MEDIA FRONT

The last time a ‘Russiagate’ sceptic was allowed on MSNBC, the most liberal television network in the US, was in January 2017, just as Trump took office. ‘Russiagate’ has provoked a new Cold War. Moreover, the media’s obsession with Russia has shifted media attention yet further away from the Trump administration’s other, more dangerous, actions on issues such as climate change, abortion rights and corporate bailouts.

GREGORY SHUPAK—As historian Greg Grandin points out, the OAS approved of the US isolating Guatemala  prior to the CIA’s 1954 coup against the elected government of President Jacobo Árbenz, and Cuba before the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. The organization went on to endorse the US’s 1965 invasion of the Dominican Republic. The OAS’s sordid history in Haiti offers another example: In 2000, the organization initially declared the country’s election a “great success” and then reversed course, helping set the stage for a coup against the democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, after which thousands were murdered and  officials of the constitutional government were jailed.

MEDEA BENJAMIN—NICOLAS DAVIES—It’s true people can search for their own truth on social media to counter the corporate babble, but social media is itself a distraction. People spend countless hours on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms venting their anger and frustration without getting up off the couch to actually do something—except perhaps sign a petition. “Clicktivism” will not change the world. Add to this the endless distractions of Hollywood, video games, sports and consumerism, and the exhaustion that comes with working several jobs to make ends meet.

PCR—Ulfkotte’s book destroys the illusion/delusion that there is anywhere in the Western world an independent press. Ulfkotte describes in detail the cognitive appropriation of journalists by elites. Journalists serve as propagandists and public relations agents for intelligence agencies, businesses, lobbying organizations, politicians, and US foreign policy. The function of journalism is to deliver to the people the explanations that serve the interests of elites and Washington’s foreign policy.

ERIC ZUESSE—It’s said that Trump is causing people outside the U.S. to despise the United States. But Obama was at least as bad, and he is internationally respected. Foreigners are no better than Americans. This really isn’t a national thing. It’s a reflection of the common global culture, which is sick everywhere.