history ever has done that. So if technology reduces labor then we must find idle labor’s new necessity. I think hand made musical instruments still have a unique quality, and when I go to New York and see aged old guitars selling for 3 to 4 times more than brand new ones I know why…. the real materials and the craftsmanship is what is the lucrative niche. So where there are wills there are ways. Joe
“Progressives can easily agree that it’s a top priority to end Republican control of Congress and depose Trump.”
Progressives? Do these exist in the house, the senate, congress anywhere near the levers of power? End Republican control of the House and replace it with what exactly Jeff? Blue Republicans? Depose Trump and replace him with what? No…… the only thing that can effect change won’t.
Tannenhouser, exactly what I was thinking. Probably we should ignore all “labels” as without meaning, get rid of Everybody, and start again.
Sounds good. Hold a lottery and by chance every four years a diff citizen gets to go regardless as to so called qualifications
Or by their SS numbers.
SoSec would work fine, save having to reinvent the wheel as well. Good call.
Tannenhouse, Bob V…good points,…the progressive label is especially abused. What i don’t like about the article is that it accepts Rachael Maddow’s co-opting of the term”progressive” when she and others that abuse the label on msm could easily be called reactionaries or right wing shills. A chardonnay label on a bottle of wine turned to vinegar doesn’t make it more palatable.
Thanks Bob H. I feel similarly about Neoliberal Economics. Everywhere the Neocons are hiding behind Liberal labels. All the more confusing that way.
Con artists call themselves whatever suits their devious purpose. Smokescreens are a strategy.
Hey Bob Caitlin Johnstone used a term I’m finding may fit us…. ‘nonpartisan’. I to am not a label guy, but lately I’m finding there are quite a few of us…. maybe we should all come out of the shadows and meet. But yeah, I don’t see much to work with in DC. Joe
Not a bad idea Joe, there’s Nothing to work with in DC…
Bob DC is useless. Joe
Joe, …yes, “non-partisan” seems to be the only label that doesn’t put one in a box… which brings me to another point. Notice how the two parties use the term “bipartisan” to make proposed legislation sound fair when it’s actually another nail in the coffin of democracy. This tactic has brought us closer than ever to the precipice as the msm picks up on the term and makes it(a bipartisan bill) sound reasonable. Yet its another slice off a salami that’s already been reduced by half, and then once again the taxpayers are asked to share their half in the interest of “fairness”.
Bob I do know what you are talking about. Remember the 2010 Simpson-Bowles Plan? Yeah when ever the two wings of the same bird wish to bestow some more pain onto the American society, they do it under the ‘bi-partisan’ cya program, because then this way they cover both of their sorry butts. If you pay attention Bob, and I think you know this, that whenever bi-partisan gets tossed around that it usually means something bad is coming to our little world of American citizenship. Thanks of the appropriate reply. Joe
“Progressives can easily agree that it’s a top priority to end Republican control of Congress and depose Trump.” I consider this statement propaganda. As we now know, Democrats are running so many candidates drawn from the IC and MIC. It makes no sense to say that will help make things better for our nation.
The idea of a lottery is great and I wish we would do that! The two party system is so corrupt that just replacing one wing of the same vulture with the other wing (to paraphrase) will have absolutely no effect. How do i know this? Because it has been tried many times. The result? Things are worse, not better.
As an actual liberal I have other “top priorities” than serving Democrats: Stopping WWIII, ending the continuation of Global Warming, Feeding the Hungry, a living wage, education for all, universal, single payer health care to name a few. None of those things will come about by replacing Republicans with Democrats or deposing Trump.
There is a great deal of propaganda in this very article and I’m really tired of being lied to.
Jill maybe it’s time to do away with political parties all together. I’d also do away with the Electoral College, but then my fellow Americans would get all icky feeling over messing with old stuff like that… you know like the 2nd Amendment is God given, while the 1st Amendment goes into lockdown under a National Security threat status. Joe
i believe the “Media” are shills for the war criminals. See link below.
December 25, 2015
Are the Corporate Media and Others Covering Up The Treachery of The War Criminals?
http://graysinfo.blogspot.ca/2015/12/are-corporate-media-and-others-covering.html
Agreed complicit 100%. Your title lets them off the hook phasing it as a question, there’s no question anymore.
Thank you CN, as always. Stephen J. I totally endorse what you believe, thanks for your long term clear thinking. And Jeff Cohen thank you for the heads up. From here on out it’s going to be hard to figure who the good guys are. Or, possibly it will be easier than ever?
Bob, I disagree on point of this article. Where the writer says MSM’s cheer leading for war etc was a mistake. It wasn’t a mistake and it isn’t a mistake now as the baying for war by the MSM goes on with relentlessly. Its calculated and well thought out.
Of course you’re right john wilson it certainly wasn’t a mistake, it was carefully calculated and engineered. See F. William Engdahl’s new book “Manafest Destiny” for the best description yet.
Thanks.
https://www.amazon.com/Manifest-Destiny-American-Expansion-Critical/dp/0809015846
It’s the education system, not the corporate media, as George Carlin said….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Zqbg6QThg
The education system and the MSM are one and the same thing. Schools teach kids to worship the state and the MSM carries on this job for the rest of their adult lives.
Carlin someday he will be honored as a great philosopher.
Carlin wasn’t quite right this time. You can rightly blame the education system but even so you can’t let the corrupt warmongering media get away with the lies it purveys as news.
Here is a good article by Phillip Giraldi on this subject. He has published other articles on Consortium News.
http://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/americas-jews-are-driving-americas-wars/
“progressives … who’ve come to see corporate news channels like CNN and MSNBC as their saviors. It’s a dangerous illusion.”
It’s a completely engineered illusion, in other words, a scam. For nefarious ulterior purposes. Huge financial gain from huge needless war.
Same motives, same gang: Shortly after the Great Recession hit (as Bush and Cheney were heading out the door) a Moody’s securities analyst was asked on PBS why Moody gave high security ratings to paper they knew was garbage, and he said “There was sooo much money.”
Another great companion article, including a similar analysis of the USA’s Vichy media, with a spotlight on MSNBC, is
“Trump appointed Bolton because Republicans desperately need Adelson’s money”
http://mondoweiss.net/2018/03/appointed-republicans-desperately/
Yes …. (to your question) …. the Corporate Media are covering for the War Criminals. And who exactly are the Corporate Media in the first place? This link below shows, for example, that MSNBC is totally controlled by Jews who apparently have a passionate attachment for Israel. That is why, for example, in 2014 while Israel was conducting it’s assault on Gaza, killing 2300 civilians including 500 children, Rachel Maddow refused to touch the story. Instead Maddow covered the story about the black guy that was chocked to death by police outside a 7/11. Remember the “i can’t breath guy”? That’s all we got every night for six weeks.
Here is the link that explains why MSNBC did this: https://pastebin.com/CQDIQ3P4
….