Talk Nation Radio: Ray McGovern: Russia and U.S. Senators Want Disarmament, U.S. Media Does Not

In this radio interview with host David Swanson, Ray McGovern criticizes the mainstream media for ignoring or downplaying Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer of disarmament talks with the United States (after revealing a terrifying new weapon). 

Ray McGovern explains how the media, the “blood-drenched arms merchants,” and the neocon “crazies” (like national security adviser John Bolton) have thwarted President Trump’s fledgling efforts, backed by three Senators, to respond positively to Putin’s offer to talk arms control.

Ray also reveals information he’s learned from the ground in Syria about how many of those U.S., UK, and French missiles were shot down on April 14 before they reached their Syrian targets; he discusses the buffoonish l’Affaire Skripal with chemicals “of a type developed by Russia;” dismisses drivel from two Johns, McCain and Bolton, about alleged “Russian cyber-attacks” being an “act of war;” and Ray also give us a dose of nostalgia as he sings a bar from “Once in love with Amy.”

Ray McGovern was a CIA analyst for 27 years, from the administration of John F. Kennedy to that of George H. W. Bush. Ray’s duties included chairing National Intelligence Estimates and preparing the President’s Daily Brief, which he briefed one-on-one to President Ronald Reagan’s five most senior national security advisers from 1981 to 1985. In January 2003, Ray co-created Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) to expose how intelligence was being falsified to “justify” war on Iraq. His website is raymcgovern.com 

Total run time: 29:00
Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Music by Duke Ellington.

You can listen to it here:

David Swanson interviews Ray McGovern

25 comments for “Talk Nation Radio: Ray McGovern: Russia and U.S. Senators Want Disarmament, U.S. Media Does Not

  1. Hawaii guy
    April 29, 2018 at 05:10

    By “media” Ray means the jews who run Intel for Israel, spy on everyone, blackmail the government into using our kids to kill Israel’s enemies. Someone had the right idea about them 71 years ago.

  2. glitch
    April 27, 2018 at 08:31

    Excellent to see David Swanson’s Talk Nation Radio link posted here, thank you!

  3. April 26, 2018 at 22:54

    Good concluding point about Amy Goodman and Democracy Now. They should focus on American domestic news for which they have a clear and excellent record reporting, and ignore foreign affairs where their grasp is precarious.

  4. Abe
    April 26, 2018 at 18:41

    “So the global capitalist ruling classes’ War on Dissent is now in full swing. With their new and improved official narrative, ‘Democracy versus the Putin-Nazis,’ successfully implanted in the public consciousness, the corporatocracy have been focusing their efforts on delegitimizing any and all forms of deviation from their utterly absurd and increasingly paranoid version of reality. […]

    “the global capitalist ruling classes and their mouthpieces in the corporate media have been generating an atmosphere of mindless hysteria and paranoia in the service of drawing ‘a line in the sand’ between neoliberalism (i.e., global capitalism) and any and all forms of dissent therefrom. They’ve been at this, relentlessly, for almost two years now, since they recognized they were being confronted with a bona fide widespread ‘populist’ insurgency against the hegemony of global capitalism, not just in the Greater Middle East, but right in the heart of the Western empire. […]

    “Western societies are being divided into two opposing camps … two extremely broad ideological camps, both of which encompass the traditional political division into left and right. Let’s call camp number one ‘the Normals’ (i.e., those who support and conform to the values and ideology of global capitalism, regardless of whether they identify as conservatives, liberals, neoliberals, neoconservatives, or anything else). Let’s call camp number two ‘the Extremists’ (i.e., those opposing global capitalism, or not conforming to its ideology, regardless of whether they identify as socialists, communists, anarchists, fascists, anti-fascists, jihadists, or whatever).

    “While, of course, real political conflict still takes place within each of these two broad camps, the global capitalist ruling classes are less concerned with the ‘left/right’ equation than they are with ‘Normal/Extremist’ equation. This is the battle they are fighting currently. Short some sort of miraculous event, it is a battle they are going to win. They are going to win it by demonizing anyone opposing global capitalism as one or another form of ‘extremist’… an Islamic terrorist, an Antifa terrorist, a white supremacist, a Black identity extremist, an anti-Semite, a conspiracy theorist, an Assad apologist, a Russian bot, a Putin-Nazi propagandist… or whatever. It doesn’t really matter which labels they use. The point is, anyone not conforming to the global capitalist version of reality is an enemy of all that is normal and good.

    “In an atmosphere of mass hysteria and paranoia (like the one we’re living in at the moment), the authorities’ narratives do not have to make sense, or stand up to any type of real scrutiny. Their primary purpose is not to deceive, but rather, to demarcate an ideological territory of acceptable belief, expression, and emotion to which ‘normal’ people are expected to conform. Beyond the boundaries of that territory lies the outer darkness of ‘abnormality’ and ‘extremism,’ which no ‘normal’ person wants anything to do with. To avoid being cast into this outer darkness, people will conform to the most absurd and paranoid nonsense you can possibly imagine. The global capitalist ruling classes know this, which is why they don’t care if you disprove their narratives on Twitter or some ‘disreputable’ website they’ve rendered virtually invisible anyway. They are not debating the facts or the truth … they are marking the boundaries of that ‘normal’ territory, and herding frightened people into it.”

    The League of Assad-Loving Conspiracy Theorists
    By CJ Hopkins
    https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/04/26/the-league-of-assad-loving-conspiracy-theorists/

    • Gregory Herr
      April 26, 2018 at 18:57

      Yep…the old “what will the neighbors say?” works like a charm on most people.

    • CitizenOne
      April 26, 2018 at 21:59

      I read the Counter Punch Article. Very funny and sarcastic. More confirmation that more people are seeing the forest from the trees and the wider plot against common sense that the propaganda media is engaged in.

      But Orwell only got it partially right and the future might be more like the Matrix. What will happen when game makers are bought up by the propaganda media and our children are immersed in a 3-D holographic universe of intolerance violence, bigotry, and death from birth through their formative years as eager parents clamor to buy their children the latest mandated Christmas video helmet as seen on the tech bytes piece of propaganda on the nightly news which informs us of what to talk about the next waking moment..

  5. KiwiAntz
    April 26, 2018 at 18:23

    Ray McGovern appears frequently on the RT Channel & is a welcome guest for his sensible & sane assessments of trying too make sense & navigate thru the mountains of fake hysteria & US propagandist Psy-Ops operations being played on the US & World citizens! As a CIA Analyst, he is well versed in the corrupt, inner workings of the Govt & it’s Intelligence Agencies to distort & attempt to control their nefarious, MSM propagandist narratives & goals? Ray is a honourable man who is shining a light on the dark deeds of the American Govt!

  6. F. G. Sanford
    April 26, 2018 at 17:57

    Let’s do it like they do on the Discovery Channel-
    When that Samsonite gorilla had a suitcase in his cage,
    A dee-luxe frequent flyer made of kryptonite and vinyl,
    He tried everything to smash it in a simian outrage.
    We could excavate some relics with forensic archaeology,
    With spoons and shovels and some rulers like a history museum-
    Somebody’d pay to see ’em if we found the mausoleum,
    That gorilla with the suitcase would erase mythology!
    No animals were harmed in the commercial recreation,
    The gorilla saw them put some sapodilla inside,
    A bunch of ripe bananas guaranteed some ape frustration-
    But he couldn’t break that Samsonite no matter how he tried!
    Yes let’s do it like they did it on the Animal Planet-
    A safari to the wilderness but not to Mauritania!
    There’s a place where a big airplane made a hole in the ground,
    It’s a savage backcountry in a place called Pennsylvania-
    We could make an expedition but the natives are aggressive,
    But with beer and hunting rifles they can easily be bribed!
    We could say we’re only filming for the History Channel
    And there’s a flying saucer crash site that Bill Birnes has described!
    It will be a secret mission to dig up just one old suitcase-
    If that hijacked plane had luggage then a Samsonite survived!
    But I bet that we won’t even find a dried up monkey nugget,
    There’s an empty hole, so let’s roll,
    and prove the whole cockamamie story was contrived.

    I’m trying to be mild-ly facetious, just to lighten things up. Ray, don’t let ’em grind you down.

    • Gregory Herr
      April 26, 2018 at 18:40

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=749iU2Zv1kw

      Is it out of our hands?

      Hey, if a passport can survive an exploding fireball, there’s gotta be a suitcase swallowed up in that “crash”. Right? Where’s the FBI Lost & Found when you need ’em?

    • Abe
      April 27, 2018 at 16:38

      From the magic passport to the empty hole,
      there’s always an excuse to roll.

      One good hole (Khan Shaykhun, April 2017) deserves another (Douma, April 2018)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JmAOWmkFvk

      The magic barrel bomb
      defies the laws of physics
      by “falling” through the concrete roof of an apartment building
      with its sheet metal tail fin assembly undamaged,
      then floating horizontally across a bedroom
      to rest its head on a pillow.

  7. Mild-ly - Facetious
    April 26, 2018 at 14:51

    As Trump succeeds, thru the right wing courts, with his Moslem ban against humans from shithole countries,why are you, Ray McGovern, presenting as a Pharisee and not a Prophet … ?

    • Strngr - Tgthr
      April 26, 2018 at 21:07

      Thank you. In order to expand Democracy in this world we need weapons, especially with characters like Trump around who will misuse the rule of law to get what they want. Even if you want to curb your expansionist ways, and take a time out to catch your breath from the needed fighting, you need to have weapons to defend yourself as others will attack you when you are trying to rest and recuperate. We must struggle on together is all of this and never compromise with those who go against democracy. Look at what is happening inside our own nation for example – with democracy being eroded from within, day by day by our own President! And now the author suggests we make peace with anti-democratic countries like Russia, Iran, North Korea and China? What plant are you on?

  8. Mild-ly - Facetious
    April 26, 2018 at 12:50

    Russia and U.S. Senators Want Disarmament, U.S. Media Does Not
    {}

    “No more awards for predicting rain; awards only for building arks.”

    Ark Building requires A (the) Power of Self-Discipline (1 of Trump’s weakest Personal Traits ).

    Or, is Trump being promulgated into “The Man of Peace & World Security”?

    Is our enemy then, Not President Trump?; A Man that lacks self discipline?

    And appears to relish Building and Selling weapons of mass destruction

    (which should put him into place as a LEADER OF FORCES), not peace.

    ++++++++,

    I Wish You’d Explain to Me the concept of “world peace”
    As it may or may not be related to RECORD WEAPONS
    Sales to OPENLY MILITARISTIC ARABIAN PRINCE’S’?
    ___________

    And what about signing up w/ right-wing media
    IN YOUR DENOUNCEMENT of U. S. Media??
    (“Can you s’plian me?”) – please …
    …….. ?

  9. mike k
    April 26, 2018 at 11:21

    Russia wants to talk peace, but the Bully US Empire wants war. Rich and powerful people have stolen our country. They got rich by being ruthless and aggressive, now it’s all they know how to do. Making peace is totally alien to them. This is what Evil is; it has no higher values, only greed and violence.

  10. mike k
    April 26, 2018 at 07:04

    The number one enemy of the present oligarchic establishment in the US is PEACE. They will do anything to suppress this (to them) dangerous meme. Parallel to their constant warmongering is their quieter, but very effective squelching of any news or opinion or spokespersons promoting peace. On the contrary, they push the Orwellian idea that WAR IS PEACE.

  11. April 26, 2018 at 06:23

    Then why don’t Trump fire the likes of John Bolton? Is he not the ‘your fired!’ boss? Theater. Trump’s ‘hires’ runs the executive as he runs around the puppet, repaying his debts. Isn’t there a saying: Once CIA, always CIA? Once one is entrenched in the kakistocracy, you just don’t get to leave. Ask Sibel Edmonds or any other true whistle blower.

  12. Tim
    April 26, 2018 at 04:55

    Yes, most here agree that most news corporations tightly control info and comply, as they are part of the networks of influence related to the Military, Industrial Complex. It’s up to individuals to re-publish these articles elsewhere. But we need to make a long list of our politicians, Chuck Shumer being one example and vote them out, or hopefully new challengers could arise to take them on in elections.They are part of a growing population of ‘crazies’ that need to be voted out of policy and legislative positions to reduce their influence.

  13. john wilson
    April 26, 2018 at 04:04

    I’ve seen Ray a number of times on Peter Lavel’s cross talk show on RT and he is always interesting to listen to. Of course, what he has to say we already know, so he’s preaching to the well and truly converted. We need to see people like Ray on MSM (no hope) or at least accessible to far more ordinary people through other channels.

    • April 26, 2018 at 08:46

      Thanks, John Wilson,

      I have this nagging feeling that the fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves. Are we not imaginative enough to find ways to discover, or create, those “other channels?”

      I think about the gifts on display among commenters on this sight and ask myself, is the wealth of talent and experience right here not enough to figure this out?

      And I reflect on the Noah Principle: “No more awards for predicting rain; awards only for building arks.”

      The Internet could be at least as powerful as the old mimeographed samizdat was in the old USSR. Perhaps we need to find some Internet-savvy people convinced of urgency of the need to help us find a way through “no way.”

      I am convinced that the next several months will be crucial regarding whether we can “keep the Republic” created by the Constitution. Ben Franklin, you’ll recall, put that in the subjunctive mood.

      Annie Dillard: “There is only us; there never has been any other.”

      Call me naive, but I think we can.

      Ray McGovern

      • Drew Hunkins
        April 26, 2018 at 11:51

        Thank you for all you do Mr. McGovern. You’re definitely that over used cliche: a bright beacon of light in gray and foggy times.

      • john wilson
        April 26, 2018 at 12:12

        Ray, this site speaks for itself as far as the internet being a vehicle for telling people the other side of the story. Most of the American population could read informative sites like this, but sadly they are just are just unaware, brainwashed or not interested. What’s really needed is a sea change in the MSM output so that the public can see what’s going on without having to resort to the internet for basic honest informative and questioning news. What we see on MSM now is propaganda, pure and simple. Even when MSM is seen to be wanting, as in the latest farcical Syria event which it looks like the OPCW may well declare untrue, they will still follow the governments line and carry on lying with some stupid story like the Russians cleaned the site before the OPCW could check it.

      • Mild-ly - Facetious
        April 26, 2018 at 13:26

        I wonder what your take is, Ray McGovern,
        on Trump’s promulgation of OUR National
        Involvement in the ERADICATION of the
        People of Yeman.? Is there an excuse/or
        some plausible deniability of Our Bombs
        actively destroying a gov’t and it’s people??? !!!!!!

        • Mild-ly - Facetious
          April 26, 2018 at 13:43

          or is our kiss – up and sword dance a type of Trump’s bending under the pressure of precooked deals”-”

          Russia and U.S. Senators Want Disarmament, U.S. Media Does Not
          {}

          “No more awards for predicting rain; awards only for building arks.”

          Ark Building requires A (the) Power of Self-Discipline (1 of Trump’s weakest Personal Traits ).

          Or, is Trump being promulgated into “The Man of Peace & World Security”?

          Is our enemy then, Not President Trump?; A Man that lacks self discipline?

          And appears to relish Building and Selling weapons of mass destruction

          (which should put him into place as a LEADER OF FORCES), not peace.

          ++++++++,

          I Wish You’d Explain to Me the concept of “world peace”
          As it may or may not be related to RECORD WEAPONS
          Sales to OPENLY MILITARISTIC ARABIAN PRINCE’S’?
          ___________

          And what about signing up w/ right-wing media
          IN YOUR DENOUNCEMENT of U. S. Media??
          (“Can you s’plian me?”) – please …
          …….. ?

      • Mild-ly - Facetious
        April 26, 2018 at 13:50

        Russia and U.S. Senators Want Disarmament, U.S. Media Does Not
        {}

        “No more awards for predicting rain; awards only for building arks.”

        Ark Building requires A (the) Power of Self-Discipline (1 of Trump’s weakest Personal Traits ).

        Or, is Trump being promulgated into “The Man of Peace & World Security”?

        Is our enemy then, Not President Trump?; A Man that lacks self discipline?

        And appears to relish Building and Selling weapons of mass destruction

        (which should put him into place as a LEADER OF FORCES), not peace.

        ++++++++,

        I Wish You’d Explain to Me the concept of “world peace”
        As it may or may not be related to RECORD WEAPONS
        Sales to OPENLY MILITARISTIC ARABIAN PRINCE’S’?
        ___________

        And what about signing up w/ right-wing media
        IN YOUR DENOUNCEMENT of U. S. Media??
        (“Can you s’plian me?”) – please …
        …….. ?

      • Skip Scott
        April 27, 2018 at 09:47

        Ray-

        I think that the big challenge of our times is how to get people to wake up and experience the “real world”. TV has put people’s minds to sleep. Neil Postman of NYU wrote a great little book that touches on this years ago called “Amusing Ourselves to Death”. And this was long before the sheeple became hypnotized by cat videos on their smart phones.

        Sites like this one are arks, but there are so few willing to come aboard. I wish I saw a way forward, but I am predicting a lot of rain before the masses are awakened from their slumber. Thank you for all you do, and I pray that someday our efforts will bear real fruit.

Comments are closed.