US EXCEPTIONALISM

CALEB MAUPIN—In the case of civic activism and political struggle, Navalny has always been in favor of a setup in which authorities, including, judges, can be dispensed with quickly, and then shot. While talk about the danger of social media rhetoric inciting violence is very prevalent across the United States these days, in 2020 Navalny announced publicly that he calls for the immediate forcible overthrow the government of Russia: “Such a government must be overthrown right now, quite possibly even by force.”

After The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal reported on newly leaked documents exposing a massive UK government propaganda campaign against Russia, Twitter added an unprecedented warning label that the material “may have been obtained through hacking.” Although Twitter may have intended to restrict the article, the warning had the opposite effect: it quickly went viral. Max Blumenthal and Aaron Maté discuss the suppression effort and the damning UK government leaks at the heart of it. After years of fear-mongering about Russian interference in Western democracies, these UK government files expose a sprawling propaganda effort that explicitly aims to “weaken” Russia. The documents reveal that this propaganda campaign has also enlisted major media outlets Reuters and the BBC, as well as the NATO member state-funded website Bellingcat. Guest: Max Blumenthal, editor of The Grayzone and author of “The Management of Savagery.”

MoA—The last attack on U.S. units in Iraq happened on February 15 against a U.S. position in Erbil, Iraq. Some three small rockets were fired by an unknown group of provocateurs.

To call an attack with seven 500 pound bombs on a border station guarded by official Iraqi security forces against ISIS attacks hundreds of miles away from Erbil “defensive” and “in response” is of course ridiculous.

Katib Hisbullah (not related to Hizbullah in Lebanon) and KSS are under command of the Iraqi prime minister. They were founded with help from Iran in 2014 to fight against ISIS. Since 2018 they are regular Iraqi forces paid and equipped by the Iraqi government, not by Iran. This attack will escalate the situation in Iraq. More attacks against U.S. and other foreign units there are now assured.

KIM PETERSEN—I learned a while back to be especially skeptical of western mass media and their governments. [1] My experience of life in China is nothing like how western demonization portrays it to be. Therefore, I looked forward to the chance to experience North Korea first hand. I traveled there with a Chinese group departing China. Starting out from Dandong, China, we crossed the Yalu River to Sinuiju, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). From Sinuiji we took a train to Pyongyang and explored other areas of the DPRK in 2017. I wrote about this in “There Are Human Beings in North Korea. Neither Wealthy Nor Poor.” My impression of North Korea was extremely positive, and I look very forward to returning there one day.

PATRICE GREANVILLE—Western publics, especially in the US, are acutely disinformed. Courtesy of their ruling elites, Americans are easily the most brainwashed people in history. The result is a culture in which, besides ignorance and plenty of antisocial values paraded as normal, a thick fog of confusion  permeates every nook and cranny of a person’s consciousness. As in other nations where the ruling cliques have also advanced self-flattering narratives to cement their legitimacy, the official US narcissistic canon has some recognizable features, most of them encapsulated in the alarmingly chauvinist creed defined as American exceptionalism.