Without any proof, The New York Times and Washington Post run “Russia helping Sanders” stories, and Sanders responds by bashing Russia, writes Joe Lauria.
By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News
With Democratic frontrunner Bernie Sanders spooking the Democratic establishment, The Washington Post Friday reported damaging information from intelligence sources against Sanders by saying that Russia is trying to help his campaign.
If the story is true and if intelligence agencies are truly committed to protecting U.S. citizens, the Sanders campaign would have been quietly informed and shown evidence to back up the claims.
Instead the story wound up on the front page of the Post, “according to people familiar with the matter.” Zero evidence was produced to back up the intelligence agencies’ assertion.
“It is not clear what form that Russian assistance has taken,” the Post reported. That would tell any traditional news editor that there was no story until it is known.
Instead major U.S. media are again playing the role of laundering totally unverified “information” just because it comes from an intelligence source. Reporting such assertions without proof amounts to an abdication of journalistic responsibility. It shows total trust in U.S. intelligence despite decades of deception and skullduggery from these agencies.
Centrist Democratic Party leaders have expressed extreme unease with Sanders leading the Democratic pack. Politico reported Friday that former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s entry into the race is explicitly to stop Sanders from winning on the first ballot at the party convention.
A day after The New York Times reported, also without evidence, that Russia is again trying to help Donald Trump win in November, the Post reports Moscow is trying to help Sanders too, again without substance. Both candidates whom the establishment loathes were smeared on successive days.
In a Tough Spot
The Times followed the Post report Friday by making it appear that Sanders himself had chosen to make public the intelligence assessment about “Russian interference” in his campaign.
But Sanders had known for a month about this assessment and only issued a statement after the Post asked him for comment before publishing its uncorroborated story based on anonymous sources.
Sanders was put in a difficult spot. If he said, “Show me the proof that Russia is trying to help me,” he ran the risk of being attacked for disbelieving (even disloyalty to) U.S. intelligence, and, by default, defending the Kremlin.
So politician that he is, and one who is trying to win the White House, Sanders told the Post:
“I don’t care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president. My message to Putin is clear: Stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do. In 2016, Russia used Internet propaganda to sow division in our country, and my understanding is that they are doing it again in 2020.”
The Times quoted Sanders as calling Russian President Vladimir Putin an “autocratic thug.” The paper reported Sanders saying in a statement: “Let’s be clear, the Russians want to undermine American democracy by dividing us up and, unlike the current president, I stand firmly against their efforts and any other foreign power that wants to interfere in our election.”
Responding to a cacophony of criticism that Sanders’ supporters are especially vicious online, as opposed to the millions of other vicious people online, Sanders attempted to use Russia as a scapegoat, the way the Clinton campaign did in 2016. He said: “Some of the ugly stuff on the Internet attributed to our campaign may well not be coming from real supporters.”
But no matter how strong Sander’s denunciations of Russia, his opponents will now target him as being a tool of the Kremlin.
Mission accomplished.
Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Sunday Times of London and numerous other newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @unjoe .
Russia Gate vs. Ukraine Gate. Sanders and Trump both Putin Puppets. The he said she said major media corporations continue to spin us all into a ball of confusion. To what end? The end is to scramble the brains of thinking people and hand the election over to the candidate with the largest base of committed voters who will not be influenced by the propaganda. The winner will be Trump since he apparently sleeps with a copy of Mein Kampf wrapped around Roger Stones body while tightly clutching it under his pillow.
Trump has sought from his first campaign to depict his rivals as criminals deserving prosecution for all sorts of made up stuff. Roger Stone created the “Lock Her Up” campaign slogan for Trump and has been instrumental in creating his persona as the man to make America Great Again just like Hitler’s handlers believed him to be the savior that would make Germany Great Again.
Trump has been chosen as savior by the right wing just like Hitler was chosen by the Thule Society, a cult group, to be the savior of Germany. A new Messiah.
Underlying all the cultist BS and the scapegoating of a minority whether in the Trump Presidency or the Nazi Party it served to win an election and control of the reigns of power.
The arc of history shows how the multi decade effort by conservatives to establish an extreme nationalistic party is clear. In America, federal laws governing FCC oversight of the media that protected the public interest have systematically been deregulated at the behest of the media and conservative politicians started with the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine under President Reagan.
In pre WWII Germany Joseph Goebbels fought hard to consolidate all media under state control. Millions of free radios were distributed to the citizens of Germany and they were required to tune in to the propaganda radio stations.
Today we have Social Media funneling people into filter bubbles, a right wig free pres blasting condemnation of liberals and progressives 24/7 and supposedly independent objective media lying dead on the roadside.
The situation is eerily similar to pre WWII Germany. A steady drip of nationalistic phobias is innervating Trump’s Base via the deregulated media. Media corporations are no longer required to be fair and balanced and if history is any teacher of the past as a cautionary tale we are on the slippery slope.
A steady drip of nationalistic phobias is innervating Trump’s Base via the deregulated media. <— Anti-Russian hysteria is innervating other filter bubble.
Let`s face it,even though Bernie is a moderate Social Democrat,at best.He`s the only one capable of beating “the Orange”version of Hitler.But he sounds as if the DNC,big wigs,decide to deny him the nomination;he`d go along with it.Just like before;when he even campaigned for the”Crooked One(Hillary).I guess we`ll see.
The most-important element missed in this piece is this: Sanders is helping the DNC and the MIC gin up fear of, and hatred for, the only other nuclear superpower on earth.
If you were around during the McCarthy years, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the ’73 Arab/Israeli war, and all the other almost-Armageddon crises of Cold War One, you know that nothing could be stupider and more-dangerous than that. The missiles still sit in their silos, waiting for the next early-warning misunderstanding or proxy-war miscalculation to send them flying.
Sanders lived through it all. He’s supposed to be the furthest-Left pol in Congress. So how can he possibly advocate for anything but detente and disarmament?
I would really like to support Bernie, but statements like this make me shake my head. It’s more a reflection of America today I guess. Politicians believe to a man (or woman) that they must put the hate on Putin and Russia or they have no chance. It doesn’t matter that the Russia garbage is 100% false. And, I don’t mean they ‘interfered’ only a little … there was nothing, nothing at all. Even Trump has to go along with this propaganda. I don’t know how anyone can believe this idiotic (and incredibly dangerous, as you point out) rubbish at this point. But you can’t call your friends blanking morons.
I think he successfully dodged a bullet but set himself up to offer comprehensive election reform if he pulls out a victory….
or it is an early sign that he, the DNC & MIC are coming to terms. It doesn’t have that ring to it to me, like when Trump called for regime-change war in Venezuela & defunding schools to build a space army. That was a clear on-the-record sell-out & got him off the Impeachment hook the next day. Similar to when the Clinton signed the Telecom Act to get off his.
They are still coming after Sanders too hard w/their McCarthiast attacks to feel like he is siding with them. I think he has to do this because they are bundling his movement, Venezuela and Russia into the new Red Scare.
“#JoeLauria’s piece in #ConsortiumNews is excellent. He calmly sets out #Sanders’ political dilemma. The latest line from US intelligence agency stenographer media like #NYTimes is that #Russians are helping both #Trump and Sanders because they simply want to sow discord and cynicism about US democracy , they do not care who wins. #CaitlinJohnstone neatly satirises this by writing a spoof article claiming that US intelligence agencies have discovered #Bloomberg is being helped by Russians because he has two Russian grandfathers.
It has reached the point , as Lauria shows, where any criticism of such US MSM nonsense leaves the speaker open to the allegation that he is soft on/ naive about/complicit in Russian election meddling. Without being a Trump supporter, one can understand Trump’s rage and contempt for what is going on .
Justin Glyn. Consortium News. Joe Lauria. Tony Kevin”
Sanders and Trump will survive this Deep State manipulation and attempted blackmail . They will see off the Clintonistas and Deep State moles, and will go on to fight a tough but fair election. Americans are sick of Russophobia.
agreed – the Russiagate psyop is past its shelf life – BUT Deep State will carry on – it’s a global entity and they’re into literally everything – no idea how any known, normal governing structure can deal with it
The Russians, especially Putin, have always been eating my homework.
Sanders is awful. And he’s right where he belongs; in the Democratic Party.
Enough with the “Russia” BS already! It is clear to me the wealthy corporate Dems and the MSM are behind all of the smear tactics against Bernie and anyone else who serves the people…
Front page drama plus zero evidence began long ago with ‘anonymous sources said …”!
Complete lack of accountability on the part of the sources and on the part of the reporters.
Thus we receive a “reality teevee ” potus , and we are pleased to be hypnotised and titillated.
A true revolution would demand CN-quality reportage and reject msm pablum.
It’s enough to look at the news on mainstream media to understand who’s, as usual, meddling in the elections. In the latest period for the first time I saw a lot of enthusiastic comments and articles about Bernie Sanders. It’s clear they are pushing him. But why those who isolated him in during the primaries against Clinton are now supporting him? It’s obvious, that they want to get rid of Elizabeth Warren, first push ahead the weaker candidates, then they’ll switch their support towards another candidate, probably Bloomberg.
Well, thank you Joe Lauria! I am in trouble in several comment threads for suggesting that the intel community is at it again, trying to ruin two campaigns by identifying the candidates with Putin and the Kremlin. Now I can quote you. Excellent piece, as usual.
Same praise for Joe for nailing it. What would we do without him and Consortium?
Imagine Sanders and Trump, putting their differences aside and declaring war on the deep state during a debate. They have the same enemies.
The same people who planted Steele’s dirty dosier are going to try to steal Sanders election from him. It wont be Trump and the Republicans who rigs the election against Sanders.
Trump actually seemed to want to help Bernie a bit (well, he keeps calling him ‘Crazy Bernie as well). He put out some tweet calling this latest rubbish, Hoax #7. But Bernie would rather say something stupid, like ‘I’m not a friend of Putin … he is’ … talk about 5-year olds.
Its disappointing. Sanders heart seems to be in the right place, but when it comes time to face the sinister forces that run the country for their own benefit, he will be absolutely crushed.
This will never end.
No president will ever change anything.
The deep state tentacles will eventually kill us all.
I am going to go and enjoy what’s left.
” But Sanders had known for a month about this assessment and only issued a statement after the Post asked him for comment before publishing its uncorroborated story based on anonymous sources……Sanders was put in a difficult spot. If he said, “Show me the proof that Russia is trying to help me,” he ran the risk of being attacked for disbelieving (even disloyalty to) U.S. intelligence, and, by default, defending the Kremlin. ”
I suspect that Sanders was given a classified briefing a month ago , which he couldn’t disclose to the public. If so , and given that he didn’t make this clear immediately after being accused of withholding this information , he has only himself to blame for the resulting “bad look”.
To make the obvious point — this is the same intelligence [sic] community that assured every one of us that Iraq had WMD and that Gaddafyi’s forces were on the verge of raping their way through the Libyan countryside.
Most of the regular folks who post on CN have been incredibly consistent on this issue and have all the credibility in the world regarding calling out this baloney.
The Kremlin/Russia did NOT assist Trump, period. All regular CN posters have known this for several years.
The Kremlin/Russia is NOT helping Bernie, period. All regular CN posters know this as much as they know the sun will come up in the east.
Note: relatively recently Sanders has been decrying the power and influence of the MIC. Well what do you know? Who throws a baseless smear at him…?
“The Kremlin/Russia did NOT assist Trump, period. All regular CN posters have known this for several years.
The Kremlin/Russia is NOT helping Bernie, period. All regular CN posters know this as much as they know the sun will come up in the east.”
Spectators tend to focus on “what is” whilst practitoners tend to focus laterally on – interactive how tos, including their subsets why, within contexts of multi-agency and multi-trajectories not restricted to the linear.
One of the whys posed by practitioners is – Why does the initiator deem this to be plausible belief ?
Perhaps instead of focusing on the validity of the spectacle thereby becoming in some assay a participant in the spectacle, effort may be more productively spent on the question – Why does the initiator deem this to be plausible belief – and the lateral opportunities/trajectories derived there-from.
The corporate media has revealed itself to be a monopoly behind the scenes, working in unison to trash Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard. Even though Gabbard is only at a few percent in the polls, her message is potentially devastating to the war profiteers who own America’s Vichy MSM.
“Congressman Oscar Callaway lost his Congressional election for opposing US entry into WW 1. Before he left office, he demanded investigation into JP Morgan & Co for purchasing control over America’s leading 25 newspapers in order to propagandize US public opinion in favor of his corporate and banking interests, including profits from US participation in the war.”
war * profiteerstory. * blogspot. * com/p/war-profiteers-and-israels-bank.html
Thankfully, there is still a free American press, of which Consortium News is a stellar example.
Yes.
I doubt Russia would ever interfere to aid any political candidate who does the bidding of our military industrial complex. Putin would love nothing better than to end the cold war and go about the business of restoring his nation after the horrendous era of Yeltsin. Of course, Yeltsin had no help from foreign powers to retain his position. Time magazine, Ted Koppel’s Nightline and HBO must have crazy to believe such nonsense.
The real threat to the US Citizens and our form of Government is the Modern Democratic Party led by the Clintons, Obamas and Bidens. The ButtHead Mayor and the Senile Senator and Female Impersonator leading the House add to the mix. These individuals along with the Deep State are an organized Criminal Group who has already taken control of the Government and so called Free Press
If we asked nicely perhaps some Honorable Human Beings would help us. Putin, Xi and Duterte could form a Coalition of the Sane.
Hope rings eternal and this Former Democrat prays that President Trump can finish off these slime bags before its too late.
Definitely not the Democratic Party of JFK.
Sander’s Russian bashing during an election is an important indication of how he will act if he is elected. No different than the rest bar perhaps one, and she has been buried by inattention. Sanders articulates important reforms, universal health insurance, and higher taxes on higher incomes. So, what we could get which is an overall a plus, a equitable health care plan and a corrective tax plan. That is, if he is lucky enough to get either one given the control of public information who don’t want either of these.
And a point to remember is that whatever domestic success a politician can achieve, if he cannot right the ship on foreign policy, which means a drastic change of course, the world is in trouble. We are in trouble.
Yes, Sanders has said little on foreign policy, so this willingness to seem pressured into Russia-bashing may reflect his real position. Most actual US militarism is in the Mideast to get bribes from zionists, who are Russia-bashers in support of instability there, and recently removed Sanders from their “anti-semitic” list. So he seems very likely to continue secret wars for Israel to get the Dem nomination, given that HRC’s top ten donors were all zionists. A populist domestic program would silence most critics and allow them to believe that they were saved by zionists, rather than exploited.
Herman Sanders’ is an imperialist…not of the warmongering sort, but of the complicit, voting variety. His voting record demonstrates this clearly, regardless of his occasional talk about cutting the MIC. He has voted frequently for military funding, was most supportive of the Clinton bombing of Yugoslavia and the destruction of Obama/HRC’s of Libya to mention but two of many.
He’ll play easily into the hands of the security state. He’ll refrain from Trump “hoax” language, etc. His social programs are important but a wish which would meet with a torrent of forceful pushback on every front. He’ll throw up his hands and tell his young supporters to “make him and the Congress” do Medicare for All. His bills after 40 years in the Congress are at best tepid. His “principles” on matters of war are all negotiable when he confronts the military command and MSM with their onslaught.
And yes, he has gone along with the Deep State propaganda machine over and over. Why else would he have been so dedicated to the corporate Democratic Party for 40 years? I see nothing but great disappointment, even greater than Obama who didn’t promise anywhere near as much on social programs as Bernie. Assume the honey-moon will end day 1 if elected.
Ok, let’s take this to the next level. Bloomberg is Jewish. Sanders is Jewish.Any of the Russian oligarchs are Jewish. And Putin is friends with the oligarchs, since he is such an “autocratic thug”. Despite his popularity way over any recent US president. Bloomberg is intensely dislikeable and will lose to Trump because the Sanders base hates Bloomberg. Therefore, Bloomberg is running as a Putin puppet in order to get Trump, the other Putin puppet elected. But Bernie is also a Putin puppet. And the DNC, Politico reports, encouraged Bloomberg to run, so that Trump the Putin puppet will win. Therefore, the DNC really wants Trump to win, because the DNC is also a Putin puppet. And that makes Consortium news a Putin puppet for reporting this. Oh, and by the way, I’m a Putin puppet, too! And if you read this far, you too are a Putin puppet.
Thank you for the first LOL of this morning!
Time for Hillary and her clan to pack and emigrate to Canada….
By the way I think the Russians will ultimately prefer Sanders as president… in order to get rid of Pompeo.
Reminds me of the old Dr. Pepper commercial. Everyone wants to be a Putin Puppet!
Peter van Buren wrote something very similar over at The American Conservative … it was funny there as well.
While in East Germany, young Putin developed a fondness for table soccer. You are mistaking table soccer figures with puppets. A very dexterous player can simultaneously play both teams. [please delete the post with spelling errors]
The CIA and DIA (it has about a dozen agencies under it and is much larger than any other Intel agency) are supposed to monitor threats to our national security, that originate abroad. Aside from a few closed door sessions with a select group of congresspersons, our Intel agencies have practically no real democratic oversight and remain, for all intents and purposes, a parallel government(s) well hidden from public view. In particular how they are financed and what their actual annual budgets really are. How these agencies every managed to seep into any electioneering process what so ever, is beyond me, since they are all intentionally very surreptitious- by design. We ask questions and these Intel agencies are quick to tout the usual phrase; that subject area is secret and needs to be addressed in closed session, blah, blah, blah. Of course “secrecy” translates into, we do what we want when we want and use information any way we want because our parallel governments represent the best example(s) of a perpetual motion machine that does not require outside monitoring. The origins of these “parallel entities” can be traced to the Rockefeller brothers and their associated international corporations. There’s the rub folks. Our citizens at large will never overtake for the purposes of real monitoring, this empire and elephant in the room, directly. However we do have one avenue left and it requires a rank and file demand from the people to their state representatives demanding two long standing issues, they remain unresolved and until a solution is found, will permit dark powers to side step every level of democratic governments-anywhere.
The first is true campaign finance reform and the second is assigning, or rather, removing the status of person-hood to corporate entities. The Rockefeller’s used their corporate power and wealth to influence legislative, judicial and executive bodies. They cannot help but do as the puppet master commands! Be it some form of, corporatism, fascism, feudalism, monarchy, oligarchy, even bankster-ism or any other “ism…We as citizens at large must make every effort to again, obtain true campaign finance reform and remove the lobbying presence inside the beltway. Today, the corporate entity has risen to a level that completely overtakes and smothers any authentic democratic representation, of and by the people. Originally (circa the early1800’s) American corporations were permitted to exist and papers were drawn based on the specific duties they were about to perform, this for the benefit of the local community for example, building a bridge. Once the job was completed, the incorporation was either liquidated or remanded over to the relevant governing body for the purposes of reevaluating the necessity of re-certifying the original incorporation papers. Old man Rockefeller changed the governance and oversight privilege by forcing and promulgating legislation(s) such as limited liability clauses, strategies to oppose competition, tax evasion schemes and (eventually) assigning person-hood to corporate entities, thus creating a parallel government within the government. It all began in Delaware and until we clear our heads and assign names to the actual problems, as I’ve itemized here, our citizenry will never experience the freedom to fashion our destiny. Please visit TUC radio’s two part expose’ by Richard Grossman. It will help CONSORTIUMNEWS readers to understand just what a monumental task is ahead for all of us. Work for a fair and equitable future in America, demand campaign finance reform and kick the hustling lobbyists out of our government. Voters being choked to death with senseless debates and useless candidates.
The real threats to our democracy are our unaccountable surveillance state and the craven politicians in Washington, DC. And, no, Ben, we can’t keep our republic because we don’t have a sufficient mass of critical thinkers to run it. If we did, this kind of BS, having been shot full of holes once, wouldn’t get any air.
Russia couldn’t possibly do the damage to Sanders that the DNC and Democrat Establishment elites are doing out in the open every day with the MSM as their prime propagandists.
As they say in wrestling, it’s all “a work”.
Thank you Jeff. I think you nailed it.
If Trump loses to Bernie in November, I fully expect him to use this sort of nonsense to claim Russia interfered AGAINST him and refuse to step down. The whole “Russia hacked the (2016) election”, which Democrats trotted out because they couldn’t accept the fact that their candidate lost to the biggest joke nominee in modern American history because they ran a deeply hated and soulless candidate, is going to turn around and bite them in the ass this year. Do they not realize they are handing Trump the perfect excuse? PS, I am assuming Bernie will be the nominee because, as inept as the Democrats are, I don’t believe they are ready to commit (political) suicide.
A true patriot is ready to lays his life for the country, and political suicides, hoped to be reversible, are what Dems do for living. Between Benghazi, e-mails, target-rich Clinton foundation with suspicious donors, unpopular record on “free trade, lack of common touch, Denis Kucinich would do better in 2016. Sanders consistently polled better in Rustbelt battleground.
Were Democrats in party positions more intelligent than slime molds that can creep toward nutrient…
I don’t think the Democrats have been very coordinated, and they (the establishment in general) is growing more desperate. They’re acting less and less rationally.
My hunch is that Sanders is going to be assassinated. Even if a low chance per industry (5% for MIC; 5% for Wall Street; 5% for Hillary Clinton, etc…) the sheer number of powerful enemies and tens of trillions of dollars (and power) potentially at stake IMO makes it likely that this’ll happen, whether coordinated or not. I’m guessing before the convention, if his lead is looking formidable.
He needs to pick a safety VP to make killing him less attractive, and also needs to wear a vest, ride around in a Popemobile-style vehicle, and have trustworthy chemists and doctors to check his food and umbrellas and everything else. And lots of documenters with cameras so if they do kill him in a violent hit maybe they won’t get away with it.
> Apparent US Intel Meddling in US Election With ‘Report’ Russia is Aiding Sanders
It looks like the CIA is short of ideas on how to meddle in the elections. Trump had a very similar briefing on January 6, 2017 — with Brennan, Clapper, Rogers, and Comey — on Russia allegedly aiding his campaign. As well without any evidence.
The CIA has obviously been short of ideas for 50 years. Dumb Dumber Dumbest and now folks what you all have been waiting for Infinitely Dumb.
Any unverified claim by any unidentified intel source about Russian interference and the whole country salivates like Pavlov’s dogs (the names of those dogs were Boris and Natasha, as we all know…).
Looking at the comments at the Post and Times, I’d say you are on target. Oh, for the Kool Aid contract at those organs of misinformation and omission.
Imagine Sanders and Trump, putting their differences aside and declaring war on the deep state during a debate. They have the same enemies.
The same people who planted Steele’s dirty dosier are going to try to steal Sanders election from him. It wont be Trump and the Republicans who rigs the election against Sanders.
how on earth could any entity, foreign or domestic, create any outcome in our burlesque electoral process that’s worse than any other? the parties are two arguing heads on the same rapacious beast. or in the case of the primaries, a multi-headed beast. the political circus can be likened to condi rice’s concept of “constructive chaos” in the middle east. instead of nonfunctional endless war to render malleable a target for exploitation, we have endless functionless nitpicking blather to render popular leadership impossible.
Sanders may win the nomination and the election but he cannot get a break from some purists on the left. His reaction may have been quite astute. When Sanders says that we should station troops on the borders of Russia or arm the Ukrainians, then you can say he really is anti-Russian. I have not heard all that he has said, but what I have heard sounds so much like hot air put out by a left politician trying to deal with the ages-old establishment and right wing smear that he is a pawn of the commies, a fellow traveler, a pinko, and now an agent of a foreign power, a Russian asset and so on. There is real criticism of Sanders, but his statements about Putin and Russia do not add up to much.
They add to the fear that he is as astute as Obama (and Bill Clinton before). I mean, he should get “tut-tut” at least, with the balance to come after the elections.
Bernie is doing his best to avoid being knocked off by the CIA and Mossad JFK was killed because he eventually refused to demonize the Soviet Union. Bobby was murdered because he was the leading Democratic candidate for the nomination in 68. Anyone who leads the country or aspires to lead the country is fair game according to the Deep State.
Who needs the Russians to meddle in the US elections when the DNC is much better at undermining the democratic process? We just have to look at the Iowa Caucus debacle and the mysterious Shadow App that stole Bernie Sanders of his political victory on the same day as proof of electoral improprieties. Why isn’t there an intel probe on the shenanigans conducted 0f the likes of Tom Perez and other Clinton/Obama appointees to the DNC leadership? The discredited headlines being peddled by WAPO and the NY Times scapegoating the Russians are just another attempt to distract voters away from the real home-grown culprits that are stealing the election. Bernie should not allow the Establishment to play him this way and call a spade a spade.
“Who needs the Russians to meddle in the US elections, when the DNC is much better….?”
Or the Chinese, Saudis, Israelis, Mexicans….
This article makes way too many excuses for Sanders’s appeasement of the Intelligence Community. The last remaining Arms Control Treaty expires in less than a year. This New Cold War is a threat to all higher life forms on this planet. Stopping it is way more important than trying to win a rigged primary. Bernie needs to stop helping them spread their lies. Seriously!
to do so now would be a mistake. Were Bernie to be nominated (possible) and win (unlikely), he’d have plenty of time to change his mind. But even if elected, we can expect him to disappoint many of his supporters. It’s what the candidates of both parties are best at doing. Recall Woodrow in 1916 saying he’d keep us out of war. After being elected he changed his mind. So did FDR. Bill Clinton was a DINO. W used 9/11 to invade Iraq, thus obeying the Deep State. Obama the weakling did nothing constructive, fooling his many black supporters. It’s all a big game.
So this is the way,the DNC will cheat Bernie out of the nomination.With an american electorate this gullible;another “Russiagate,i`m sure,Rachel Maddow is getting all excited about all this.And it sounds like Bernie is gonna play along;well; too bad….
Anyone who is still under the influence of the MSM hypnosis of RussiaGate, led by Rachel Madcow, needs to think long and hard about this latest propaganda campaign. The real message here is unless you support corporate sponsored warmonger from column A or B, you are a tool of the “evil Rooskies”. And the funny thing is, Sanders is “weak tea” when it comes to issues of war and peace, and the feeding of the war machine at the government trough with no limits.
The purpose of this BIG LIE of the “Intelligence” agencies is to make it impossible for someone to be against the Forever War without being tarred as a “Foreign Agent”, or at least a “useful idiot”, of the “EVIL ROOSKIES”. To simply want peaceful coexistence on its own merits is impossible.
Imagine if Sanders dared to mention that Putin enjoys substantial majority support inside Russia, and seeks peaceful coexistence in a multi-polar world, instead of calling him an “autocratic thug”. Often for politicians, speaking the truth is a “bridge too far”. I wonder if Sanders (like Hillary) finds it necessary to hold “private” positions that differ from his “public” positions? Or does he really believe his own BS?
I hope he doesn’t believe this BS (re Mr. Putin) and that he is only making such preposterous claims to preempt the hysterical attacks that would be laid upon him by the media should he say the slightest rational thing about working for peaceful co-existence with Russia. He has seen what has happened to Trump and realises the screeds against a liberal/progressive elected as a Democrat would be even more extreme, not that I think he would receive a moment of equanimous debate or discussion from anyone on either side of the aisle should he be elected president. Should he win it would be Bernie and the people vs the entire establishment. I have opined in agreement with what you’ve said about Bernie’s pusillanimous response to both American and Israeli military aggression in other on-line venues, Skip. Unless he grows a spine (or a brain), it seems that just more of the same is in the offing in those arenas. The main thing going for him is that, aside from the redoubtable Tulsi Gabbard, every other candidate in the race is far worse than he. My tea leaves say that if he were elected things wouldn’t improve to the point envisaged by his most ardent supporters (congress, the courts and the insider elites would not allow this), but they wouldn’t continue the exponential deterioration we’ve seen under Obama and Trump.
You know SHE is waiting in the wings, ready to step on stage, with billions of bucks, maybe from her overseas cache. What a fun convention it will be! More exciting than in Chicago, I expect. Great for tv ratings.
I had not seen Mr Joe Lauria’s article when I commented on Mr Ben Norton’s story, but my reply could fit here as well.
The idiot American public dismays me. To them, the “MSM news” and “celebrity gossip reports” are equal and both to be wholeheartedly believed.
There is no point in trying to educate a resistant public in the differences between data and gossip — public doesn’t care.
I weep for what we have lost — a Constitution, a nation of free thinkers. My heart breaks for the world’s people, and what my country tries to do to them, with only a few resistant other countries confronting and challenging America.
It is so difficult to know the truth of a situation and yet to know that almost no one (statistically speaking) believes you.
A better distinction might be, concerning the intelligence of the American public, the one Chomsky has used, rooted in Ancient Greek culture, that between KNOWLEDGE and OPINION. Americans, of course, have OPINIONS about everything, but little KNOWLEDGE about much of anything. And it seems their idea of FREEDOM is related to, bound up with, their having OPINIONS about virtually EVERYTHING.
So much for our being a HIGHER life form.
We’re in the process of destroying EVERYTHING, not just HIGHER LIFE FORMS [us], but all flora and fauna, water and air on the planet–as I said, EVERYTHING. To paraphrase from memory a citation by Perry Anderson from the work of heterodox Italian Marxist, Sebastiano Timpanaro, ”What we are witnessing is not the triumph of man over history, but the victory of nature over man.”
It is especially difficult to know that one’s few remaining relatives not only will not believe you but refuse to objectively look into any of the issues and seek the truth amidst the torrent of propaganda. If it appears on the network news it is received as gospel truth by 95% of Americans; if it does not, it is rejected as “fake news” and they consider you to be a crackpot “conspiracy theorist.”
NY Times is citing “people familiar with the situation.” How the mighty have fallen.
That deserves a song “on hundred ways to season a nothing burger”.
What about Shadow, and the Iowa caucuses, and Buttigieg? That was real. This is absolute horseshit.
The DNC and the corporate Democratic Party (cDP) have already proven themselves to be the primary direct and substantiated threats to American democracy.
In 2016, HRC tried to steal the cDP nomination. Whether it was successful or not, it was a crime against democracy itself. In 2020, the first of probably of many “neo Trumps” to come, Bloomberg, is trying to buy it. And these, to note, are the leading lights of the cDP.
In that regard, thank goodness Sanders is an independent.
Thank you every one working for Consortium news you are doing an incredible job. All the power to you and positive energy send your way.
The Trump administration has pulled out of the INF missile treaty citing totally unproven claims of Russian violations.
It also looks like allowing the START treaty on strategic nuclear missiles to lapse if we do not stop it.
And so, in what sense would Putin want Trump to get re-elected?
Van Jones of CNN once described the original allegations of Russian meddling in US elections as a ‘great big nothing burger’.
Sounds right to me.
When the secret agencies and mass media stop manipulating public opinion, despite their oligarchy masters’ ability to control election results anyway, we will know that they no longer need deception to control the People. Simple force will do the job, with a few marketing claims to assist in hiring goons to suppress any popular movement. Democracy is completely lost, and the pretense of democracy will soon follow.
Another foray into domestic politics by the CIA, with anonymous sources and no evidence shown (as no evidence exists). Perhaps the CIA (which probably works for Putin, or Bloomberg, or anyone who pays them best, but they are loyal to the US dollar only; and maybe heroin?) is even now making up another Chris Steele/ Fusion GPS/ CrowdStrike dossier, getting that Russian caterer to the Kremlin to pump out clickbait and sink both Trump and Sanders. Because RUSSIANS!!! are “genetically driven” to interfere in American democracy. Next we’ll have the DNC (CIA) pushing Superpredator tropes such as “this enormous cohort of black and Latino males” who “don’t know how to behave in the workplace” and “don’t have any prospects.” With this Clintonian (and Biden and Bloomberg) mindset, America will be increasing incarceration once again. That $500,000 bribe the Clintons took from Putin in 2010 when Hillary was Secretary of State probably plays a role.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Mark Esper have surprisingly noted that China, not Russia, is America’s #1 concern: “America’s concerns about Beijing’s commercial and military expansion should be your concerns as well.” Since Bill Clinton’s Chinagate fiasco in 1996, Communist China, for a measly $million or so in illegal campaign donations, gained permanent trade status, took millions of American jobs, and suddenly were allowed access to advanced, even military technologies. This was the impetus for China’s rise to be the strongest nation in the world. There are no doubt statues of the Clintons all over China, and soon to Hunter Biden, if his Chinese backed hedge funds do well. There are some rumors that Bloomberg has transacted business with China, although doubtful he tried to build a hotel in Beijing or Moscow, or the CIA would be all over it (for a cut)!
Esper is a dangerously deranged man who seems, at least to me, to be telegraphing his intent, and certainly his desire, to get into a kinetic war with both Russia and China (Washington already has most of the hybrid war tactics already fully operational), unless English usage has changed so drastically that insults, overt threats and unrestrained bombast are now part of calm, rational cordial diplomacy. I would not be surprised if neocon mouthpieces like Esper are not secretly honing their rhetorical style to emulate the exaggerated volume and enunciation of der ursprüngliche Führer.
“So politician that he is” — isn’t this already on the slippery slope towards double standards, that is, would say Hillary get a similar pass for making McCarthyite statements like this? Isn’t a dispassionate reading of the situation that Bernie is an inveterate liar, and moreover specializing in the particular brand of lies that could get us all into nuclear war? Whether it’s character or merely age, haven’t we seen enough to conclude that Mr. Sanders would be much weaker still vis-a-vis the Deep State than Donald Trump turned out to be?
For those without a dog in this fight, shouldn’t it cause great merriment if the various RussiaGaters devour each other? Mr. Sanders has seen for years that the “muh Putin” hoax will be turned against him whenever needed. If he nonetheless persists, doesn’t that show his resignation that his role in this election circus is a very temporary one, like in ’16? How was that definition of insanity again?
If you want to fix America, then the Empire and Zionism are your enemies; so is the Dem party that is inextricably wedded to these forces. Play along with them and–well what can you expect.
Russiagators
As soon as the DNC invokes Russian meddling in the elections that means they realise they will lose them.
Bombshell: according to leaked intelligence reports the Russians are meddling in the 2024 presidential election.
How ironic. For years the Dems peddled a pack of “Russia-Hoax” lies about Trump, and Bernie fell for it (or said he did). Now the same crowd is pulling the exact same fraud against Bernie, and Bernie can’t call them liars this time because he went along with them last time. He’ll get no sympathy from me – recall that old saying: “You can’t cheat an honest man”.
Yeah, and Bernie sucked up to the Dem brass on the impeachment crap, even tho Tulsi had the stones to at least abstain. How sad.
You are so right.
Dear DNC:
KNOCK IT OFF! The only person I am voting for President is the only one who is capable—and that is Bernie Sanders.
And really, with NATO breaking the agreement where they agreed to NOT go up to Russia’s border : it is getting very sad and embarrassing to be an American because the elected ones make agreements and yet break so many. What with Turkey and Israel and Saudi Arabia trying to disrupt the area, I am sure that Russia is too busy to bother disrupting America . Lately America seems to disrupt itself for many ridiculous reasons. I am sorry that the gossip rags, which used to be important newspapers have failed in supporting their First Amendment right of Free speech . I just finished reading “ALL the Presidents Men. ” What has happened to you, Washington Post, because as a newspaper, you really used to be somebody. Please review your past and become what you once were, a real genuine news source.
Wikipedia: “In October 2013, the paper’s longtime controlling family, the Graham family, sold the newspaper to Nash Holdings, a holding company established by Jeff Bezos, for $250 million in cash.”
One of the craziest ongoing media phenomena, prevalent in the Impeachment Hearings, is the repeated claim that RUSSIA IS AT WAR WITH UKRAINE.
What kind of “Higher Life Form” enthusiastically EATS IT’S OWN SHIT?
Mass media denouncing politicians based upon “information” from secret agencies are propaganda operations, and should be sued for proof of their claims. But of course the judiciary are tools of oligarchy as much as the mass media. No one has constitutional rights in the US under our utterly corrupt judiciary, only paid party privileges.
Hmmm.. so those oh-so-clever Russkies (I mean they MUST-BE if they were able to outwit ALL the US politicos — who are immersed in the US political culture 24/7 as well as having grown-up in this country and having billions of $ to spend — in 2016 with a mere $100k of Facebook ads) messed-up this time! They’re supporting OPPOSING candidates, effectively canceling-out their efforts…? Kinda strange, unless that whole ‘Russia meddling’ thing was a vastly exaggerated distraction by a losing hawkish candidate and her party, further inflated by a sensationalistic media and a predictably antagonistic military & intelligence community??
There is NO “intel”; plenty of un-intel, shameless mendacity from these info=dictators zionazi NYT and Wapoop drivel; hopefully the insouciant public is starting to see what a sham these rats are. Hearst outdistanced.
“Kinda strange, unless that whole ‘Russia meddling’ thing was a vastly exaggerated distraction by a losing hawkish candidate and her party, further inflated by a sensationalistic media and a predictably antagonistic military & intelligence community??”
Exactly. Shame on Hillary Clinton and all who view the electorate with such disdain as to have pushed this propaganda on us for the last three years, and continue to do so, obviously. If either Hillary Clinton or the “sensationalistic media and a predictably antagonistic military & intelligence community” had any integrity at all, they would have beaten Trump handily in 2016, just as they condescendingly told us they would. They did not, though, and have been outraged to have been exposed as the frauds they are ever since.
When your political party is nothing more than a marketing scheme designed to fool the population, that population will turn on you. Imagine that. And no amount of Russia-gating will save you. Shame on all who would continue this charade.
Gosh I wish those so called intel people could make up their mind about whom the big bad Ruskies are trying to help. One week its Trump, the next it is Sanders. Frankly on the face, it sounds like bad intel to me.
But fortunately I am a regular reader of this site and Ray McGovern; and know it’s all, to put it politely , disinformation; or less politely a pile of diarrhea invented by Hillarybots after a really really bad election day three years ago.
The only thing that disturbs me is the way Bernie buys into this Russiagate thing himself. Maybe you all could send him a trove of articles debunking the whole mess, especially Ray and Bill’s forensics.
When Durham starts indicting people and the story of the Deep State coup against the President becomes common knowledge, Bernie’s statements on Russiagate will be a liability. Trump’s people are digging up whatever videos they can of Bernie talking smack about Trump/Russia. It is a crack in Bernie’s armor and we can expect Trump to exploit. Bernie has been such a toadie to the DNC. He cowers to the Democratic establishment because he fears they will pull his credentials to run as a Democrat.
“Gosh I wish those so called intel people could make up their mind about whom the big bad Ruskies are trying to help.”
Output is a function of framing and consequently the intelligence community/opponents are helping others including the Russians who encourage such help by doing nothing.
What a shambolic mess of a Nation that America is! Nothing more than a Billionaire’s Banana Republic? A International laughingstock ruled by a Oligarchy, masquerading as a Democracy? And if all else fails to get rid of Bernie Saunders by vote rigging or gerrymandering or other nefarious acts of sabotage with Superdelegates stealing the nominations then resurrect the bogus Russiagate Conspiracy, a ridiculous failed & faked experiment to gaslight, spook & confuse the population again? Wouldn’t it be delicious if Russiagate was actually TRUE, it would be payback for the USA, a Nation that meddles in the affairs & politics of every other Country on Earth, overthrowing & regime changing everyone who doesn’t “bend the knee” to America, the most corrupt & evil Nation on Earth since Nazi Germany! I’ve never seen a more propagandised or mindf**ked People on Earth than the American people! It must be soul destroying to live in this Country & have to put up with this nonsense, day in, day out?
Yes, it is. Living with the infuriating unreality and militaristic worldview that is so cultivated here takes a personal emotional and intellectual toll. No place is perfect, but when I travel to Europe I feel a weight lifted.
Kiwi you may have a point.
Yep. But for those of us with our critical thinking skills intact, we won’t let it be soul destroying, Kiwi. Still, the daily crapload of bs we are fed in the “legacy” press is aggravating beyond the beyonds. Cheers, fellow Earthling.
I hear you, KiwiAntz. It IS soul destroying to withstand this onslaught of disinformation each and every day. There is a rhythm to it that is undeniable, too. One can almost predict when the next propaganda hit will come, as here – after their latest would-be savior, Mike Bloomberg, imploded on live TV, and with Bernie looking more and more inevitable.
Our reality in the US today is that we have to fight against our own media to approach anything resembling a reasonable discussion about what is important to vast majorities (mean tweets and fake memes aren’t it) or to champion candidates who display even the slightest integrity. But, of course, it is not ‘our’ media. It is ‘theirs.’ And they will continue to abuse us with it until we reject it completely.
I see things pretty clearly for what they are and the billionaire democrats are heading for a train wreck and I hate to admit I cannot look away.
Trump is just another self serving U.S. president leaving a stain in America’s underwear adding to the humongous pile of America’s dirty laundry.
When the demographics finally dictate it change will come and likely not before. On that note I wold like to reach out here. Justin King, who goes as Beau on the net runs a site called the Fifth Column News and does a ton of informative and educational videos on many various topics. .
If you go to youtube, search and watch each of the videos I’m about to list here you stand to learn quite a lot about how Americans got screwed by the two party system without really realizing it. Plenty of blame to go around , no doubt though. You will also learn of the changing demographics in American politics. Many of the poor, minorities and youth of the country are coming into politics for they stand to lose everything if they don’t change the status quo.
Feb 11 2020 runs 6:21 minutes and seconds- Search terms, Beau Lets talk about the parties switching and the party of trump
Feb 15 2020 runs 4:11 Search terms, Beau Lets talk about dancing left and dancing right
Feb 20 2020 runs 10:44 Search terms, Beau Lets talk about misunderstanding Bernie’s supporters
This last video is a long video by Justin’s standards. Most of his videos are under 7 minutes.
Much thanks to CN this site and the Fifth Column New site give me strength and bolster my courage by allowing me to know that there are those of us who know what gong on and know things must change.