FAKE NEWS

FINIAN CUNNINGHAM—The widespread Western public ignorance over what is happening in Ukraine – the violent background to the present conflict, the CIA coup in 2014, the Nazi paramilitaries attacking Russian-speaking people in the Donbass, the relentless NATO weaponizing of the Russophobic regime, training of its Nazi paramilitaries by NATO troops and so on – is largely due to the Western media’s systematic lying, omission, and distortion.

However, the brain-dead function of the Western media is especially highlighted this week by the death of Madeleine Albright and the total silence about how her career is tightly entwined with today’s conflict. The war in Ukraine is but the front line of a wider proxy war between the United States, NATO and Russia.

GILBERT DOCTOROW—Over the course of the past six weeks, I have several times pointed to the changing mood of Shakhnazarov with respect to the ‘special military operation in Ukraine.’  At first he was buoyant, then he was fearful that the operation was going badly and running out of control, and finally he appeared to be ‘all in,’ looking for ways for Russia to win decisively and quickly.

Last night, we heard from yet another mood swing.  I bring it to the attention of readers, because it has great relevance to the current complete passivity of our general public in the face of some very peculiar policy decisions with respect to Russia being made at the highest levels in the USA and in Europe, with zero public consultation so far.

To be specific, Shakhnazarov expressed amazement and deep worry that Western leaders have literally ‘lost their minds’ by pursuing measures to destabilize Russia in the hope of precipitating the overthrow of Vladimir Putin and maybe even the disintegration of Russia in a way similar to the dissolution of the USSR in late 1991. 

“The US arguments for fielding low-yield nuclear warheads is intended to blur the lines between strategic and non-strategic nuclear weapons which inevitably leads to the lowering of the nuclear threshold and the growing threat of nuclear war…. Those who like to theorize about the flexibility of US nuclear capability, must understand in line with Russian Military Doctrine, that such actions (using low-yield nukes) will be seen as warranting retaliatory use of nuclear weapons by Russia.”

ANDREI MARTYANOV—Yes, they all are–they all are avatars, holograms with zero capabilities to run anything, and still, who is guilty that this kind of human material gets elected? In Macron’s case, France. French people–they elected him, they fell for his utter BS and agreed for their country to be finished off. Same goes for the United States–no matter what were the manipulations at the ballot box–the fact that half the country voted for a senile, demented, con-artist and swamp creature–sorry guys, you wanted, you got it. [Not that the vile incumbent nincompoop was much better, both representing essentially the same oligarchy.—Ed] Now live with the consequences.

The always formidable Fiorella Isabel provides an eloquent description of the current hostility between opportunists and fake leftists (the Young Turks and their supporters and sycophants, plus a hefty contingent of pro-imperialism “breadtubers” like Vaush, Skipy the ear, etc.) and the genuine left, led by Jimmy Dore, the tireless folks at The Grayzone (Ben Norton, Aaron Maté, Max Blumenthal, and Anya Parampil), plus Eva Bartlett, Vanessa Beeley, Abby Martin, Lee Camp, Caleb Maupin and others of that caliber and dedication. In this kerfuffle, which is, as Fiorella points out, far from being a superficial and egotistical “drama” about mere personalities but a struggle for the very survival and viability of the genuine anti-imperialist left, many folks, like Kyle Kulinksy and Krystal Ball, are opportunistically sitting on the fence or actually supporting the fake leftists, thereby becoming obstacles to the advance of antiwar forces.