Taking positions critical of U.S. foreign policy long antecedes RT but to protect themselves from legitimate criticism Western elites brand you a Moscow mouthpiece, argues Caitlin Johnstone.
By Caitlin Johnstone
Things aren’t looking great for the Democratic establishment, which recently admitted that it stacks its primaries against progressive candidates and is currently engaged in a desperate, Hail Mary lawsuit against WikiLeaks for its factual publications about the party. So of course you know what that means.
That’s right! It’s time for Democratic pundits to begin down-punching Jill Stein.
“Jill Stein is on @NewDay right now repeating Russian talking points on its interference in the 2016 election and on US foreign policy,” tweeted CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto today, without shame or self-reflection.
Sciutto was referring to comments Stein made on a CNN interview Tuesday about America’s undeniable, entirely factual and well-documented history of meddling in other countries’ elections, including a citation of an ex-CIA director’s recent admission that the US has interfered in foreign electoral processes and continues to do so to this day.
That’s what constitutes a “Russian talking point” these days: raw, easily verifiable facts.
Stein’s interviewer, Chris “It’s illegal to read WikiLeaks” Cuomo, echoed a similar sentiment in response to her points, in essence arguing that only Russians should be stating these blatantly obvious and extremely relevant facts.
“You know, that would be the case for Russia to make, not from the American perspective,” Cuomo said. “Of course, there’s hypocrisy involved, lots of different big state actors do lots of things that they may not want people to know about. But let Russia say that the United States did it to us, and here’s how they did it, so this is fair play. From the American perspective and you running for president, more than once of this country, shouldn’t your position have been, this was bad what they did, they’re trying to do it right now and we have to stop it?”
Right. Because you have so many Russians on your show making that case, do you Chris?
Only the Russians Can Say It
Jill Stein at a Green Party event in Mesa, Arizona, in 2016. (Gage Skidmore, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)
This is absolute lunacy. The implication here is that it isn’t ever okay for Americans to talk about Russia in any other context than how awful and evil its government is; that nobody can speak about how America’s behavior factors into the equation in a very real and significant way. Not because it’s not factual, not because it’s not relevant, but because it’s a “Russian talking point”, and only Russians should be saying it.
And this sentiment being promulgated by these establishment pundits is being swallowed hook, line and sinker by the rank-and-file citizenry who consume such media. Every single day, without exception, I am accused multiple times of being a propagandist for the Kremlin. Not because there’s any evidence for that, not because I’m writing anything that is untruthful, but because I’m writing “Russian talking points”, i.e. arguments that have ostensibly been made at some point by Russians.
And it is, to be perfectly honest, infuriating. These people are actively making the case for willful ignorance and stupidity. They’re actively arguing that facts which don’t support the narratives being promulgated by the CIA and the State Department should be completely excluded from all discussion within the Western Hemisphere, and that only Russians should be making them. They do this while simultaneously arguing that Russian media is dangerous and should be avoided by Americans. Only Russians should argue against CIA/CNN narratives, and we should never, ever listen to those arguments.
They’re arguing for the deliberate omission of relevant facts from dialogue. They are arguing that we should all be morons, on purpose.
Of course it’s relevant to the discussion that the US interferes with foreign democratic processes far more than any other government on the planet! Are you nuts? Yes, obviously if yours is the primary country responsible creating a climate wherein governments meddle in the elections of other nations, that undeniable fact must necessarily be a part of any sensible analysis of what’s happening and what should be done about it. Anyone who tries to argue that that fact shouldn’t be a part of the conversation is making an argument in favor of stupidity.
That’s not a “whataboutism”, as empire loyalists like Eric Boehlert habitually claim. It’s crucial factual information.
Hostile to Democracy
The environment that these pundits are creating is itself hostile to democracy. If all “talking points” are excluded from the conversation other than those which lead to continually escalating sanctions, proxy wars, nuclear posturing and brinkmanship, then there’s no way for activism or democracy to tap the brake on the West’s ongoing trajectory toward direct military confrontation with a nuclear superpower.
In her interview, Stein outlined this quite clearly:
“You know, I think that kind of position which says that we’re in a totally different category from the rest of the world is not working. This century of American domination, you know, sort of didn’t play out the way we thought it would, we’re embroiled now — we have the military in practically every country around the world. In the recent taxes that people pay, the average American paid almost $3,500 that went into the Department of Offense, I would call it, not the Department of Defense, $3,500, whereas we put $40 into the EPA.
“You know, 57 percent of our discretionary dollars now are going into the military. It’s part of a mindset that says, we’re always right and they’re always wrong and we’re going to be dominating militarily and economically. We’re in a multi-polar world right now and, you know, we need to behave as an exemplary member of the community and that is by upholding ourselves and leading the way on international law, human rights and diplomacy. That approach is really paying off on the Korean peninsula right now. I think we should be using it more broadly.”
CNN journalist Chris Cuomo at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. (Sen. Chris Coons, Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Cuomo, who as the son of a New York Governor and brother of the current New York Governor is as much Democratic Party royalty as a Clinton, had some very interesting facial expressions in response to Stein’s arguments. Whenever an interviewee makes strong points which go against the establishment grain he always looks like he’s taking a really uncomfortable one.
There have been far too many cartoonishly absurd responses to Stein’s interview for me to address in a single article without putting my laptop through the wall in a fit of rage, but this tweet from MSNBC and Atlantic contributor Natasha Bertrand is really something else.
“Jill Stein just told @CNN that her presence at RT gala in Moscow Dec 2015 wasn’t controversial at the time because Obama ‘was still on track for a reboot’ with Putin,” said Bertrand, adding that “Russia had already annexed Crimea, invaded eastern Ukraine, intervened in Syria for Assad, and hacked the DNC.”
This is actual, real-life “Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia” Orwellian revisionist doublethink. There was no public information about any Russian DNC hack in 2015, and the average American hardly ever thought about Russia at that time. Then-Secretary of State John Kerry personally met with Vladimir Putin in July of 2016 to discuss collaboration against terrorist forces in Syria. Only in the most warped, revisionist, funhouse mirror Orwellian reality tunnel can it be claimed that Stein visiting Moscow in December of 2015 would have been considered shady or controversial at the time
The fact that Bertrand’s tweet was liked and shared thousands of times on Twitter is extremely creepy and disturbing. Establishment media didn’t start indoctrinating American liberals with Russia hysteria until the tail end of 2016, but it’s been so effective that MSNBC mainliners are now gaslighting themselves into a revision of their own history.
This is why people like myself fight the CIA/CNN Russia narrative so aggressively. Not because we’re propagandists, not because we’re “useful idiots”, not because of “Russian talking points”, but because the US-centralized power establishment’s nonstop campaign to manufacture support for its agendas of global hegemony are making us all stupid and crazy.
Stop playing along with this bullshit. Stop letting them make us stupid and crazy. Stop letting them manipulate us into consenting to escalations with a nuclear superpower. Stop. Turn back. Wrong way.
This article was first published on Caity Johnstone’s blog.
Caitlin Johnstone is a rogue journalist, poet, and utopia prepper who publishes regularly at Medium. Follow her work on Facebook, Twitter, or her website. She has a podcast and a new book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. This article was re-published with permission.
Thanks Caitlin and Jill,
For your doses of common sense, and warning against big time establishment media getting into bed with with deep state just to keep their admittedly vital access to selective intelligence, taken with an unwritten spinning of the “truth”. That’s how the the victors in the Cold War with Russia get to write their own narrative of history (we can do no wrong), as hegemonic America plunges off the cliff of “world dominance”. Great, huh? How will we survive Armageddon that way?
Looking for conspiracies everywhere while neglecting the obvious facts,…is it some kind of human reaction to justify failure in personal life expectencies? The need to shift the blame to somebody else (or something else) because accepting personal responsibility for your failure is to difficult maybe?
This comment is a modified comment that I wrote, and it clarifies any ambiguities in my other comment that I wrote, and others matters are mentioned in this comment.
It appears that the American Shadow Regime by means of Robert Mueller* have asked President Donald Trump Highly Improper questions, to try get a perjury charge on the President, even though President Bill Clinton* was Impeached for committing Perjury, but was Not convicted by the Senate*, and Many of those questions and All of those questions, appear to be Classified Information at the moment.
There are People who think that the President Should Only divulge Classified Information at a time when that Classified Information can be Declassified, for Diplomatic and Security reasons.
We have seen Many Leaks, and Regardless of the Fact that the former FBI Director* is a Close Friend of the Special Council*, and called Mueller* immediately after he was dismissed, then this may Indicate that Extra Care with the answers to certain questions Should be given, because they contain Classified Information.
It is an Accepted Protocol that Private Conversations with Ambassadors, and People who had Private Conversations with Ambassadors in an Official or semi Official capacity remain Private, for Diplomatic and Security Purposes.
There are Americans who Know that Christopher Steele* is British, and that Britain is a Close Ally and Partner to America, and those answers regarding those matters should remain Classified, until at least after the Brexit negotiations, considering that Britain is having difficult and complicated Brexit negotiations.
At times, the President has to allow for other Countries to make Known their thoughts, that they Know will be kept Confidential for a Reasonable period of time.
If such Private Conversations with Diplomats are Disclosed to the Public, unless a Reasonable time has elapsed, then this would restrict Diplomacy, and the formulation of better Policies for America.
This is Why these things may have to remain Classified for a decade or longer, and this Applies to the Involvement of certain People*, and what the President’s opinions were of those Unamerican, Unprincipled, Sly, and Deceptive tactics of any Opposition Political Party, and their Politically Motivated appointments*, and so the President can Plead the Fifth Amendment to matters regarding questions on General Michael Flynn, and to foreign visitors to America.
There are American People who think that if Hillary Clinton* was to be cleared of Storing Classified Emails on an Unauthorized and Unsecured Secret Private Email Server, then another Opinion was Needed by another FBI Director*, other than the former FBI Director*.
They think that this New FBI Director* has to be Perceived as Unbiased and Professional, and there are Many Americans for whom the current FBI Director* is Not Perceived as Unbiased and Professional.
Furthermore, even if the former FBI Director* was Honest and Unbiased, then he could Not give a second opinion, and there are Many Americans who think that the current FBI Director* is a Close Friend of the former FBI Director*, and he worked with the former FBI Director* on what has been Described as the Scandalous Corrupt Enron ‘investigation’ at http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/12/swamp-creatures-christopher-wray-worked-comey-enron-prosecution-weissman/ .
The President has the Right and the Obligation to Appoint an FBI Director that the Public thinks is Professional and Unbiased, and who can provide another opinion on the alleged Servergate Crimes of Hillary Clinton*, regarding those Classified Emails on her Unauthorized Private Email Server, because Justice must not only be Done, but Justice Must be seen to have been done.
There are Americans who think that because of the Long History of Leaking to the Media, and the Long History of Fake News, then any answers to the questions by the Special Council*, would need to be in Writing, because sound waves go into space, but Writing stays on the Earth, and so there Should Not be any ambiguities or Lies over what was said.
There are Americans who think that for the sake of Fairness and that there be No perception of Bias, then the President Should have the same set of circumstances as Hillary Clinton* had of Not being under Oath, and that would be to Not have to Sign an Optional Written Statement, and which is Not a document that Could be used as evidence in Court, even though there are People who think that saying that the subject of those questions is All Classified, could Not be used as adverse evidence in Court, or the President can say No comment to this matter.
If those answers to those Highly Inappropriate questions that have been asked by the Mueller Team*, are Leaked to the Media*, then foreign Countries would Know how the President thinks, or the President would have to Lie in those answers for the sake National Security, and it could be that the American Shadow Regime* wants some of those answers to use against the President and his Political Party at the next Election, and some of those answers may have to be Lies so that foreign Countries do Not know how the American President does his work.
There are Americans who think that it Would be an Injustice for any other Mueller Team* Related Court Cases, who would Wrongly use that Testimony or ‘testimony’ of the President to create more Contrived Pretexts and to Unjustly Convict Innocent Victims of the Biased Mueller Team*, or those Victims of by the Biased Mueller Team* who are Not as guilty as what they are Wrongly accused, and this is Why, there are Americans who think that the President Should give Pardons to anyone who is caught up in the Mueller* ‘investigation’, and they think that America Needs the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General* to Earn their Salaries, by encouraging the Special Counsel* that he is American before he is German, and with giving many of the Mueller Team* a way to keep their Salaries with Investigating the Clinton Foundation* and how Jeffrey Epstein* Claimed that he once Helped found the Clinton Foundation* as he touted his Close relationship with former President Bill Clinton* during Bribed and Corrupt ‘plea bargain negotiations’ at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3679023/Billionaire-sex-offender-Jeffrey-Epstein-claimed-helped-Clinton-Foundation-touted-close-relationship-former-president-plea-bargain-negotiations.html , or perhaps the Attorney General* might suggest that the President issue an Executive Order before he answers the Highly Inappropriate questions by the Special Counsel*, or if an impeachment panel* is convened, and that future American Elected Representatives* and Candidates* for Elections, and American Journalists* have to Sign the Statement of Integrity and Public Accountability, and where those who have Signed that Statement would have an Asterisk after their Names*, and if they do Not have that Asterisk*, then Americans are Advised Not to Vote for those Candidates*, and to Avoid much of the Fake News Propaganda Articles, and that Statement of Integrity in Government and of Public Accountability is Needed, because far too much of American Politics* and far too much of the American Fake News Media* has become Bribed and Corrupted, and that Statement says the following.
“While I Deny All such accusations against myself, Yet, I Admit that there Could be some American Politicians* and some American Journalists* who have become the Puppets of America’s Shadow Regime*, because America’s Shadow Regime* has Used America’s Police and Intelligence Services to Obtain the Dirt on certain Influential American Citizens*, and that certain American Politicians* and certain American Journalists* have become the Puppets of America’s Unelected Shadow Regime*, and that they may have been, either Secretly and Unwittingly been Filmed, or they may have been Willingly Filmed in Acts of Pedophilia, as their Guarantee to their Rich Shadow Regime Puppet Masters* that they Will Always be their Puppets* for Fortune and Fame, because of being able to be Blackmailed, and so they Will be the Puppets of their Evil Puppet Masters*, either Foreign or Local, and therefore, they have become either the Willing or the Unwilling Traitors* to the American People”.
There are Americans who think that the Special Counsel* may have been Puppetized in the same way as they think that Bill Clinton* was Puppetized, and the News Article is on The State Of The Nation Website, and it is Titled: Bill Clinton* Pedophile Sex Tape Filmed By Jeffrey Epstein* at http://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=52130 .
This might cost the Republicans* Votes, or it might cost the Corruptocrats* Votes, and so the American Shadow Regime* may Blackmail some of their Unprincipled Puppet RINOS* to vote with their Unprincipled Puppet Corruptocrats* to Improperly perform a Coup on America’s Democracy, by trying to impeach a Democratically Elected Legitimate President on False Charges, because he is a Patriot, because the Puppets* of America’s Shadow Regime* in the Congress and the Senate are the Unprincipled Puppets* of the American Shadow Regime*, and this would create a Constitutional crisis in America, and this why there are Americans who want any and All answers from the Highly Inappropriate questions of the Special Council* to become Classified Information, for these Obvious and Legitimate Reasons, and there are Americans who want a New Political Party that will work for the American People, to Replace the Overly Corrupt and Overly Puppetized 2 Main Political Party* System in America, and there are Americans who think that the President Should Invite Elected Representatives* of Integrity of both Political Parties to join his New American Drain The Swamp Political Party* that will work for the American People, rather than be the Unprincipled Blackmailed Puppets* of the American Shadow Regime* at http://www.usdebtclock.org/ .
The Special Counsel*, Robert Muller* is a German American, and we Know that Britain and Germany fought each other in 2 World Wars, and that Britain is having difficult and Complex Brexit negotiations with the German Dominated European Union, and the Third Reich did Not like Russian either, and we do Not know if Mueller* Secretly wrote More than once to Deutsche Bank, who Know that he* is a German American, and Perhaps Deutsche Bank has given Mueller* Money to Bribe American Politicians* for an Impeachment of an American President at https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-deutsche-bank-robert-mueller-records-subpoena-request-russia-investigation-probe-latest-a8092881.html .
There are Many Americans were Not convinced with what the assessment of the former FBI Director* regarding the Clinton* Email Scandal, which they think was a Sham, and for their Benefit, and for the Benefit of Public Accountability, then Many of them want a second opinion from a New FBI Director*, and the Inspector General* has yet to give his Analysis of that situation, and so these Answers are as Honest and as Complete as they can be for a while, but many of the matters asked in those Inappropriately Leaked questions, will of Necessity have to remain Secret under the Official Secrets Act, because America has Obligations to its Allies, and there are Americans who think a ‘new’ set of questions will be Perceived as trying to ask the same questions, in a different Deceptive form, because the Founding Fathers Knew that the term is Law and Order, rather than Law or Order, and so if Americans want Order, then the Founding Fathers said that the President can dismiss the Special Council*, which the Supreme Court Knows is what the Law says.
The Special Counsel* is asked to Respect the proper boundaries of what is Public Information and what is Classified Information, and so these answers Will have to be Sufficient, until some of that Information can be Declassified, and the Voters can have their say in the 2020 Presidential Election, where these matters will be an Election issue for American Voters.
We Know that certain High Public Officials* have Lied under Oath, and they would therefore be Unsuitable to be an FBI Director*, but a New FBI Director* who the Public can Trust will be able to Reexamine that matter.
We have heard of the meeting between Trump associates and a Russian Lawyer, and it may appear odd that this meeting between Trump associates and the Russian Lawyer was Not mentioned much during the Election Campaign, given that None of this was secret, because Several People* of Diverse Political Affiliations attended a subsequent meeting that was attended by that Russian Lawyer, and that Russian Lawyer had to Apply for a Special Permit to visit America to Represent a Client, and so there Could have been a FISA Warrant for that Russian Lawyer, or some type of Illegal Spying, and possibly was, and which also may have been the Secret Scheme by the Clinton* Campaign to use as a Contrived Pretext to Improperly obtain a FISA Warrant on some of those People she spoke with, and a Republican* arranged for a front row seat for that Russian Lawyer at the 14 June 2016 House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearings at http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/russian-lawyer-obtained-hill-hearing-seat-florida-trump/story?id=48661448 , and that was a day after WikiLeaks said they had more Emails to Publish, and the Clinton* Campaign Knew of that at https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jun/12/wikileaks-to-publish-more-hillary-clinton-emails-julian-assange .
This was said by President Barack Obama* after Harry Reid* wrote a letter to the former Director of the FBI in August of 2016, regarding his Fake concern over foreign interference in America’s Election at https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/30/us/politics/harry-reid-russia-tampering-election-fbi.html .
Perhaps the Shadow Regime* and the Clinton* Campaign did Not use that Set Up that they went to a lot of effort and planning to arrange, because the associates of the Trump Campaign Realized that the meeting was a Set Up, and this may be Why it was arranged for a Republican* whose wife chaired the 2016 Trump Florida Campaign, to arranged for the Russian Lawyer to attend the House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearings*, so that they would have Documented Answers if the Clinton* Campaign used that Unprincipled Set Up in the Election Campaign, and I think that the Minimum that the Clinton* Campaign wanted from that Set Up of a meeting was a Contrived Pretext for FISA Warrants on an opposition Political Campaign, or for Undocumented Illegal Spying.
There are some Interesting News Articles with regard to the Special Counsel* and they are at http://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/385646-how-about-a-few-questions-for-robert-mueller and at http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/386203-muellers-many-conflicts-of-interest-paint-a-suspect-portrait .
These Deliberate Lies and Slanderous Misrepresentations associated with this Unprincipled and Difficult to avoid Set Up, Shows how Deceitful and Devious the Conniving Puppets* of America’s Shadow Regime really are, and this is why they* Cannot make Policies that will Benefit the American People, because their time is being wasted with these Schemes, and with Inventing Lies, and with Plotting a Coup on the Legitimately Elected President, who is trying to manage the Mess that was made by the Bush* Dynastic Dictatorship, and Clinton* Dynastic Dictatorship, which Includes Hillary Clinton’s* Secret Puppet Obama* Administration, because these are Puppets* of the American Shadow Regime*.
It Could be that it was also for Humanitarian Reasons that the Russian Lawyer was invited to attend that 14 June 2016 House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearings*, where she met Several Democrats* and Republicans*, so that the Clintons* Could Know that that Russian Lawyer could Not have has any Dirt on the Clintons*, because that Lie was used to arrange that Unprincipled Set Up, where once it was Known by Honest People that there was a possibility that someone had some Dirt on the Clintons*, then they were Obligated to meet with that Person, and Not only to discuss matters regarding opposition research; while that is also a valid and legitimate reason, and which is one of several reasons, and is therefore a Technically Correct and Honest Statement, but it was also for Humanitarian Reasons, and it was for National Security Reasons, because President Barack Obama*, the FBI Director*, and the Public had Already Known because of WikiLeaks, that Hillary Clinton* had an Unauthorized, Clandestine, Secret Email Server, because since at least October of 2015, it was Known what the Hardened and Compulsive Liar Hillary Clinton’s* Criminal attitude is to being Above the Law, and what her Treasonous attitude is toward National Security, and the Video is Titled: Hillary Clinton* laughs when Jake Tapper asks about her email server at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2flqv2GWKA , and this is the same Corrupt Attitude that the Puppets* of America’s Shadow Regime* have, and we Know that Seymour Hersh has said that Seth Rich was the Person who Leaked those Emails to WikiLeaks.
There are some things regarding this that may appear odd, and perhaps the following may be an explanation for that, and the American Shadow Regime* thought that they had the Election Rigged for Hillary Clinton*, and President Barack Obama* said in October of 2016, that the Election would be Free and Fair and Democratic and the Video is Titled: Obama* To Trump: Stop Whining About A Rigged Election at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPpt7-QOGKc , and Many Americans Knew of Hillary Clinton’s* Health Problems, and that is the Reason that Candidate Donald Trump was Elected President of America, and it had Nothing to do with another Country.
We can see that it was a Complex situation, where it was said that someone had Dirt on Hillary Clinton*, but there was No collusion with a foreign Country, and there was No attempt at collusion with a foreign Country, but there was Patriotism, Concern for Others, and Concern for National Security during a Perplexing situation, which we now Know was an Unprincipled Set Up, based on a Contrived Pretext to Improperly gain FISA Warrants to Undemocratically Spy on an opposition Political Party Candidate, in order to try to Rig the Election, even as the Clinton* Campaign Rigged the Primaries and Usurped the Democratic Party nomination, and we can see how Unprincipled the so called Special Counsel* is if he persists in asking for Classified Information, and it has been said that the Mueller Team* has spent millions of Dollars of Taxpayers’ Money to try to ‘justify’ the Improper Spying on an opposition Presidential Political Candidate, using a Contrived Pretext, and that basically, All of those questions that the Mueller* ‘investigation asked, can be answered with what is written in this Unsigned comment, and this is Not an attempt to avoid answering Legitimate Questions, but it is because these matters are Classified, and there are Many Americans think that Classified Information Should be kept as Classified Information for the Benefit of the People of America.
Re: “Establishment media didn’t start indoctrinating American liberals with Russia hysteria until the tail end of 2016.”
I beg your pardon!!! Establishment media started indoctrinating all of American with Russia hysteria shortly after WWII*** and the process has never really ended.
——–
Officially its 1947 with the Truman Doctrine.
I’d suggest it was during FDR’s trip to Yalta.
Actually, there was a hiatus in anti-Russian hysteria during WW II. Bolshevism was never favored by our ruling class; e.g., we invaded Russia in 1918. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_intervention_in_the_Russian_Civil_War
Now why wasn’t I told about that in high school U.S. History?
The sole defense against a phony charge of reciting “Russian talking points” is to point-blank ask the accuser if those points are factually incorrect.
Just get ready for the next phase; concentration camps for anyone daring to expose the lies by telling the truth and thus committing the crime of repeting Russian talking points.
Yes, I am also wondering where all that will lead us to. We had that all in Europe and in many parts in Asia and Latin America before, is it now the US’s turn? it is all quite kafkaesque……
I just had someone on another site claim that saying anything nice about Russia was close to committing treason. This is the newly revealed authoritarian “left.”
Why get infuriated, Caitlin? Expect the lies of omission and commission. It has always been thus. From our government and others. Take that time and energy and spread the truth, without expectation that it is somehow going to change things. Hope, yes; expectation, no, not until our population is so pissed off that they want to know the truth. How do we get them there? If we knew, we wouldn’t be in this bind.
You can’t stop a freight-train careening down Decline, headed toward Fall if the engineer and crew are determined to get there. It could be worse: it could be a passenger train.
It is worse, and it is a passenger train. We’re are all the passengers!
America, the Evil Empire marches on!
“The fact that Bertrand’s tweet was liked and shared thousands of times on Twitter is extremely creepy and disturbing.” Caitlin, I would not take the likes and comment pages all too serious anymore, I have seen “likes” been taken away from US critical comments and been alocated to the russophobe comments in the Financial Times (FT) comment page and I have experienced that my western-critical comment was simply deleted by somebody in the FT with my own eyes. I don’t think the FT did it themselves, it was somebody who hacked in, it was all to obvious. And it is not all too difficult to guess where those might be sitting who are hacking in and alter comments or the likes, just like they interfere with global elections….
You have to admit that Natasha got the correct MSM narrative down right: “Russia had already annexed Crimea, invaded eastern Ukraine, intervened in Syria for Assad, and hacked the DNC.”
Do reporters have that sentence as a paste-it on their computers so they can easily include it when needed?
Why stop there? Russia also shot down MH17, cheated heavily at the Olympic games, poisoned former spies, provided missile technology to North Korea, protected Assad with UN vetos if he used chemical weapons on civilians and until today heavily cheated and/or lied about all of these points.
Speaking of well-documented facts and talking points:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUT4fjmYIwI
(Video minutes 9:30-11:25)
Cuomo looks like he’s taking a really uncomfortable one while waiting to say the interviewee made “a lot of strong points”.
Not so fast with the “kudos” there, Glenn:
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/991293053121032192
Obviously Greenwald mis-interpreted Cuomo’s facial expression.
You know, it’s kinda like mis-interpreting Israel’s amimut (nuclear opacity) policy.
Writing on Israel’s nuclear history and strategic policy in The Worst-Kept Secret: Israel’s Bargain with the Bomb (2010), Avner Cohen highlights the corrosive effects of Israel’s animut policy for “democratic values at home and with norms of transparency in the international arena.”
That Netanyahoo guy is a real trip. Iran is “conquering one country after another”, spreading a “totalitarian state of mind”, “colonizing Syria”, and “storing up knowledge” about nuclear weapons. And of course they “spread their terrorist tentacles throughout the world” and “oppress their own people”.
Conquering territory, spreading terrorism, oppressing people, and actually possessing nuclear weapons? Hmm…
Zounds! You’re not saying that Netanyahoo is actually just projecting his own character flaws onto his targeted enemies, are you? Would one of the “good guys” do that?
Like it or not, he’s gonna get our tax dollars regardless of his depraved actions.
The yankee regime is the first two party fascist system ever devised. Riffing off Cockney rhyming slang it is the STFS, the septic tank full of fascist shite. The facts stated in the article, which cannot be refuted unless your mind is closed by the propaganda excrement of the yankee state, fully document this monicker.
Great article Caitlin, again.
You know I’ve long held the view that what truly scares the (one-party system masquerading as two) political establishment in the United States would the day conservative and liberal minded people start talking with each other instead of talking at each other.
I’m talking about real people, like fast food workers, retail clerks, journalists, miners, manufacturing workers, engineers, business owners, waitresses/waiters, cooks/chefs, scientists, marketing people, managers, salesmen/women, farmers, clergy, bartenders, bus drivers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, doctors, nurses, teachers, police/fire, soldiers/sailors/marines. I’m certainly not talking about those creatures running our federal government.
What truly terrifies them to the point they can’t sleep….is when conservative and liberal minded people start becoming friends that work together for the greater good.
Anyone who sincerely wants to destroy the United States war machine, abolish its caretakers, the CIA/NSA, and bring our sons and daughters home from ALL these godforsaken wars is a political ally of mine, period.
I don’t care if they have opposite views from on every other issue. I want to talk with them, be friends with them.
Amen Paul! I believe there is genuine debate to be had between the Progressives and the Libertarians as to the extent of the roll of government, and I often find myself straddling that divide, although I usually end up on the side of the Progressives. However, my primary goal has always been to stop the war machine, and rein in their servants in the Deep State. I have switched parties numerous times in the primaries to vote for either Dennis Kucinich or Ron Paul. I think now is the time to abandon that exercise in futility and either instigate a mass exodus to the Greens, or start a new populist/peace party. I see it as our only hope outside of violent revolution.
The ruling class doesn’t care if you have food on the table, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, a classrooml for your children, clean air for you to breath, a doctor for you to visit or anything else that may benefit your quality of life. The only thing the ruling class cares about you is what you think and it better be what they think or else…
People who are brainwashed/gullible/believe authority/religious/ take comfort from it.
Why should they believe you?
Are you offering them any comfort, security, social network and community support?
No. You are not.
Are intruding into their lives and making them feel insecure?
Damn right you are.
Humans are social creatures, they go with the herd. You have heard it a million times (I’m confused about spelling herd and heard)
Who do you think you are to say I’m wrong mister?
I read Zero Hedge and the Independent for its comments. There’s a lot of anger, lot of rage at being fooled for such a long time and that gives me hope.
The COWARDLY GUARDIAN is raped and owed by the i.F.UK.US and is too chicken.
When you’re incompetent and addicted to an ever growing military budget this is what you do. The Dems, who have decried Trump as crazy, unhinged and mentally unfit handed him an even bigger budget for his military than he asked for. Tells you everything you need to know about this country and its corrupt government. If this country ever had a moral center it has long since left the building.
@PRatterson…
” If this country ever had a moral center it has long since left the building.”
The US never had a “moral center”, just look back in its history. The US started out with killing the natives, bringing in slaves and it’s been on a downhill slope ever since with their cowboy mentality. The difference is that the slope is much steeper nowadays and as such, much more visible…
What you should both be looking at is the line in the sand not the “moral center”. If any country is well aware of how far they can realistically push their citizens it is the USofA. Imagine for a minute what would happen in this country if the government pulled a Tiananmen Square. Even if they wanted to, I have serious doubts they could get the military to do it. That is what separates us from the rest of the monsters out there.
You seem to forget Ruby Ridge, Waco, Saint Louis, etc. The government has no issues with calling in calvary to breakdown movement/protests. There’s no line in the sand for the US, be that in or outside of the US…
No one is forgetting Ruby Ridge, Waco, Saint Louis, nor Kent State, ’68 convention riots, or anything else. But what you are not looking at is the Scale of these events compared to Tiananmen Square. The US government can always knock off fringe groups for whatever reason or just for general effect, but to kill 10,000 people at a peaceful rally would sent the good ol’ USA up in flames.
Tiananmen Sqare didn’t go down the way you might think it did.
http://gunsandbutter.org/blog/2018/04/19/fake-democracythe-cia-and-their-ngos-target-china-and-yugoslavia-in-the-1990s
“the rest of the monsters out there”
Are you trying to be funny, scary, or just stupid?
However it went down a similar incident would not be tolerated in the US. The dynamics are totally different.
There are “monsters” and there are “MONSTERS”. And so long as you are looking for a “moral center” you’ll never be able to discern the difference.
I am looking at that “line in the sand”. It’s been moving my entire life. I remember when higher education was affordable and one income could support a family and pensions (remember those?) didn’t get raided. I remember when school shootings were virtually unheard of and war was something to be protested rather than glorified. The right to privacy and worker unions used to be a given or at least somewhat respected.
“How far” the citizens of our country can “realistically be pushed” and “toleration” of draconian measures of force or control is an open question. The “line in the sand” is up to the general will. Those who exert power for selfish ends will take and take some more…pushing that line wherever and whenever it suits them.
So I harbor no illusions about the nature of power and corrupting influences. It’s the same old song and dance throughout human history. I’m not looking for a “moral center”. Morality or ethics are by reason and intuition fairly clear matters to me. And I understand degrees of “violation”. But I certainly don’t think for a minute that the “monsters” who don’t give a damn about the social and economic plight of the majority of Americans…nor for the body bags, prosthetics, refugees, and suicides wrought from our wars…are any less “monsters” than all the others. The world is really quite connected, and the same kind of shit is getting pulled by the same “types” all over the place.
Greg. The line has been moving all our lives because we came from an era where our parents came through the Great Depression and WW2. The economic boom after the war gave us California girls and probably the best period of history in the last 100 years. What went wrong?? If we had a couple of beers over that question we’d have a lot in common.
Draconian measures of force or control is indeed an open question. One can look at from the point of a defeatist and say they’ll do whatever they want, or one can think our general will and dynamic as a country would not tolerate that kind of shit. The only time such a scenario would happen would be during a economic collapse when people are screaming mad at having been robbed of everything! How many police officers are going to put their lives on the line after their pensions have been reduced to nothing, let alone come home to the same screaming mad neighbors? Our military is going to kill their friends, parents and countrymen because the people are pissed off at a system that screwed them royal? I can see the brainwashed Chinese military doing this, but Americans are not to this level of total control. And you’d better hope I am right. :)
You make a good point that morality or ethics are by reason and intuition fairly clear matters to (not just you) but most people. Unfortunately, those people are not in charge. And therein lays the problem. :)
Visible if you have the eyes to see it. Most don’t.
Credit is due @vegetablesgooff
Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia
https://twitter.com/vegetablesgooff/status/991791428106792960
Exactly. That’s why RT was labeled a propaganda outlet. Their Russian talking points are typically like facts and they clash with the Washington regime’s talking points which look a lot like propaganda. When people talk about whataboutism what they’re really doing is demanding the right to be hypocrites and, more importantly, denying the relevance and importance of actual facts. Fortunately, liars usually get tripped up in their own lies and are unmasked. Unfortunately, that usually doesn’t make any difference.
The US propaganda is much more effective, than the Russian, due to the mind share it receives. Weather we like it or not, the masses go along with the US propaganda for a number of reasons. As long as the MSM goes along with the status quo, it’ll never change. Opposing viewpoints, such as CN, small news organizations, blogs, etc., will not make a sizable dent in this propaganda.
And even, if there’s some dent, it wont take long for MSM throw accusation around, Ask Caitlin about the accusation of being propagandist for the Kremlin. No matter how right on point she’s, she cannot win and by proxy, nor can we…
Caitlin is properly infuriated by the DemRep propaganda machine. The “nonstop campaign to manufacture support” requires “omission of relevant facts” and attacks on journalists to “manipulate us into consenting” to wars for Israel.
A fine concluding call to “stop playing along” and “letting them make us stupid.” “Stop. Turn back. Wrong way.”
Another persuasive argument against groupthink and the notion that disagreement with the government’s criminal behavior makes you less of an American citizen. It is also sad that Jill Stein saw the best avenue to get the truth to Americans is through RT. Sometimes I think it would be more appropriate, given their behavior toward the Middle East, that CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post and others should have to register as foreign agents.
“The fact that Bertrand’s tweet was liked and shared thousands of times on Twitter is extremely creepy and.”
This is no slight to the author but everyone should take extreme caution in interpreting re-tweet numbers as an expression of “public opinion.” Twitter can be and is manipulated by unseen actors to produce a false sense of what people may actually think. Even the number itself – re-tweeted 10,000 times can not be trusted. Twitter, FB and Alphabet/Google are part of the ruling structure of the Empire – fascism is the fusion of corporate power and government and here it is live and in living color. These corporations operate seamlessly with government. Although I see the Empire as Neo-feudal rather than “just fascist”
Good point Babyl-on!
Baby-on, great concise definition of what fascism really is, so often it is bandied about like another dirty word used in name calling.
What is Neo-feudal as opposed to Fascist?
Me thinks we peasants know not.
“Neo-feudalism or new feudalism refers to … contemporary rebirth of policies of governance, economy, and public life reminiscent of those present in many feudal societies, such as unequal rights and legal protections for common people and for nobility.” -Wikidpedia
Present day manifestations — replacement of nation states with class relationships that transcend nations, vast disparity of wealth, entrenched classes, and increased significance of group identities rather than individual citizenship.
Natasha Bertrand, whose expertise in Russia is based on her Jewish origin, is no different from other rabid Jewish Russophobes like Remnick, Alperovitch, Gessen et al. They can’t help themselves but to slander and squeal and presstitute willingly due to their visceral hatred of everything Russian.
The “progressive democrat” Bertrand is, of course, deaf and blind towards the indecency of the ziocon-banderites union in Ukraine, since mentioning this factual indecency would contradict the marching orders from the ziocons.
No wonder that Natasha Bertrand is a confidant of Adam Schiff and a hater of Assange.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/roger-stones-secret-messages-with-wikileaks/554432/
https://stonecoldtruth.com/roger-stone-blasts-wikileaks-smear/
What an ugly person she is, in all respects!
Anna, thank you for making that list. I think it’s important…
“They’re arguing for the deliberate omission of relevant facts from dialogue. They are arguing that we should all be morons, on purpose.”
That is precisely what they are (well) paid to do. Just this century. They did it to justify the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq; the bombing of Libya into the middle ages; the support of the Stepan Bandera idolising neo-Nazis’ coup d’etat in the Ukraine; the regime change operation, using jihadis as the ground forces, in Syria. And that’s just the highlights.
Someone ought to advise these people to review the Nuremberg Tribunal trial of Julius Streicher, who was convicted of crimes against humanity for his use of journalism as war propaganda.
Yes, although advice requires a new mechanism of accountability. Otherwise only military defeat would remind such scoundrels of the Nuremberg Trials. Perhaps the DemRep neolibziocons will be inspired by Napoleon and Hitler to invade Russia to take on generals January and February, or to fight a nuclear war and take on a nuclear winter. New institutions of media accountability and public debate are needed.
The basis for Julius Streicher’s conviction of a crime against humanity was later codified in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Right’s Article 20, http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
“1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.
“2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.”
The U.S. acceded to that treaty with, inter alia, the following reservation and declaration:
“(1) That article 20 does not authorize or require legislation or other action by the United States that would restrict the right of free speech and association protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
“(1) That the United States declares that the provisions of articles 1 through 27 of the Covenant are not self-executing.”
https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-4&chapter=4&lang=en#EndDec
There is considerable tension between the reservation and the declaration. The claim that that Article 20 is not “self-executing” is shorthand for saying that legislation or other government action is required before anyone can enforce Article 20. But the reservation holds that “article 20 does not authorize or require legislation or other action by the United States,” implying that U.S. law already requires what Article 20 requires.
That tension might be resolved by interpreting somewhat expansively U.S. Supreme Court decisions upholding prosecutions for incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence. But there are strong arguments against such an interpretation on First Amendment grounds and the Supreme Court has often held that in a conflict between a treaty and the Constitution, the latter trumps the former. So I can’t confidently predict how a case raising Article 20 might shake out, particularly without much more in-depth research.
Gaslighting, conjecture name calling the new age western value liberal Washington consensus 21st century (Journalism) No facts just ad hominem vacuous platitudes. IE> Established International order. Responsibility to protect. Established western liberal values.
The reality is that Geneva convention International based on the Nuremberg principle article 50 and 51 being violated since the Yugoslavian fiasco. So now here in the west speaking against the establishment narrative is labeled as like you so rightly point out Russian talking points or Assad .Putin, Duterte , Maduro and so on so on apologist.
News and legacy media in our dying western paradigm are so Goebbelesque . It resembles a really bad black comedy written by Mel Brookes Blazing Saddles comes to mind having a Black Sheriff in town.
Welcome to Mussolini’s dream. LO STATO CORPORATO The Corporate state. Technocracy and AI . 21 century fascism plain and simple.
What happened to the western Westphalian principles of Nations. Oh I forgot Unilateralism Pax-Americana
Trying to get inside of the head of an MSM automaton is like trying to get into Fort Knox with a screw driver. Its completely impenetrable because those who work for MSM have closed minds. Why anyone with half a brain even bothers to be interviewed on any kind of MSM platform is beyond me. It won’t matter what kind of reasonable argument one puts to an MSM stooge (I can’t bring myself to say journalist), you will be up against a dead face with gibberish coming out of its mouth.
Lee Camp pointed this out very well when he had a kerfuffle with NPR. He agreed to come on and do a LIVE interview, because he knew that any other type interview would be manipulated/edited to keep him from making his points. Of course NPR declined. A prime example was Judy Woodruff’s interview of Jill Stein in the run-up to the 2016 election.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-KY-5NOLAI
I guess we are living in the Post-Enlightenment, Caitlin, where objective truth is just a quaint notion in spite of serving as the foundation for all the wonderful science-based technology that simultaneously makes our lives much easier and more terrifying. This is now called the “Postmodern” world by all those who feel a need for no validation from anyone or any principles other than their own egos. Rigorous logic is totally dispensable in this brave new world, where everyone, including governments, get to do their own thing unimpeded by any inconvenient facts.
O’Brien explained the principle to Winston Smith in what ought to be called the New American Manifesto of how 2 + 2 could equal four, or any other number, as long as the people in control concurred. Discovering just who these people really are, buried deep in the bowels of Washington, might be quite problematic, but their revealed “truths” do surface in no uncertain terms via the corporate American “mainstream” media.
Lest you think I am fantasizing on how Western thought has transmogrified wholesale over the past 2 or 3 generations, let me cite this encapsulation of the Postmodern revolution from Wiki (-paedia, not -leaks): “Common targets of postmodern critique include universalist notions of objective reality, morality, truth, human nature, reason, language, and social progress.[5] Postmodern thinkers frequently call attention to the contingent or socially-conditioned nature of knowledge claims and value systems, situating them as products of particular political, historical, or cultural discourses and hierarchies.[5] Accordingly, postmodern thought is broadly characterized by tendencies to self-referentiality, epistemological and moral relativism, pluralism, subjectivism, and irreverence.[5]”
In other words, the sheeple get entrained by group-think, and will see whatever number of fingers they are told O’Brien is holding up. Moreover, they will be quite self-satisfied at being able to perceive whatever they are told is reality. It gets particularly interesting when different schools of group-think come to loggerheads, and this is conveniently reified as the concept of “Info Wars” in America with each side calling the other purveyors of “fake news.” The things whole societies and nations, constituting multi-millions of people over many generations, have convinced themselves to fervently believe on the basis of absolutely no evidence is astounding. The beauty, and benefit, of the Enlightenment was to minimize the inconstancy and unpredictability of “knowledge” not based in demonstrable fact or manipulable by formal logic. All that seems to be passé now, unless you write computer code.
Great post Realist, and spot-on.
Actually if you write computer code post modernism is where it’s at.
Truth
Freedom
Morality
Tough nuts to crack.
I was referring to the exacting process of writing the code, not the use to which it’s put. Certainly it is put in the service of madness quite often.
A prescient thought as usual Realist and I suspect that it is right here where the battle for regulation should be waged. Code is s foreign language, probably will remain so, so that if we as a Society wish to reetablish a vibrant Enlightenment Culture translators (Open Sorce) would seem necessary?
I’d like to see a new trend of referring to the MSM as the “Postmodern MSM” , just to provide them with a constant reminder that we know what they’re up to. Along the same lines , we should always refer to the Trump , May , Netanyahu , etc., governments as “regimes”.
I have been wrong about Russiagate from the beginning, because everyday I think it can’t get any stupider, and everyday it does.
Great line Kathy. Front and back of a t-shirt? Bumper sticker?
The immovable irrationality of people like Cuomo is indeed infuriating. But it’s immovable for a reason. These people are caught in the chains of corruption, so they cannot afford to acknowledge the truth. They’re being paid to bury the truth. What we can do is fence with them skillfully, show the audience clearly and cleanly how stupid, shallow, and ignorant their case is, and gradually build their inner shame to a breaking point. And if we smile as we parry their stupidity and pierce their lies it further unnerves them.
I am amazed that Jill Stein (yeah, I voted for her) has built up enough credibility that pundits, including CNN Chief National Security Correspondent {what a transparent euphemism for CIA conduit} Jim (Piece-O) Sciutto and one of the Brothers Kuomotose, felt that they had to acknowledge Stein’s continuing influence by bringing her on national TV in order to give her a thorough beat-down.
LarcoMarco, anyone who has even the slightest following by the public and is contradicting the MSM agenda has to be brought into the studio for a bashing. They just can’t help themselves. Over here in the UK with have George Galloway who is famous for his brilliant ability to speak in public about corruption in politics. He was a member of parliament for many years and a thorn in the side of both government and opposition parties. Whenever he is interviewed on the BBC, the moronic presenter always announces him as the man who works for RT, a Russian sponsored TV station. Galloway always replies that the presenter is also working for a state sponsored BBC TV station which the public have to pay for under pain of imprisonment if they refuse. He always makes the interviewer look stupid (which they are) and uses his words to deadly effect.
“Only Russians should argue against CIA/CNN narratives, and we should never, ever listen to those arguments,” Doc Daneeka explained to Yossarian.
“Manufacturing Consent” or “PR” has eclipsed the commercial space where it had its birth. PR used to be manipulation of commerce. Somewhere it got legs with our government.
Edward Bernays gave birth to our media and its tight compliance with Oceania and Orwell’s vision.
Here is the link to Edward Bernays. Fascinating how with time we become the enemy of peace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
Caitlin, please don’t despair; let that infuriation flow somewhere else. You and many others – thank you Consortium, Info Clearing House, etc. – are too dear to let this come to pass. You absorb that bullshit and comment so that others, like myself, don’t smash screens bearing such empty vileness such as CNN, MSDNC, Fox, etc., or articles from newspapers of record and other neo-con, neo-liberal mouthpieces. An empire on empty, our last living values converted to cash. So, thank you for looking at their medusa ugliness and reflecting upon it. I am sorry that I can’t stop this deadly drive, but maybe, your words will reverberate and we bring down these walls together. Sooner, there is no later.
Nothing like telling it like it is, Caitlin Johnstone, and good on you for doing so.
Everyday I get called a Putin Apologist, because deviating from the official narrative will get you called that. Although, unless it’s my imagination I hear whispers of belief from those who once blew me off with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. I’m sensing that there are more Americans who feel as I do, but they are afraid to voice their opinion. It doesn’t help that our MSM has blanketed our thought waves with a constant demeaning of all things Russia, and especially damning of all things Putin. To add even more fear to the unknowing public they see a Special Prosecutor chasing after a sitting President for anything related to Russia collusion, so what chance does Mary & Joe Average have if the president isn’t safe? And if it’s not the sitting president then Jill Stein will do.
hey, you, do not you think it is at least al little tiny bit ironic that dJt hired former president WJC’s lawyer? No wonder why CN was put under scrutiny in 2016 and 17. And , by the way, I like Russian people, it is Vladimir Putin, that you should be concerned about. History 101. His country was humiliated in the 1990’s by the West. Are you going take that lying down? Would a leader take that? Just wiki Vladimir Putin it and get a clue. I am old enough to about these things. East Germany 1989. Read history
A free press should not be “put under scrutiny”. As for history, here’s a relevant primer on the deep state.
http://warprofiteerstory.blogspot.com
Actually Tina, hiring and firing, and burning your way through lawyer after lawyer can be a strategy towards defending oneself. With what we are witnessing between the Special Prosecutor, and the Trump White House though, it’s anybodies guest to what is going on. I don’t see this Mueller Investigation as it being a end all to the final outcome, in as much as I believe this affair will be settled in a back room one day. I could be wrong, and I may not be within the ballpark with my analysis, but hey it all makes for good tv ratings ….and besides it all compliments our Reality TV society syndrome we are now living in.
Good to hear from you tina. Joe
I have read history. A lot of it. And I think we could do far worse than having Putin as Russia’s leader. A case of ‘be careful what you wish for . . .’
Yes, Putin’s predecessor and his international sponsors / patrons and the political / economic / administrative policies that they imposed onto the fledgling Russian state is an unequivocal example of a far worse Russian leader.
History books are different in every country. Historians often think that they know it all, until they read history books from another country.
I’m not a historian. I’m a potato farmer with internet access.
And fairly long winters to ‘read history’.
Joe, its the same over here in the UK but I fear we are still a long way off from the people actually using their brains. Re-the Skripal affair over here in the UK, I asked a 28 year old friend of mine why she believed absolutely the governments account of the poisoning of the Skripals. She just said well why would the government lie? I asked her if she believed her prime minister, foreign secretary, the police and the scientific government advisers when they have said the so called nerve agent is absolutely deadly and that contact with it is certain death. She agreed, but then I asked why was it that the policeman got better in a couple of days and the daughter was out of hospital a few weeks later and the father was now recovering and out of danger, if what her government had said was true. Needless to say, I got a good tongue lashing and was all but called a traitor for even asking the question.
John, I’m as frustrated and puzzled by this phenomenon as the next person, but apparently more of us than less of them are brainwashed to the point many citizens follow the Establishment plan to much. Without a responsible objective media I’m afraid the message will need to be spread by word of mouth. Talk about a uphill battle. Joe
john wilson,
We look forward to the soon-to-be-published Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) memorandum regarding the Skripal event in Salisbury, – with particular emphasis on the total disappearance and unknown status of Yulia and Sergei Skripal, – and the Douma event (or, to be precise – non-event) which U.S. President Donald Trump, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron used as the “moral” foundation for their profoundly dangerous and illegal missile attack on Syria, – with particular emphasis on the Douma witnesses event in the Netherlands.
Perhaps the upcoming VIPS memorandum will become of great assistance in repairing your friendship – not to mention the somewhat more important matter of preventing world war.
Peace.
The young adult asking “why would the government lie” needs the evidence of government wrongdoing.
At length he/she will become more skeptical and begin the unpleasant journey to truth in all its complexity.
The risk is in expecting a rapid acceptance, because the shift away from comfortable childhood beliefs to standing on one’s own intellect takes many years, unless it is driven by a personal need for the truth, as during the Vietnam draft years.
“To add even more fear…”
The cowardice and fear have become the basic traits of the American character: People would say and do anything to preserve their income. The fearless ones (the principled, honest, and patriotic) are few; they are known and they are pestered by the State’s finest — by the opportunist and incompetent that are comfortable with being the neo/ziocons’ servants.
The country of a paycheck.
You are wrong Joe. As US citizen I am not afraid of calling Trump a dumb @ss. Doing the same in Russia about Putin will get you thrown in jail, possibly also tortured and raped. Just calling it like it is.