EDITORS—The panel discusses the multitude of hypocrisies underscoring the political class and media accusation of election meddling by Russia, China, and now even Iran, while ignoring the cancerous influence of the Israeli lobby, the long-time “pink elephant” in the room, which virtually “owns” the US Congress and much of the US political and media classes. This grotesque double standard pervading US policy is now manifest in the obviously hypocritical way the US government is treating genocidal Israel, while persecuting critics of Zionist crimes under the pretext of “anti-semitism”. Many of these huge defects in governance are proof, notes, Billy Bob, of the old Marxian insight about “parliamentarism” and “capitalist democracy”, which is only interested in fulfilling the needs and priorities of the ruling class.
September 2024
Beirut Bombing: Is There Any Limit On Civilian Deaths? Interview With Harvard Grad Alleging Campus Antisemitism
PLUS: Chris Hedges on MSM's transformation into disinfo platform due to careerism, government pressure1 minutes readEDITOR—Glenn does a deep dive into the latest dangerous developments in Palestine, Lebanon and their effect on US politics, including accusations of anti-semitism on campus, plus Israel’s apparent carte blanche to commit atrocities in the Middle East, while the US and its allies pretend concern. ALSO: Discussion with Chris Hedges on the degeneracy of mainstream media and its consequences for peace and society.
MARGARET KIMBERLEY—n 2012 Angela Davis felt compelled to give fulsome praise to Barack Obama, including claiming that his rise to the presidency showed a connection with the Black radical tradition. The false statement was quite alarming, as Davis ignored the obvious, that the Obama campaign was a creation of the neo-liberal and imperialist elites who needed a more attractive face in a moment of crisis. Our late comrade Glen Ford observed that, “The ‘delusional effect’ that swept Black America with the advent of the First Black President has warped and weakened the mental powers of some of our most revered icons – and it has been painful to behold.”
THOMAS FAZI—Democracy has only existed — and, I would argue, can only exist — at the national level. And so, when you start to look at things from this wider historical perspective, you realise what the European Union’s project was all about: it really was a way of responding to the crisis and a way of implementing neoliberalism on an unprecedented scale, by essentially hollowing out national democracies and national sovereignties by creating this supranational institution that would prove impervious to any form of democratic pressures.
The EU as an existential threat to Europe
THOMAS FAZI—Germany’s policy vis-a-vis the European Union for a long time fit the pattern [discussed in part 1 of the interview] of national governments and national elites using the European Union to their own advantage. Germany is probably the most clear example of this, in terms of a country using the European Union and the narrative of “Europeanising Germany” and supposedly getting away from Germany’s hyper-nationalist tendencies of the past to, in fact, promote the national interests of Germany, or more precisely those of its capitalist elites, and pursue what could be described as a form of economic nationalism. For a long time, Germany’s relationship with the European Union could be described as one of “nationalism through Europeanism”.
