MEDIA SCUM

Massive lies, hypocrisy and cynicism characterise the Anglo-American history of dealings with Russia, and their way of doing foreign policy in general. Now as their plots unravel in Eastern Europe, it will be hard for the hardliners in Washington and London to keep the warmongering hysteria going. The Ukraine itself, says Mercouris, is denying the imminence of a Russian attack. And France’s Macron, with Germany’s support, is looking for a way to defuse the crisis. Meanwhile, the sheer brutishness and arrogance of US and UK maneuvers in Europe are clearly pushing Germany and France into an open break with London and Washington. 

P. GREANVILLE—A disgrace by any elementary journalistic standard, this program is indeed soaked in deliberate manipulation. From the soothing, authoritative tone of the host, designed to impart credibility where there should be none, literally everything is upside down. A complete lie. The headline itself packs a major lie; it accuses Putin of invading Ukraine. This is what propaganda guys call “framing”, and it is literally so in this case, as they are framing Russia and Putin, who never invaded Ukraine, nor, for that matter, “took over” Crimea, whose inhabitants, 90% of whom speak Russian and regard themselves as part of the Russian cultural sphere, voted in 2014 in a democratic referendum to join the Russian Federation. Look up the history of this event in a reliable place, The Saker blog, Moon of Alabama, or The Greanville Post are good starting points. So, let’s parse this program and find what could be wrong. 

JONATHAN COOK—Assaults on the right to speak, and to think, are coming thick and fast. But the significance – and coordination – of all these developments is being largely missed.

Those who try to open up a little space – in politics, academia, and journalism – to think critically about our society and how power is misused are the chief targets. Western establishments have grown increasingly concerned about the expansion of popular freedoms that arrived with social media a decade or so ago, which have allowed us to analyze and critique elite interests and strategies. This has posed a very obvious threat to the establishment’s continuing ability to propagandize us and has led to far more unpredictable and unstable social and political landscapes.

Dr. Robert Malone, immunologist and developer of the technology powering the mRNA vaccines, has been banned from Twitter following his appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast. Dr. Malone has been a vocal opponent of the government handling of the coronavirus pandemic and vaccine protocols, and now it appears he has become a sufficient threat to elite interests that social media outlets are beginning to crack down on him at the establishment’s behest. Jimmy and comedian Kurt Metzger discuss this latest act of social media censorship.

MATT TAIBBI—Which brings us back to Cheney. All those things Trump is rumored to be, Dick Cheney actually is. That’s why it’s so significant that he appeared on the floor of the House yesterday to be slobbered over by the Adam Schiffs and Nancy Pelosis of the world. Dick Cheney did more to destroy democracy in ten minutes of his Vice Presidency than Donald Trump did in four years. 

Seeing leading Democrats nuzzling the man George W. Bush called “Iron Ass” summed up the essential problem of the ordinary person trying to find a political home in this landscape. Even if you find the Trump phenomenon troubling, his opposition is not only authoritarian, but organized and armed with the intellectual tools to understand and appreciate how the technological elimination of democracy might be achieved in the 21st century.