There's mild irony that one of the inaugural recipients of the Samizdat Prize got his start in the USSR in the waning days of the original "samizdat era"!
Of course, media control has been present in the US since the beginning of the broadcast era if not earlier when only a few newspapers had anyth…
There's mild irony that one of the inaugural recipients of the Samizdat Prize got his start in the USSR in the waning days of the original "samizdat era"!
Of course, media control has been present in the US since the beginning of the broadcast era if not earlier when only a few newspapers had anything beyond a local reach.
Not too long ago, those of us so inclined to seek alternative views would turn to small newsletters and local broadcast.
The halcyon days of college radio and "alternative media".
What frightens the powers-that-be the most is the loss of control over the primary delivery mechanisms.
Hence the "Censorship Industrial Complex".
Trump's election in 2016 was their wake-up call but the Hunter Biden laptop story seems to have been the watershed event. Kudos and thanks to Miranda Devine for breaking that story! That was arguably even more visible than the quashing of challenges to the official COVID-19 narrative -- and kudos and thanks to Dr. Jay for his work on that (and Dr. Marty M. et alia)!
Given the singular nature of that event -- a blockbuster story by the NY Post -- and the near-instanteous, blanketing reaction, it seemed impossible that the reaction was anything but coordinated.
Kudos and thanks as well to Elon Musk for his courage (both politically and financially) in buying Twitter (now "X") and then providing access to Matt and company which set the stage for the revelations now known as the "Twitter Files". It is rare that clear evidence of malfeasance has been made available to the public. It was no longer a matter of "suspicion" or "doubt" but of "certainty".
In 2018, I was working at a major "media analysis and ratings" company -- huge flat-screen TVs in every meeting room and hallway -- and I was stunned by how I could walk from room to room and not only hear the same story but the exact same choice of words being uttered by ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and PBS. It was revelatory.
At this point, given the collapse of several major "cover stories" -- COVID origins, the laptop as disinformation -- it would be great to next have consistent, vigorous follow-up on the promulgators of these stories and to hold their feet to the fire:
1.) Fauci et alia and COVID-19 origins: Wuhan funding and collaboration, the lab scrubbing once the story broke, and the degree to which the CCP may have promoted travel while simultaneously quashing the story. There's plenty more to learn. If it's not a lab-leak, where's that "missing natural link"? The vector for SARS CoV was determined in a matter of months, ironically by a team lead by Peter Daszak.
2.) The infamous "public statement signed by 51 former intelligence officials" that declared the Huter Biden laptop story "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation". It seems near-impossible that the FBI, which had possesion of the laptop for over a year by that time, had not made a determination of its validity and that all these "former intelligence officials" weren't able to get that determination. Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell, a signatory of the letter, testified that then Biden campaign senior adviser Anthony Blinken orchestrated the letter.
3.) The equally infamous Susan Rice email from 2017 documenting a White House meeting in which exiting-president Barack Obama, a man who would literally have zero authority in a matter of weeks, discussing with then-FBI head James Comey about whether or not information could be shared with the incoming Trump administration.
The full text is now available, but from the Grassley page:
"
'President Obama began the conversation by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the Intelligence and law enforcement communities “by the book”. The President stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book.
From a national security perspective, however, President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia.'
The next part of your email remains classified. After that, you wrote:
'The President asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said he would.'
"
The repeated, childish use of "by the book" is of course inadvertently hilarious. In all the wrong ways. A government run by rude, impudent, scheming children.
Obama, the putative "constitutional law professor", was about to leave office and would relinquish any and all authority. Even though there is the qualification of "in the next few weeks", what authority did Obama have to challenge the incoming administration's right...literally, their right...to all information?
Congrats and thanks to Matt here as well!
There's mild irony that one of the inaugural recipients of the Samizdat Prize got his start in the USSR in the waning days of the original "samizdat era"!
Of course, media control has been present in the US since the beginning of the broadcast era if not earlier when only a few newspapers had anything beyond a local reach.
Not too long ago, those of us so inclined to seek alternative views would turn to small newsletters and local broadcast.
The halcyon days of college radio and "alternative media".
What frightens the powers-that-be the most is the loss of control over the primary delivery mechanisms.
Hence the "Censorship Industrial Complex".
Trump's election in 2016 was their wake-up call but the Hunter Biden laptop story seems to have been the watershed event. Kudos and thanks to Miranda Devine for breaking that story! That was arguably even more visible than the quashing of challenges to the official COVID-19 narrative -- and kudos and thanks to Dr. Jay for his work on that (and Dr. Marty M. et alia)!
Given the singular nature of that event -- a blockbuster story by the NY Post -- and the near-instanteous, blanketing reaction, it seemed impossible that the reaction was anything but coordinated.
Kudos and thanks as well to Elon Musk for his courage (both politically and financially) in buying Twitter (now "X") and then providing access to Matt and company which set the stage for the revelations now known as the "Twitter Files". It is rare that clear evidence of malfeasance has been made available to the public. It was no longer a matter of "suspicion" or "doubt" but of "certainty".
In 2018, I was working at a major "media analysis and ratings" company -- huge flat-screen TVs in every meeting room and hallway -- and I was stunned by how I could walk from room to room and not only hear the same story but the exact same choice of words being uttered by ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and PBS. It was revelatory.
At this point, given the collapse of several major "cover stories" -- COVID origins, the laptop as disinformation -- it would be great to next have consistent, vigorous follow-up on the promulgators of these stories and to hold their feet to the fire:
1.) Fauci et alia and COVID-19 origins: Wuhan funding and collaboration, the lab scrubbing once the story broke, and the degree to which the CCP may have promoted travel while simultaneously quashing the story. There's plenty more to learn. If it's not a lab-leak, where's that "missing natural link"? The vector for SARS CoV was determined in a matter of months, ironically by a team lead by Peter Daszak.
2.) The infamous "public statement signed by 51 former intelligence officials" that declared the Huter Biden laptop story "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation". It seems near-impossible that the FBI, which had possesion of the laptop for over a year by that time, had not made a determination of its validity and that all these "former intelligence officials" weren't able to get that determination. Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell, a signatory of the letter, testified that then Biden campaign senior adviser Anthony Blinken orchestrated the letter.
https://judiciary.house.gov/media/in-the-news/biden-campaign-blinken-orchestrated-intel-letter-discredit-hunter-biden-laptop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Statement_on_the_Hunter_Biden_Emails
Why isn't this a huge story?
3.) The equally infamous Susan Rice email from 2017 documenting a White House meeting in which exiting-president Barack Obama, a man who would literally have zero authority in a matter of weeks, discussing with then-FBI head James Comey about whether or not information could be shared with the incoming Trump administration.
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-graham-uncover-unusual-email-sent-susan-rice-herself-president-trump-s
The full text is now available, but from the Grassley page:
"
'President Obama began the conversation by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the Intelligence and law enforcement communities “by the book”. The President stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book.
From a national security perspective, however, President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia.'
The next part of your email remains classified. After that, you wrote:
'The President asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said he would.'
"
The repeated, childish use of "by the book" is of course inadvertently hilarious. In all the wrong ways. A government run by rude, impudent, scheming children.
Obama, the putative "constitutional law professor", was about to leave office and would relinquish any and all authority. Even though there is the qualification of "in the next few weeks", what authority did Obama have to challenge the incoming administration's right...literally, their right...to all information?
Again, how did this story vanish?
Obama. The first ex-president to not leave town after his term was over? Opined he could have had a third term except for that pesky Consitution?
The story didn't vanish. It never existed, because Chris Matthews wasn't the only media person who got a 44 thrill up his leg.