CRIMINALS & DISINFORMERS

We speak to political commentator Jimmy Dore on the Mueller report’s summary showing no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, he says the media has no credibility and is bought by the people they’re supposed to be investigating, says the failure of the American neoliberal system led to Donald Trump and gives his take on US regime change attempts in Venezuela.

MARGARET KIMBERLEY—Manning and Assange reveal the hypocrisy and hollowness of liberal America. Their disputes with Donald Trump are more about style than substance. Trump’s tweets against the media will engender outrage but the continued persecution of Julian Assange raises few eyebrows.The true evil of Russiagate goes further than the exposure of a compliant corporate media or cynical politicians. Russiagate has been used to further the interests of the surveillance state, neoliberalism and imperialism. The new attack on Assange should be understood as the most dangerous aspect of Russiagate. The Democratic Party wants to stifle dissent and make certain that there will be no Wikileaks in the future. That is why this dead issue will be kept on life support for as long as possible and why very few people will speak up for Assange and Manning.

MATT TAIBBI—The story hyped from the start was espionage: a secret relationship between the Trump campaign and Russian spooks who’d helped him win the election.The betrayal narrative was not reported as metaphor. It was not “Trump likes the Russians so much, he might as well be a spy for them.” It was literal spying, treason, and election-fixing – crimes so severe, former NSA employee John Schindler told reporters, Trump “will die in jail.”

GREG MAYBURY—Insofar as the situation in Venezuela goes, placing to one side the reality that hell has no fury like an empire scorned, it is perhaps instructive to consider other reasons as to why Uncle Sam has such a ‘hard on’ for the country and its current, ‘recalcitrant’ leader Nicholas Maduro. Firstly, a little backstory. As most folks know, every regime change cum military operation comes with its own unique identifier, a brand if one likes, to use marketing terminology. It’s uncertain if the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex™ — which knows a thing or three about marketing to be sure, possibly much more than they do about actually winning wars — has contrived a specific nomenclature for any possible offensive operation in Venezuela.

ABBY MARTIN—On the eve of another US war for oil, Abby Martin debunks the most repeated myths about Venezuela and uncovers how US sanctions are crimes against humanity with UN Investigator and Human Rights Rapporteur Alfred De Zayas.