The Twitter Files reveal that one of the most common news sources of the Trump era was a scam, making ordinary American political conversations look like Russian spywork
We have reached the point where they knowingly confuse erroneous or deceptive information with that which merely contradicts left-wing pieties. The ability to arbitrarily decree this or that to be misinformation has become a key tactic amongst those who agitate for greater and more repressive control over the internet to stifle views that deviate from neoliberal establishment views. It’s as simple as that.
The media and the Left more broadly now take the position that combating misinformation is a more important “bedrock of democracy” than free speech. The problem is that they’re constantly blurring the lines between misinformation and reporting that simply makes Democrats and their media allies look bad.
Teddy Roosevelt gets waaaaaay too much of a historical pass, imo. Not as bad as Woodrow Wilson, but his one unambiguously good idea, the Pure Food and Drug Act, gives him moral cover amongst the public and the historical ntelligentsia for a multitude of sins.
The professional-managerial class has give the left what they have long desired- absolute power. That’s why Sanders, AOC etc are now allys of Dick Cheney and support the proxy war in Ukraine.
Commies/the socialist left are as materialistic as anyone else, but they can’t admit the hypocrisy of this fact in light of their economic plans for everyone. Audis and Louis Vuitton are hardly emblematic of “to each according to his needs”.
The vast majority of "commies/the socialist left" have no economic plans for anyone other than themselves and their families. Professionally, for the most part, their primary interests are studying, researching and calling attention, as best they can, to the various inequities that bedevil society and relations between various economic "classes" of "citizens."
And no, Audi's and Louis Vuitton are not "emblematic of “to each according to his needs." They are, instead, emblematic of upper middle class Americans who will, according to their needs (and skills), when the political weather "breaks," either be frog-marched to gulags in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve (just north of the Brooks Range), or shipped to gulags being built on landfill off the shoreline (Lago Titicaca) of Copacabana in the state of Puno in Peru.
Sociopathic capitalists, on the other hand, think of very little other than yoking as many people to their "economic plans" as time permits, insatiably and lawlessly. Time not even for their Bentleys or bespoke suits from Gieves & Hawkes.
I have always wondered is Bernie really a progressive socialist or a u.s. dod paid for politician who attracts that segment of supporters? You know Bernie had lot in common w Pelosi's old boss Phillip Burton. Burton was not really that liberal...how could he be when his chief of staff was the former chief of staff for McCarthy.
I think Bernie is sincere as politicians go, which isn’t saying much, but persuaded himself he would do more good allying with the Democrats. But what that means in practice is that he told the truth about the corruption in the Party for several months during the 2016 primaries and was hated— vehemently hated— by mainstream Democrats, and the Clintonites in particular never forgave him for it. They hated him every bit as much as they hated Trump. But once he allied himself with Biden I noticed the snide attacks that would appear in the press largely disappeared.
What many of the conservatives in this thread don’t realize is that their stereotypes about “ the Left” are about as real as left wing stereotypes about the right. Stereotypes are a mixture of truth and falsehoods that just make it easier to dismiss people who think differently. I have had to learn that myself.
Since "fascists" are defined as extreme right (unless it's just being used as a swear word), "left authoritarians" would be more apt. Like, the Communists. Lefties aren't actually immune to that disease, much as I might wish.
Actually "Left Fascism" might be what we are experiencing right now...i.e., the melding of the government and corporations under a woke-globalist ideology/religion.
Yes, Lefities are not "immune" to "authoritariansism"...in fact, it is in their ideological DNA...all for a Good Cause, of course.
Thanks for that Peacelady. I was unaware of Consortium News. I've already read several excellent articles. Subscribing to Matt Taibbi's substack just gives and gives.
"Liberals" are "the left." Otherwise qualify "liberal" with the adjective "classical."
This obsolete terminology is the cause of much confusion, so these days we need to stipulate: left = socialist/communist/neo-Marxist, with the latter being the ideology behind so-called "wokeness" and the former political ideologies being nearly extinct in the US as viable political movements, having been abandoned by neo-Marxists. "progressive" is now a synonym or subset of "left."
Also, "the Left more broadly" leaves room for the dissent you allege from "Consortium News" (I've never read it, so I reserve judgement).
AOC is not Left anymore. She has left the Left and is now as shitlib as it gets. All virtue signaling and zero action, while marching in lockstep with Nancy and now Wall Street darling Hakeem. When referring to the Left we are talking outside of Congress.
People are trying to wrest the term "left" from the neo-Marxists, and it will not work. Old leftism is growing obsolete because of the inroads made by the neo-Marxist "liberation of the socially marginalized" and its intersectional calculus that ignores economic class, "the workers," the people old-school Socialists and Communists are still trying to futilely coerce into a revolution.
Keep an eye on those folks attempting to wrest that term "left" from the Neo-Marxists, Bull, so the rest of us can go about our business. Might be worthwhile to arrange a tug-of-war contest between the left and Neo-marxists. Certainly would be fun to watch.
You're absolutely right if we're talking about legislation. But it's more than that. It's tech, it's media, academia etc. That's why the old "Left" and "Right" categories are disintegrating in front of our eyes. Democrats are now pro war, pro censorship/anti free speech. All over sudden free speech is a "right wing" affair etc. So, one has to draw the lines more precisely. Who's in power, what strategies are they using to stay in power, who's useful to them, who cheers them on, where's the money coming from etc. etc.
There’s a bit of irony when woke mainstream reporters — who all seem like robotic NPCs chanting the same message — accuse people who have unorthodox opinions of being the bots.
Also notable is their unified silence on things like this, Epstein, Project Veritas' Pfizer expose, and others. It's more evident every day who are the real journalists and who are the establishment propagandists.
In this day and age, it’s important to remember that when you read the mainstream media, you’re not really reading NBC or CBS or ABC, you’re reading FBI and CIA and DOJ.
Actually Greg, now that they forced me to stop, I feel much much better. It took while, but I am good now.
My god, I was even blocking actual IRL friends, for nothing. I was that wired.
There are of course benefits to being 'on' Twitter, but in the end for me at least, those benefits were outweighed by the weird headspace that Twitter put me in. I miss my friends there, and I miss being able to ask a question to my almost 5k curated followers. But that's about it.
I also predict that Musk will not be allowed to implement anything like free speech at Twitter as it such an important organ for them, as the Twitter Files actually prove.
No, I have not been reinstated. I did submit another appeal which went unanswered.
Yes, I think that Musk does mean well, but like you said, there are vast and powerful agencies who are trying to stop him. Billionaire or not, he knows that the "CIA can get you six ways to Sunday", as Schumer said.
I will think about your offer! Not sure I want to go back, but it might be fun. Thanks!
"Fascism was invented by the LEFT - a certain Benito Mussolini, Leader of the Socialist Party of Italy"
Absolutely false. Mussolini was kicked out of the socialist party about a decade before taking power, by which time he had renounced socialist ideals. He never led that party.
It's no wonder Twitter suppresses you, spreading such blatant falsehoods in defense of right-wing fascism. I personally wish Taibbi would step up the moderation a bit so the rest of us don't have to wade through this toxic bullshit.
Exactly. Fascism requires (required, not optional) massive support from the corporate sector. I'm still waiting to see a corporation that wants to partner with socialists. Leftist fascism is as oxymoronic as the classics: jumbo shrimp, defense intelligence.
Why this tireless effort to save the reputation of Socialism and Communism? Actual revolutionaries and the movements themselves have proven to be useless at best and vectors of totalitarian genocide at worst.
Leftists claim Fascism was a right-wing movement; conservatives claim it was a left-wing movement.
Most thoughtful or nonpartisan people agree that the term has been so misused that it is now meaningless,. Calling your political opponents "fascists" is now standard political hackery.
Best thing would be to stop using the term except when discussing Mussolini and Hitler.
"Vectors of totalitarian genocide." Nice turn of phrase. Conjures images of swarms of pterodactyl-sized mosquitoes attacking and infecting victims with the covid virus.
Speaking of political caricatures, Ronald Reagan began as a bad actor yet somehow he's remembered as something else now. It's almost as though in real life things change.
Fascism has always been a part of socialism and has always been left wing.
Communists academics in the west have been lying to themselves about the war between the "left and right" regarding fascism and socialism. One of their all time greatest hoodwinks.
Let me get this straight. You say: commie academics in the West--what, all 30 or 40 of them--were once-upon-a-time in deep denial about this so-called war between the left and right. And you characterize right and left here as fascism and socialism? That right (or left) so far?
Then you dissolve to a great hoodwink. These 30 to 40 commies lied to themselves and then still managed to hoodwink the rest of the world? What hoodwink? Or to paraphrase Walter Mondale, "Where's the hoodwink?"
I still don't understand what the hell you're saying but nevertheless it seems quite clever of the commies to pull this off, whatever it is they pulled off. Is that the hoodwink?
Fascism is just fascism . It is neither left nor right in the modern world. Putin is certainly not a leftist and Castro was certainly not a rightist. They were/are both Fascists. Fascism today is a non democratic means of controlling society which usually relies on a quasi religious doctrine.
What about the rest of us who aren't "communist academics in the west", but who just so happen to think that the lack of non-right-wing fascist states indicates something about the political leanings of fascism?
It's amazing how fast this left-fascism talking point sprang out of nowhere. Believe this, though: the rest of us aren't going to just forget about this attempt at muddying the waters around fascism, or about where it came from. If you're paid left-wing oppo trying to caricature a right-wing kook, you're worth every penny.
Fascism was invented by the LEFT, but the LEFT neglected to apply for a patent, so the RIGHT stepped in and co-opted fascism and made a great success of fascism because they had more fascist amperes, the right kind of circuits for fascism, and their fascist electrons flowed like fascist charged particles oughta flow.
The left is all talk and no results. The right get things done so when the right gets co-opted by authoritarians things can go bad fast. Luckily there is a constitution and the right believes in the constitution. It keeps them on the straight and narrow.
That U.S. Senators relied on Hamilton 68's bullshit dashboard as a sole source in the #ReleaseTheMemo episode underscores how desperate they were to steer attention away from the Nunes memo about FISA abuse and the misuse of the Steele dossier, which was later proved correct by an IG report. And they were able to do so thanks to the mainstream media, handmaidens of the Democratic party who churned out dozens of stories claiming the Nunes memo wasn't just wrong, but possible grounds to have Nunes removed from office because it implied he was a witting or unwitting agent of Russia.
I don't know why people in the US buy this BS since we've been using Russia as a boogeyman ever since I can remember. I turned it off when I was l a kid. In terms of Trump those in the media were all too willing to jump on the bandwagon of Russia-gate and no doubt knew it was based on nothing more then lies that were given cover by sources deemed reliable. As soon as Hilary's e-mails were hacked her campaign manager, Mook, screamed the Russians did it. As soon as I heard that I knew it was lie. "Examining further, Twitter execs were shocked. The accounts Hamilton 68 claimed were linked to “Russian influence activities online” were not only overwhelmingly English-language (86%), but mostly “legitimate people,” Do you really think they were shocked? I mean, considering how long we've playing this game, Russia bad, America good, game? I think Hamilton 68 or whatever, are just providing cover for the mainstream media to justify and push their BS.
True! I just got through reading Caitlan's Newlsetter, and the title of it is, "The Mass Media Use To Publish Perspectives On Ukraine That They Would Never Publish Today." The Trump years made it so easy to move down this path of journalistic deceit, since too many jumped on this lying bandwagon because of their personal hatred of Trump. I don't even trust many of the left wing sites now, and when Amy Goodman of Democracy Now can no longer be trusted, you know we're in a bad place. Many of the people I relied on for reporting the truth also didn't write objectively about Trump less they lose credibility among their peers. Greenwald got a lot of flack for being a truly independent journalist.
Ben Rhodes boasted. The average reporter we talk to is 27yrs old, and their only experience consists of being around political campaigns.We created an echo chamber. They were saying things that validated what we had given them to say.
That's really scary. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a fascist state because truth has gone underground, and you can only be politically conversant with a handful of people.
Fran, I agree with your narrative but am going to nit-pick the words. ". . . no doubt knew. . . " I have doubts that they knew. I think it's even worse: they didn't care whether it was true or not.
You're probably right. So much craziness during his administration, which was orchestrated by the democrats and the press. Also, I'm sure they know if you get people to hate someone they are more or less incapable of any objectivity. Trump hate was really in circulation during his presidency making the incredulous lies of the democrats more credible. Twice I witnessed this on TV. Just before showing you a Trump clip that claimed Trump behaved like a bully, became agitated and went into a rant after being asked questions by reporters. Then the video clip, and he is calm, answering the journalists questions. They repeatedly fed their audience false information which no doubt undermined their own perceptions. I think they call it gaslighting. They really manipulated people for four years making you more dependent on them to tell you what is true and what is not true. Think of January 6 and the gaslighting that went on there. An insurrection, but no weapons, hundreds led in through the front door by the Capital police, many are old, some infirm, okay. A January 6, comm, unconstitutional, okay, Biden isn't mentally impaired, okay. What ever you say, I'm a believer.
Trump Derangement Syndrome was very eal. The pity is that he was rude and crude in his speech, but his actions cannot be faulted. He indeed Made America Great Again, respected around the globe, on a more stable economic path. He stood up to China to limit its rape of America, brought peace to most of the planet. He let himself be goaded into over-reacting to C19, a common cold virus less deadly than the flu.
Not crude enough to get us into a war, and kill millions of innocents based on lies. Now he's talking against sending tanks to Russia, smart, but no one is listening, and they make fun of him once again. Who is the real threat? As far as Covid, it was just out before he was out the door. We knew nothing. That Russia-gate BS was just a bridge to get us to where we are now.
We can send tanks, but the best land vehicle with which to fight the Russians is probably the Israeli Merkva. It isn't exactly a tank, and its nic.kname is "Jewish mother," because it protects its crew and passengers so well. It's combination tank and personnel carrier.
The best weapon for the Ukrainians to combat Russian tactics is the A-10 Warthog aircraft. We have several hundred baking in the Arizona desert. They were developed specifically to defeat long columns of armored vehicles supported by massed artillery, Soviet tactical doctrine, unchanged in Russia today.
He'd be a good President if he wasn't such a narcissist.
I think the years of persecution have made him rather paranoid and even more of a megalomaniac. His defense of his "vaccine" rollout is embarrassing to watch.
TDS destroyed what little credibility corporate news had remaining, and the best part of the Trump Presidency was the self-righteous zeal of Trump haters, which led them to reveal the reality of their mercenary PR work for those in power whose deep/security state fiefdoms were threatened by the Devil Himself.
If we want to continue pretending the US is a Democratic Republic, we need a populist with something on the ball temperamentally who is willing to take the lead in purging the deep state bureaucracies, including abolishing the DHS and NSA.
Some of the functions of the agencies have to be maintained. Coast Guard is part of DHS, and developing the ciphers that we use to protect our communications is part of NSA.
Democrats get a lot of mileage out of the scam where they (partisan bureaucrats) leak stories to the Press, then turnaround and cite those exact stories as evidence supporting their claims.
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” - Carl Sagan
Many in the US are lost to the corrosive effects of this. They trusted CNN, NYT, NBC, etc, and now they're stuck.
The good news is that a significant share of Americans know better than to trust legacy media. Whatever you may think of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, their lasting impact has been to demonstrate that media is a strictly partisan affair and should be consumed as such.
You are lucky they don't think *you* are a right-wing Russian superspy. Reading this and all the comments reminds me of how the post-2016 US increasingly felt like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and without people like Taibbi, Greenwald, Mate, Lauria, etc, I would have questioned my own sanity.
All of the "Hamilton 68s" and their fellow travellers who perpetuated these falsehoods made the world a far more hostile place between nations, families, and neighbors and need to be held fully accountable. At the very least, sued to oblivion by every journalist that actually went through hell to tell the truth.
All your beliefs, the people you're supposed to love and the people you're supposed to hate, are entirely dictated by which tribe you belong to, and what the tribe demands you believe to be a member in good standing.
Given today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, it’s a good time to realize that neither political tribe is free from Jew hatred, and we Jews are mostly politically homeless.
All I can tell you is it takes time. Especially for a younger generation (people in their mid 20s to mid 30s), who swallowed the narrative of "Russiagate" and Trump eating babies for breakfast, hook, line and sinker. When the bullshitometers of older people went into an overdrive.
Give it 10 years or so. Maybe less if US economy does go into as deep a recession as some economists are forecasting.
Nobody likes to admit they're wrong, especially about politics.
What still baffles me is why so many people hate Trump so deeply, to the point it destroys their ability to reason and leads them to abandon cordial relationships and alienate former friends who voted for him or who even express any sort of approval for Trump's performance as President.
As my mother would intone when I eagerly went on record as to "hating" something or somebody, "hate" is a strong word. Perhaps it would be less baffling to you, Bull, to consider that for many people Trump stood as an apt metaphor not for the obvious decline of America from all measurable sectors, but as metaphor for what they perceived as a decline in civic virtue, and their reduced agency for managing the effects this decline has had on their own lives.
Civic life in America had grown crass and indifferent, and there was Donald Trump-- crass and indifferent.
What you write about metaphor makes sense, and I think the Trump tenure will also be seen as a watershed in our relationship with the press, an institution that has given up even the pretense of nonpartisanship. Trump gave us that and a new appreciation for the corruptibility of our security state in the name of . . . what, exactly? I'm not sure. The maintenance of political influence and bureaucratic sinecures?
But these musings don't explain the vitriol I have encountered when discussing Trump and his presidency. I have met people who hate him so much it has unseated their reason.
I think truth is more important than civility, and it seems to me that crassness (at least Trump's variety) has galvanized voters, getting us to vote in greater numbers.
The audacity of this scheme is only surpassed by the damage it has caused. This is the dirtiest dirt yet. So much for trusting the media and their sources, if I ever could.
Keep digging MATT this is the story of a lifetime.
If you're Taibbi you don a disguise, grab your burner phone, take 3 forms of public transit to a random public library, install your anonymous VPN and then google, "Bomb sniffing dogs for sale'"
That's what Ross Ulbricht thought. Remember Dread Pirate Roberts, founder of the Silk Road, which used the Tor-based dark web? He got busted in a SF library. The feds had numerous people positioned to grab his arms so he couldn't hit a delete key on his laptop. Even Snowden supported using Tor and Signal for privacy. Privacy, quite literally, is gone. Hopefully they'll tolerate Matt (and Glenn), assuming they're just preaching to the choir of us.
Schiff should now STFU about being removed from intelligence committee. I mean - not even a peep should be heard from him. It is hard to believe that we are living in these times.
Another phenomenal Twitter File story. None of this is surprising. Calling Tulsi Gabbard a Russian spy would be beyond ballsy for Joe McCarthy. The thing that surprised me were friends and family that would actually repeat these ridiculous smears with a straight face. I need to get back to my Borscht now.
"The latter’s advisory panel includes former acting CIA chief Michael Morell, former Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, former Hillary for America chair John Podesta, and onetime Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol."
A veritable who's-who of MSM/Establishment indelible skid marks.
People *still* believe Russia is actively destroying America, controlling everyone they dislike and rigging our elections in order to... no one seems to know why they’re doing any of this, aside from good old fashioned Red-hating I guess.
It’s not a question whether Americans will be brainwashed by elites to be afraid and *place their trust in the government. It’s already done.
Congressional lawmakers and federal agency officials pushed a false, cynical narrative that created the Russian bogeyman that haunts U.S. foreign policy and posturing in the Ukraine war today.
The narrative that Congressional lawmakers and federal agency officials pushed wasn't false, but it certainly was cynical. And the Russian bogeyman predates both H.G. Wells' and Orson Welles' martians. But the Russian bogeyman being the Butter and Egg Man of U.S. foreign policy, is on point with the haunting of, and posturing over, the Ukraine war.
There are plenty of us saying the emperor is as naked as a jay bird. The question is whether the ideologically captured are too far gone. I would say for older people, yes, they're too far gone.
The younger gen? Well, they now are seeing what FDA/CDC is. Hopefully they can extrapolate that media and other gov't orgs are just as corrupted.
in my experience the opposite is true. The young and zealous members of Team 1619 are way beyond skeptical inquiry, all their beliefs are entirely theological and not subject to debate.
it's why they consider "lived experience" holy writ.
(but im speaking about those of the Progressive faith)
Societies can't stand without a sacred belief system and our post-Christian world has been ripe for a hostile takeover for quite awhile.
Social Justice is a lil bit Christian, a lil bit Marxist, deeply Therapeutic, and it has become both the religion of the young and deracinated but also the official faith of the global corporate state.
The most captured by CNN/NYT etc aren't uneducated. They tend to have degrees, believe experts in an unquestioning manner and are very easy to manipulate despite their education status.
Six or seven years back a relative of mine began parroting the idea that the Russians were manipulating our elections through social media. I asked "How would this be any different from our own media?" He laughed.
Now the Robert Reich is accusing CNN of being fake news (not using those words of course). His followers were not amused when I noted that he was about seven years behind Donald Trump in that chess game.
...so the paranoid belief that Russia is controlling and corrupting everything is bad, but the paranoid belief that "the elites" are controlling and corrupting everything just makes sense?
How does one arrive at such a bizarrely hypocritical worldview?
Well, our own elites are in a position to at least try (I don't really believe they're all that successful), and Russia is not.
When it comes to manipulating either the media or elections, I'm not worried about Russians; I'm worried about Americans, who actually have their hands o nthe levers.
How do you figure that Russia isn't in a position to try and manipulate the US populace? They've been manipulating their own people for so long, it's a fine art at this point... if you have those incredible propaganda tools they've been honing for the last hundred years or so, why wouldn't you use them against your arch-nemesis? Clearly, the people with "hands on the levers" aren't in a position to control the narrative, else Trump wouldn't have come within a thousand feet of a debate stage.
Hypnosis videos are used by therapists. Repeated watching reinforces the therapy.
Consider the possibility that television media might take advantage of this method of therapy. Consider the fact that some people sit around watching television all day.
If the hypothesis holds water, would reading transcripts in one's own voice be as effective? My guess is no.
Can not Clint and the rest of the goonies be charged with felony criminal fraud, identity theft, libel, slander, and then sued civilly for same? Not just by the politicians unfairly smeared by this fraud pump, but by the real Twitter users whose handles and identities were stolen? Every prosecutor in every state should start filing criminal charges on behalf of their constituents.
Also, they weren't media "fabulists." That's too lofty a term. They were extortionists, fraud merchants, and gangsters no better than cartel leaders. Prosecute them and sue them out of existence.
Not what you said. Did you forget already? I am an asshole that's true. But I don't want a war on Russia. That's why you accused me, and, no doubt, reported me to the FBI.
When do you leave to fight Russia, the way you want other people to do?
Since we agree we can both be assholes, I will address this issue with no more name-calling:
1. I don't drop dimes on anyone to the FBI. I address people directly, as I did you.
2. I don't "want" a war on Russia---I prefer peace to conflict. Nobody except arms merchants and politicians like war. But some wars must be fought, and the invasion and conquest of sovereign Ukraine by Putin is one of them.
3. Why? Self-interest and self-preservation. The world needs to enforce the global ban on building empires by invasion and conquest. If the West lets Putin walk into Ukraine and take it without consequence, then Europe becomes ripe to revert to the pre-WWII model of nation-building: Invade, Conquer, Massacre, Rinse, Repeat. That affects Americans and the rest of the planet, not just Europeans. It's therefore in the West's interests to help Ukraine push Russian invaders back to their side of the border. I wouldn't support Ukraine taking any Russian land, but completely support Ukraine reclaiming its own stolen land.
4. At the beginning of the invasion, I formally volunteered for the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. I was ready to go. They rejected me because I am over 60. I understand that, because Olds on a battlefield can be more hindrance than help. But I was willing to walk the walk, and at least I have a fun email from Ukraine saying they were sorry but, Nah. Or Nyet.
5. This whole thing began when you said Ukraine was always part of Russia so why is this circumstance any different? Simple: when Russian leader Boris Yeltsin granted Ukraine full independence and signed a treaty to that effect--and Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear shield in return--Ukraine was legally and morally no longer part of Russia.
6. Further, Ukraine gave up all nuclear weapons on the condition that the United States would defend it from outside aggression. We are obliged to do so.
7. Is the United States an empire that wants global hegemony? Does the CIA assassinate and destabliize governments so Corporate America makes more money? Of course. That's what empires do. But that's an issue separate from whether we and the rest of the West should thwart Putin's invasion and conquest of a sovereign neighbor.
8. If Ukraine and Russia can end this matter by agreeing to move the eastern border of Ukraine far enough west to include the Russian-centric provinces and then tell residents to choose a nation once and for all, fine by me. My support for this war is Putin's unilateral decision to invade and conquer a sovereign neighbor. If they agree to a border change, good on them, it has nothing to do with me.
FINALLY: I would be happy to quote you verbatim on Russia and Ukraine, but the original discussion between us seems to have disappeared from Matt's archives. I searched every January post with no luck.
"7. Is the United States an empire that wants global hegemony? Does the CIA assassinate and destabliize governments so Corporate America makes more money? Of course. That's what empires do. But that's an issue separate from whether we and the rest of the West should thwart Putin's invasion and conquest of a sovereign neighbor."
We have the makings of a civil war in our own country. We have no business policing the rest of the world. There are too many examples of our efforts at nation building coming to a dismal end.
Today, there is strong evidence of our own unaccountable secret agencies engaging in nation building right here at home. They are practicing exactly the same tactics of media manipulation they have been using overseas for decades. The result will be the same, because culture is a natural evolutionary process and cannot be forced or manipulated without disastrous results. Unfortunately, many of our own citizens are suffering, and many more will suffer, until this beast is brought back under control.
Today, as part of the military-industrial complex, we have scientists able to create viruses capable of destroying every mammal on the planet. Once perfected, gain of function could also create viruses which are specific to genotype.
Submitted for your review is a fresh article about the recent "leak" of a Pharmaceutical executive bragging about plans to create viruses in a lab.
Before getting carried away by this big news item, be aware that pharmaceutical companies have already been doing gain of function work for at least 10 years. I propose that this "leak" may be an effort to convince the public that gain-of-function work is something brand new, and that the Covid Virus broke out prior to any such work being conducted. Clearly that is not the case, and this new "leak" to Veritas is, in my humble opinion, an act of deception, designed to obscure the responsibility of pharmaceutical companies for the escape of Covid from one of their labs.
I largely agree with you, GG. Our track record of "rightsizing" other cultures is miserable and we should abandon that kind of interference immediately. Societies grow only when societies are ready, everyone should butt out of everyone else's business. I agree that gain of function research is a ghastly mistake that will eventually kill every person on the planet---and should end immediately. We do have at least some business policing the rest of the planet, because our culture depends on global free trade, and that requires open shipping lanes and markets. I agree that the CIA and other secret agencies must end domestic manipulation.
But all that has nothing to do with Russia and Ukraine and my belief that this is one of the rare Just Wars we've had since WWII. Allowing Russia to freely take Ukraine and turn it back into Russia means that the medieval way of building nations---invade, conquer, kill, feast, rename, repeat--will return. That cannot be allowed to happen, for our own sake as well as everybody else's.
Your accusations are not based on any facts or evidence, and are therefore not valid. It is important to always consider multiple perspectives and approach discussions with an open mind, rather than jumping to conclusions based on personal biases or assumptions.
"It is important to always consider multiple perspectives and approach discussions with an open mind, rather than jumping to conclusions based on personal biases or assumptions."
As for the original discussion, it's nowhere to be found in Matt's archives. If I do find it, I will be happy to quote Bill Owen verbatim on Russia and Ukraine.
Bill, this is the kind of guy people are talking about when they use the term NPC. If he didn't use his real name, I would have assumed he was a bot or paid shill. But instead he's merely an empty sack of flesh that parrots the words of his programmers. As an amusing experiment, try using Chat GPT to respond to these types. It will generate a response in seconds on his level, and you will not have to bother with any emotional investment in the responses or argument.
*This thing might not be sentient, but it's already 'smarter' than the people name calling me for presenting the "Soviet" POV.
"What should I say to someone who is calling me a russianbot on Substack" - me
ChatGPT: It depends on the context and the person making the accusation. Here are a few options:
Address the accusation directly and calmly, providing evidence to support your argument that you are not a Russian bot.
If the person making the accusation is not willing to engage in a productive conversation, it may be best to ignore or block them.
If the accusation is based on the fact that you are defending Russia, you could explain why you have a different perspective on Russia and its actions. It is important to have open and respectful dialogue even with those who disagree with us.
If the accusation is made in a public forum, it might be useful to remind people that labeling someone as a "Russian bot" or a "Russian agent" is a serious accusation and should not be thrown around casually. It is important to be vigilant against misinformation and disinformation, but it is also important to be accurate and fair."
The left whined about "losing our democracy" while actively working to undermine it. Elon Musk and you have exposed the rot, but I still talk to leftists who believe all the fake news they were fed since 2017 (including the "breaking news" that you are a right wing troll). The Truth has lost its meaning in a post-factual world. Punitive damages and criminal liability must be imposed on these con artists if we hope to restore a functioning society. More importantly the politicians who participated in this fraud must be permanently removed from political power. They are a danger not just to democracy but to civilization itself.
FBI Counterintelligence = fraud on steroids. Have we not obtained enough evidence to support a splitting of the Criminal/Law Enforcement agency from the domestic spying machine?
I'm thinking that even having a federal law enforcement agency is too great of a threat to individual rights. Maybe if we moved the headquarters out of Washington to Kansas or Nebraska I'd feel differently.
There should be no federal law enforcement agency. That should have always been reserved for each state only. The FBI is unconstitutional as is the CIA
Now we know why the media is so worried about 'misinformation' -- they're trying to corner the market.
We have reached the point where they knowingly confuse erroneous or deceptive information with that which merely contradicts left-wing pieties. The ability to arbitrarily decree this or that to be misinformation has become a key tactic amongst those who agitate for greater and more repressive control over the internet to stifle views that deviate from neoliberal establishment views. It’s as simple as that.
The media and the Left more broadly now take the position that combating misinformation is a more important “bedrock of democracy” than free speech. The problem is that they’re constantly blurring the lines between misinformation and reporting that simply makes Democrats and their media allies look bad.
https://euphoricrecall.substack.com/p/the-misinformation-boogeyman
Once again, please don’t refer to liberals as the left. Consortium News is the left and has called out this BS from the get go. It matters.
Progressivism is faux-left authoritarianism, and therefore deeply illiberal.
Progressivism now is faux-left identity politics.
Once upon a time, it was Teddy Roosevelt.
It was also a Constitution shredding piece of shit named Woodrow Wilson.
The progressives still havent connected the dots.
Teddy Roosevelt gets waaaaaay too much of a historical pass, imo. Not as bad as Woodrow Wilson, but his one unambiguously good idea, the Pure Food and Drug Act, gives him moral cover amongst the public and the historical ntelligentsia for a multitude of sins.
I think the National Park idea was good as well but yeah, Teddy gets way too much of a pass.
Indeed, the real left was one of the first targets of the new police state. Maybe we can call them the "neoliberal establishment".
Who is "The Real Left"?
Bernie Sanders, who got happily screwed by Hillary Clinton first, and then by demented Joe Biden?
Bernie Sanders, who got rewarded with Millions of dollars for his acquiescence, and a brand new $90,000 Audi R8?
Seems that the Commies really like Money!
Bernie Sanders is a sheep dog. He does not represent the left.
That's what he was asking.........who does then?
The professional-managerial class has give the left what they have long desired- absolute power. That’s why Sanders, AOC etc are now allys of Dick Cheney and support the proxy war in Ukraine.
Commies/the socialist left are as materialistic as anyone else, but they can’t admit the hypocrisy of this fact in light of their economic plans for everyone. Audis and Louis Vuitton are hardly emblematic of “to each according to his needs”.
The vast majority of "commies/the socialist left" have no economic plans for anyone other than themselves and their families. Professionally, for the most part, their primary interests are studying, researching and calling attention, as best they can, to the various inequities that bedevil society and relations between various economic "classes" of "citizens."
And no, Audi's and Louis Vuitton are not "emblematic of “to each according to his needs." They are, instead, emblematic of upper middle class Americans who will, according to their needs (and skills), when the political weather "breaks," either be frog-marched to gulags in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve (just north of the Brooks Range), or shipped to gulags being built on landfill off the shoreline (Lago Titicaca) of Copacabana in the state of Puno in Peru.
Sociopathic capitalists, on the other hand, think of very little other than yoking as many people to their "economic plans" as time permits, insatiably and lawlessly. Time not even for their Bentleys or bespoke suits from Gieves & Hawkes.
I have always wondered is Bernie really a progressive socialist or a u.s. dod paid for politician who attracts that segment of supporters? You know Bernie had lot in common w Pelosi's old boss Phillip Burton. Burton was not really that liberal...how could he be when his chief of staff was the former chief of staff for McCarthy.
I think Bernie is sincere as politicians go, which isn’t saying much, but persuaded himself he would do more good allying with the Democrats. But what that means in practice is that he told the truth about the corruption in the Party for several months during the 2016 primaries and was hated— vehemently hated— by mainstream Democrats, and the Clintonites in particular never forgave him for it. They hated him every bit as much as they hated Trump. But once he allied himself with Biden I noticed the snide attacks that would appear in the press largely disappeared.
What many of the conservatives in this thread don’t realize is that their stereotypes about “ the Left” are about as real as left wing stereotypes about the right. Stereotypes are a mixture of truth and falsehoods that just make it easier to dismiss people who think differently. I have had to learn that myself.
Or "left fascists" if just fascists is too direct...
Since "fascists" are defined as extreme right (unless it's just being used as a swear word), "left authoritarians" would be more apt. Like, the Communists. Lefties aren't actually immune to that disease, much as I might wish.
Actually "Left Fascism" might be what we are experiencing right now...i.e., the melding of the government and corporations under a woke-globalist ideology/religion.
Yes, Lefities are not "immune" to "authoritariansism"...in fact, it is in their ideological DNA...all for a Good Cause, of course.
"defined as" - defined by whom?
One can be even more specific: not just "liberal" but "shitlib establishment class".
I like that turn of phrase.
Sorry, I have a really bad habit of doing that. Changing it now.
Thank you.
Thanks for that Peacelady. I was unaware of Consortium News. I've already read several excellent articles. Subscribing to Matt Taibbi's substack just gives and gives.
You are most welcome! Glad you appreciate CN.
I wouldn't call Consortium News "... the left ..."
I would describe it as a news organization that doesn't play favorites.
"Liberals" are "the left." Otherwise qualify "liberal" with the adjective "classical."
This obsolete terminology is the cause of much confusion, so these days we need to stipulate: left = socialist/communist/neo-Marxist, with the latter being the ideology behind so-called "wokeness" and the former political ideologies being nearly extinct in the US as viable political movements, having been abandoned by neo-Marxists. "progressive" is now a synonym or subset of "left."
Also, "the Left more broadly" leaves room for the dissent you allege from "Consortium News" (I've never read it, so I reserve judgement).
The divide is between those who have power and those who don't.
Labels only serve to hide that fact.
That is correct -- simply call them fascists...
The left ie: AOC and co are lockstep with the liberals and the rest are online with no influence. Making the distinction is practically pointless.
AOC is not Left anymore. She has left the Left and is now as shitlib as it gets. All virtue signaling and zero action, while marching in lockstep with Nancy and now Wall Street darling Hakeem. When referring to the Left we are talking outside of Congress.
AOC calls Pelosi "Mama Bear"
Say no more.
People are trying to wrest the term "left" from the neo-Marxists, and it will not work. Old leftism is growing obsolete because of the inroads made by the neo-Marxist "liberation of the socially marginalized" and its intersectional calculus that ignores economic class, "the workers," the people old-school Socialists and Communists are still trying to futilely coerce into a revolution.
Keep an eye on those folks attempting to wrest that term "left" from the Neo-Marxists, Bull, so the rest of us can go about our business. Might be worthwhile to arrange a tug-of-war contest between the left and Neo-marxists. Certainly would be fun to watch.
Again if it’s outside Congress it’s pointless. The Right have some figures trusted by their base (Hawley etc); the left have nothing.
You're absolutely right if we're talking about legislation. But it's more than that. It's tech, it's media, academia etc. That's why the old "Left" and "Right" categories are disintegrating in front of our eyes. Democrats are now pro war, pro censorship/anti free speech. All over sudden free speech is a "right wing" affair etc. So, one has to draw the lines more precisely. Who's in power, what strategies are they using to stay in power, who's useful to them, who cheers them on, where's the money coming from etc. etc.
There’s a bit of irony when woke mainstream reporters — who all seem like robotic NPCs chanting the same message — accuse people who have unorthodox opinions of being the bots.
Also notable is their unified silence on things like this, Epstein, Project Veritas' Pfizer expose, and others. It's more evident every day who are the real journalists and who are the establishment propagandists.
Yes. And their silence on the opioid crisis.
The opioid crisis was as deadly in America last year as the Russians have been in Ukraine. You wouldn't think it from the mainstream coverage though.
What bothers me most is the Rudy Giuliani was one of the lawyers that defended Perdue. How could he?
Yes. And the open border.
There's a bit of irony when this comment comes from someone who's profile picture is a literal robot.
Tbf, there is intended and unintended irony.
It's not irony, it's idiots speaking to idiots.
"The Media"???
You better call it "The CIA Propaganda Machine"
400 journalists and editors on CIA payroll in 1977.
How many today?
4,000?
40,000?
* * *
Anderson Cooper, Mika Brzezinski, Jake Tapper, Rachel MadCow, Jim Acosta, George Stephanopoulos are on CIA payroll.
The entire CNN and MSNBC are CIA assets. Same for WaPo and NYT.
* * *
Who controls the media, owns the minds of the people.
Who controls the media, dictates the Narrative, tells the people what to think, and who to vote for. Add DARPA.
You nailed it, that's why I said this in a recent article:
https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/brainless-bobbleheads-bravely-babble
In this day and age, it’s important to remember that when you read the mainstream media, you’re not really reading NBC or CBS or ABC, you’re reading FBI and CIA and DOJ.
Exactly.
Mostly the CIA.
The FBI are dumb as F**k. Just the Gestapo arm of the CIA.
Nation building in foreign lands wasn't enough challenge any more.
They want the big prize and I'm not so sure if they haven't already won it.
"Rachel MadCow"
... in case you were wondering how seriously to take this comment.
You sound like an hysterical version of Hillary Clinton.
Greg Rubini here - @GregRubini on Twitter - one of the main "TARGETS" of the Fascist LEFT.
Author of 8 books, 4 bestsellers in Intelligence and Espionage.
Adam Schiff got me banned from Twitter (72 Million views/month)
I am suing Adam Schiff for $3.2 Billion.
re: "The Twitter Files": "It was Adam Schiff who demanded Twitter to suppress my account" - Link: https://gregrubini.substack.com/p/schiff-censorship-1
(there is also DEFAMATION, by the way, and you Matt Taibbi need to Correct the Record!)
Why you never contacted me, before writing that THREAD?
Spreading Defamation is not a nice thing to do!
* * *
2) “The #FauciFiles” on my Substack: https://gregrubini.substack.com/p/fauci-files
Covid genetically engineered in 2015. Fauci funded the research, through NIH.
Smoking Gun in the article. You should read it, Matt - and tell Elon.
I used to read you there, good stuff.
I was banned too. Ostensibly for a moderately rude reply.
Hi Bill, how are you?
Yes, this is FASCISM!
(Fascism was invented by the LEFT - a certain Benito Mussolini, Leader of the Socialist Party of Italy)
* * *
Btw: I am still heavily shadowbanned on Twitter, and boycotted also on Substack!
Actually Greg, now that they forced me to stop, I feel much much better. It took while, but I am good now.
My god, I was even blocking actual IRL friends, for nothing. I was that wired.
There are of course benefits to being 'on' Twitter, but in the end for me at least, those benefits were outweighed by the weird headspace that Twitter put me in. I miss my friends there, and I miss being able to ask a question to my almost 5k curated followers. But that's about it.
I also predict that Musk will not be allowed to implement anything like free speech at Twitter as it such an important organ for them, as the Twitter Files actually prove.
Thanks!
So you have not been reinstated?
Maybe I can help you with that... if you want.
Yeah Twitter is Toxic.
And it is addicting.
I think Elon Musk is doing the best he can, but he has against him the FBI, CIA, BlackRock, the WEF, Soros - plus the Democrats.
No, I have not been reinstated. I did submit another appeal which went unanswered.
Yes, I think that Musk does mean well, but like you said, there are vast and powerful agencies who are trying to stop him. Billionaire or not, he knows that the "CIA can get you six ways to Sunday", as Schumer said.
I will think about your offer! Not sure I want to go back, but it might be fun. Thanks!
Thank you for thoughts about Elon -- his enemies are stronger than him...
That's probably why Musk is fooling around with the rocket ships.
"Fascism was invented by the LEFT - a certain Benito Mussolini, Leader of the Socialist Party of Italy"
Absolutely false. Mussolini was kicked out of the socialist party about a decade before taking power, by which time he had renounced socialist ideals. He never led that party.
It's no wonder Twitter suppresses you, spreading such blatant falsehoods in defense of right-wing fascism. I personally wish Taibbi would step up the moderation a bit so the rest of us don't have to wade through this toxic bullshit.
Exactly. Fascism requires (required, not optional) massive support from the corporate sector. I'm still waiting to see a corporation that wants to partner with socialists. Leftist fascism is as oxymoronic as the classics: jumbo shrimp, defense intelligence.
What are you talking about, corporations are "partnering" with "socialism" (i.e., BLM, ESG, etc) virutally across the board in today's world.
And you seem to be missing the larger point: corporations today eagerly partner with communism, i.e., the CCP...in case you haven't heard.
Why this tireless effort to save the reputation of Socialism and Communism? Actual revolutionaries and the movements themselves have proven to be useless at best and vectors of totalitarian genocide at worst.
Leftists claim Fascism was a right-wing movement; conservatives claim it was a left-wing movement.
Most thoughtful or nonpartisan people agree that the term has been so misused that it is now meaningless,. Calling your political opponents "fascists" is now standard political hackery.
Best thing would be to stop using the term except when discussing Mussolini and Hitler.
"Vectors of totalitarian genocide." Nice turn of phrase. Conjures images of swarms of pterodactyl-sized mosquitoes attacking and infecting victims with the covid virus.
Dude, your dumb comment represents the quintessential FASCISM: the suppression of any voice who has an opinion different than yours.
This is what Mussolini did.
This is what your Dear Friend Adolf Hitler did: Burning Books.
* * *
Your comment also shows how ignorant and DUMB you leftists are.
Study History, dude, before spouting nonsense.
Your IQ is even lower than your Hero, Joe Biden.
* * *
I hope you're Triple-Vaxxed.
Enjoy the calamari growing inside your veins.
Goodbye.
"you leftists"
lol, you think there are leftists here?
I hope your brain cancer hurries up and gets the job done
"...(Fascism was invented by the LEFT - a certain Benito Mussolini, Leader of the Socialist Party of Italy)"
Nothing quite says "I'm not to be taken seriously" as the assertion "fascism/Mussolini = LEFT.
> Fascism was invented by the LEFT
Speaking of political caricatures, Ronald Reagan began as a bad actor yet somehow he's remembered as something else now. It's almost as though in real life things change.
Fascism has always been a part of socialism and has always been left wing.
Communists academics in the west have been lying to themselves about the war between the "left and right" regarding fascism and socialism. One of their all time greatest hoodwinks.
Let me get this straight. You say: commie academics in the West--what, all 30 or 40 of them--were once-upon-a-time in deep denial about this so-called war between the left and right. And you characterize right and left here as fascism and socialism? That right (or left) so far?
Then you dissolve to a great hoodwink. These 30 to 40 commies lied to themselves and then still managed to hoodwink the rest of the world? What hoodwink? Or to paraphrase Walter Mondale, "Where's the hoodwink?"
I still don't understand what the hell you're saying but nevertheless it seems quite clever of the commies to pull this off, whatever it is they pulled off. Is that the hoodwink?
Fascism is just fascism . It is neither left nor right in the modern world. Putin is certainly not a leftist and Castro was certainly not a rightist. They were/are both Fascists. Fascism today is a non democratic means of controlling society which usually relies on a quasi religious doctrine.
What about the rest of us who aren't "communist academics in the west", but who just so happen to think that the lack of non-right-wing fascist states indicates something about the political leanings of fascism?
It's amazing how fast this left-fascism talking point sprang out of nowhere. Believe this, though: the rest of us aren't going to just forget about this attempt at muddying the waters around fascism, or about where it came from. If you're paid left-wing oppo trying to caricature a right-wing kook, you're worth every penny.
Fascism was invented by the LEFT, but the LEFT neglected to apply for a patent, so the RIGHT stepped in and co-opted fascism and made a great success of fascism because they had more fascist amperes, the right kind of circuits for fascism, and their fascist electrons flowed like fascist charged particles oughta flow.
The left is all talk and no results. The right get things done so when the right gets co-opted by authoritarians things can go bad fast. Luckily there is a constitution and the right believes in the constitution. It keeps them on the straight and narrow.
Do you know of Giuseppe Antonio Borgese?
He's a friend of a friend.
What do you mean, a friend of a friend? He's been dead for about seventy years. What about your friend? Dead too?
Lot goin' on there, Greg.
Are we sure Russia itself is even real?
*head asplode*
The Truman Show got it all wrong.
It's "!!RUSSIA!!" who is a hologram.
!!PTUIN!! started off as an extra on Happy Days.
I have a history with Clint Watts. The people who comment on his site went bananas when I showed up and questioned the efficacy of the Covid Vaccine:
https://jennyhatch.substack.com/p/clint-watts-outed-as-a-liar-and-a?sd=pf
How long have you been waiting to use this?
Imagine being one of the dumbshits who liked this comment.
It's a lot like governments being concerned with violence.
Seriously still hung up on Obama? Get with the times bro
That U.S. Senators relied on Hamilton 68's bullshit dashboard as a sole source in the #ReleaseTheMemo episode underscores how desperate they were to steer attention away from the Nunes memo about FISA abuse and the misuse of the Steele dossier, which was later proved correct by an IG report. And they were able to do so thanks to the mainstream media, handmaidens of the Democratic party who churned out dozens of stories claiming the Nunes memo wasn't just wrong, but possible grounds to have Nunes removed from office because it implied he was a witting or unwitting agent of Russia.
Shameful beyond belief.
The Patriot Act, which allows the secret FISA court, and many other insults to individual rights, must be repealed.
The FISA court was established in the 1970s, while the Patriot Act was a response to September. 11, 2001.
I don't know why people in the US buy this BS since we've been using Russia as a boogeyman ever since I can remember. I turned it off when I was l a kid. In terms of Trump those in the media were all too willing to jump on the bandwagon of Russia-gate and no doubt knew it was based on nothing more then lies that were given cover by sources deemed reliable. As soon as Hilary's e-mails were hacked her campaign manager, Mook, screamed the Russians did it. As soon as I heard that I knew it was lie. "Examining further, Twitter execs were shocked. The accounts Hamilton 68 claimed were linked to “Russian influence activities online” were not only overwhelmingly English-language (86%), but mostly “legitimate people,” Do you really think they were shocked? I mean, considering how long we've playing this game, Russia bad, America good, game? I think Hamilton 68 or whatever, are just providing cover for the mainstream media to justify and push their BS.
watch out, they will claim you are a Russian bot. Surefire way to end dissent. Plus when all you got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
True! I just got through reading Caitlan's Newlsetter, and the title of it is, "The Mass Media Use To Publish Perspectives On Ukraine That They Would Never Publish Today." The Trump years made it so easy to move down this path of journalistic deceit, since too many jumped on this lying bandwagon because of their personal hatred of Trump. I don't even trust many of the left wing sites now, and when Amy Goodman of Democracy Now can no longer be trusted, you know we're in a bad place. Many of the people I relied on for reporting the truth also didn't write objectively about Trump less they lose credibility among their peers. Greenwald got a lot of flack for being a truly independent journalist.
Ben Rhodes boasted. The average reporter we talk to is 27yrs old, and their only experience consists of being around political campaigns.We created an echo chamber. They were saying things that validated what we had given them to say.
That's really scary. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a fascist state because truth has gone underground, and you can only be politically conversant with a handful of people.
The only time I censor my speech is with my dog. She doesn't like when I call her stinky. She lowers her head, puts her ears down and slinks away.
Fran, I agree with your narrative but am going to nit-pick the words. ". . . no doubt knew. . . " I have doubts that they knew. I think it's even worse: they didn't care whether it was true or not.
You're probably right. So much craziness during his administration, which was orchestrated by the democrats and the press. Also, I'm sure they know if you get people to hate someone they are more or less incapable of any objectivity. Trump hate was really in circulation during his presidency making the incredulous lies of the democrats more credible. Twice I witnessed this on TV. Just before showing you a Trump clip that claimed Trump behaved like a bully, became agitated and went into a rant after being asked questions by reporters. Then the video clip, and he is calm, answering the journalists questions. They repeatedly fed their audience false information which no doubt undermined their own perceptions. I think they call it gaslighting. They really manipulated people for four years making you more dependent on them to tell you what is true and what is not true. Think of January 6 and the gaslighting that went on there. An insurrection, but no weapons, hundreds led in through the front door by the Capital police, many are old, some infirm, okay. A January 6, comm, unconstitutional, okay, Biden isn't mentally impaired, okay. What ever you say, I'm a believer.
Trump Derangement Syndrome was very eal. The pity is that he was rude and crude in his speech, but his actions cannot be faulted. He indeed Made America Great Again, respected around the globe, on a more stable economic path. He stood up to China to limit its rape of America, brought peace to most of the planet. He let himself be goaded into over-reacting to C19, a common cold virus less deadly than the flu.
China didn't rape America, America was pimped out to China by corporate America.
Concur. Except corporate America was aided and abetted by Democrats every time.
Not crude enough to get us into a war, and kill millions of innocents based on lies. Now he's talking against sending tanks to Russia, smart, but no one is listening, and they make fun of him once again. Who is the real threat? As far as Covid, it was just out before he was out the door. We knew nothing. That Russia-gate BS was just a bridge to get us to where we are now.
We can send tanks, but the best land vehicle with which to fight the Russians is probably the Israeli Merkva. It isn't exactly a tank, and its nic.kname is "Jewish mother," because it protects its crew and passengers so well. It's combination tank and personnel carrier.
The best weapon for the Ukrainians to combat Russian tactics is the A-10 Warthog aircraft. We have several hundred baking in the Arizona desert. They were developed specifically to defeat long columns of armored vehicles supported by massed artillery, Soviet tactical doctrine, unchanged in Russia today.
He'd be a good President if he wasn't such a narcissist.
I think the years of persecution have made him rather paranoid and even more of a megalomaniac. His defense of his "vaccine" rollout is embarrassing to watch.
TDS destroyed what little credibility corporate news had remaining, and the best part of the Trump Presidency was the self-righteous zeal of Trump haters, which led them to reveal the reality of their mercenary PR work for those in power whose deep/security state fiefdoms were threatened by the Devil Himself.
If we want to continue pretending the US is a Democratic Republic, we need a populist with something on the ball temperamentally who is willing to take the lead in purging the deep state bureaucracies, including abolishing the DHS and NSA.
"Years of persecution?" Tell that to the New York banks and hundreds of others and stand back as they snort collectively.
Some of the functions of the agencies have to be maintained. Coast Guard is part of DHS, and developing the ciphers that we use to protect our communications is part of NSA.
Democrats get a lot of mileage out of the scam where they (partisan bureaucrats) leak stories to the Press, then turnaround and cite those exact stories as evidence supporting their claims.
That's a variation on Russia's preferred approach to perception management, known broadly as Maskirovka.
Once again, tremendous work Mr. Taibbi.
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” - Carl Sagan
Many in the US are lost to the corrosive effects of this. They trusted CNN, NYT, NBC, etc, and now they're stuck.
The good news is that a significant share of Americans know better than to trust legacy media. Whatever you may think of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, their lasting impact has been to demonstrate that media is a strictly partisan affair and should be consumed as such.
The most depressing thing is how difficult it will be to change anyone's minds about anything, even when shown the evidence.
I still have close friends, smart, well educated, good people, who think Matt and Greenwald are both right wing russian superspies.
I have former friends, smart, well educated, good people, who think Matt and Greenwald are both right wing Russian superspies.
You are lucky they don't think *you* are a right-wing Russian superspy. Reading this and all the comments reminds me of how the post-2016 US increasingly felt like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and without people like Taibbi, Greenwald, Mate, Lauria, etc, I would have questioned my own sanity.
All of the "Hamilton 68s" and their fellow travellers who perpetuated these falsehoods made the world a far more hostile place between nations, families, and neighbors and need to be held fully accountable. At the very least, sued to oblivion by every journalist that actually went through hell to tell the truth.
The power of the mind control machine is now such that they can lead millions of people to believe utter nonsense, and quickly.
Most likely without having actually read anything they have written
yup, me too.
Everything has become completely tribal now.
All your beliefs, the people you're supposed to love and the people you're supposed to hate, are entirely dictated by which tribe you belong to, and what the tribe demands you believe to be a member in good standing.
Given today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, it’s a good time to realize that neither political tribe is free from Jew hatred, and we Jews are mostly politically homeless.
Same here. Have five siblings that no longer communicate with me. Sent them some of TK news best. They choose not to respond by email or phone.
All I can tell you is it takes time. Especially for a younger generation (people in their mid 20s to mid 30s), who swallowed the narrative of "Russiagate" and Trump eating babies for breakfast, hook, line and sinker. When the bullshitometers of older people went into an overdrive.
Give it 10 years or so. Maybe less if US economy does go into as deep a recession as some economists are forecasting.
Nobody likes to admit they're wrong, especially about politics.
What still baffles me is why so many people hate Trump so deeply, to the point it destroys their ability to reason and leads them to abandon cordial relationships and alienate former friends who voted for him or who even express any sort of approval for Trump's performance as President.
As my mother would intone when I eagerly went on record as to "hating" something or somebody, "hate" is a strong word. Perhaps it would be less baffling to you, Bull, to consider that for many people Trump stood as an apt metaphor not for the obvious decline of America from all measurable sectors, but as metaphor for what they perceived as a decline in civic virtue, and their reduced agency for managing the effects this decline has had on their own lives.
Civic life in America had grown crass and indifferent, and there was Donald Trump-- crass and indifferent.
What you write about metaphor makes sense, and I think the Trump tenure will also be seen as a watershed in our relationship with the press, an institution that has given up even the pretense of nonpartisanship. Trump gave us that and a new appreciation for the corruptibility of our security state in the name of . . . what, exactly? I'm not sure. The maintenance of political influence and bureaucratic sinecures?
But these musings don't explain the vitriol I have encountered when discussing Trump and his presidency. I have met people who hate him so much it has unseated their reason.
I think truth is more important than civility, and it seems to me that crassness (at least Trump's variety) has galvanized voters, getting us to vote in greater numbers.
The audacity of this scheme is only surpassed by the damage it has caused. This is the dirtiest dirt yet. So much for trusting the media and their sources, if I ever could.
Keep digging MATT this is the story of a lifetime.
I assume you have hired a food taster.
lol.
If you're Taibbi you don a disguise, grab your burner phone, take 3 forms of public transit to a random public library, install your anonymous VPN and then google, "Bomb sniffing dogs for sale'"
That's what Ross Ulbricht thought. Remember Dread Pirate Roberts, founder of the Silk Road, which used the Tor-based dark web? He got busted in a SF library. The feds had numerous people positioned to grab his arms so he couldn't hit a delete key on his laptop. Even Snowden supported using Tor and Signal for privacy. Privacy, quite literally, is gone. Hopefully they'll tolerate Matt (and Glenn), assuming they're just preaching to the choir of us.
I want to say unfuckingbelievable but I’m unable to use that “word” ever again. Nothing is. Thanks Matt. You are incredible.
Schiff should now STFU about being removed from intelligence committee. I mean - not even a peep should be heard from him. It is hard to believe that we are living in these times.
Adam Schiff will have Much Bigger issues than that:
I'm suing Schiff for $3.2 Billion.
re: Twitter Files - and Defamation:
"It was Adam Schiff who demanded Twitter to suppress my Twitter account"
Link: https://gregrubini.substack.com/p/schiff-censorship-1
Best news I’ve heard all day!!!
I'm sure you'll be seeing that money any day.
lol
Another phenomenal Twitter File story. None of this is surprising. Calling Tulsi Gabbard a Russian spy would be beyond ballsy for Joe McCarthy. The thing that surprised me were friends and family that would actually repeat these ridiculous smears with a straight face. I need to get back to my Borscht now.
"The latter’s advisory panel includes former acting CIA chief Michael Morell, former Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, former Hillary for America chair John Podesta, and onetime Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol."
A veritable who's-who of MSM/Establishment indelible skid marks.
Hypothesis: USG intel was part of this scam, perhaps via cutouts or assets (useful tools). Transparency now.
Hypothesis: someone stole my stapler
Hypothesis: the moon is in my shoes
Hypothesis: apt regula misratiahgdfaoisvn;ljdfkb npaou w4etrpoiruweaporf
See how dumb that looks?
Motive means and opportunity
Do you believe 9/11 was faked by the US government? Because exactly the same argument justifies that.
Motive, means, and opportunity don't mean shit without hard evidence.
Kristal is a shill for those who hate what America stands for
People *still* believe Russia is actively destroying America, controlling everyone they dislike and rigging our elections in order to... no one seems to know why they’re doing any of this, aside from good old fashioned Red-hating I guess.
It’s not a question whether Americans will be brainwashed by elites to be afraid and *place their trust in the government. It’s already done.
Congressional lawmakers and federal agency officials pushed a false, cynical narrative that created the Russian bogeyman that haunts U.S. foreign policy and posturing in the Ukraine war today.
The narrative that Congressional lawmakers and federal agency officials pushed wasn't false, but it certainly was cynical. And the Russian bogeyman predates both H.G. Wells' and Orson Welles' martians. But the Russian bogeyman being the Butter and Egg Man of U.S. foreign policy, is on point with the haunting of, and posturing over, the Ukraine war.
There are plenty of us saying the emperor is as naked as a jay bird. The question is whether the ideologically captured are too far gone. I would say for older people, yes, they're too far gone.
The younger gen? Well, they now are seeing what FDA/CDC is. Hopefully they can extrapolate that media and other gov't orgs are just as corrupted.
in my experience the opposite is true. The young and zealous members of Team 1619 are way beyond skeptical inquiry, all their beliefs are entirely theological and not subject to debate.
it's why they consider "lived experience" holy writ.
(but im speaking about those of the Progressive faith)
I'm thinking of my kids and their friends - high school aged. They seem to be sniffing out the pungent smell of excrement.
hope ur right!
Me too. It'll be the first time in a while!
It really is a religion. When the moral imperative trumps the rational evidence, there’s no arguing.
Societies can't stand without a sacred belief system and our post-Christian world has been ripe for a hostile takeover for quite awhile.
Social Justice is a lil bit Christian, a lil bit Marxist, deeply Therapeutic, and it has become both the religion of the young and deracinated but also the official faith of the global corporate state.
But you know all this already!
Well said!
thx!
Yep. It's a case of an overly socialized and undereducated populace.
The most captured by CNN/NYT etc aren't uneducated. They tend to have degrees, believe experts in an unquestioning manner and are very easy to manipulate despite their education status.
credentialed is not the same as educated
Many are more indoctrinated than educated.
Six or seven years back a relative of mine began parroting the idea that the Russians were manipulating our elections through social media. I asked "How would this be any different from our own media?" He laughed.
Now the Robert Reich is accusing CNN of being fake news (not using those words of course). His followers were not amused when I noted that he was about seven years behind Donald Trump in that chess game.
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-medias-remarkable-silence-on#details
I doubt it. Young people are asleep and most are so fat.
...so the paranoid belief that Russia is controlling and corrupting everything is bad, but the paranoid belief that "the elites" are controlling and corrupting everything just makes sense?
How does one arrive at such a bizarrely hypocritical worldview?
Well, our own elites are in a position to at least try (I don't really believe they're all that successful), and Russia is not.
When it comes to manipulating either the media or elections, I'm not worried about Russians; I'm worried about Americans, who actually have their hands o nthe levers.
How do you figure that Russia isn't in a position to try and manipulate the US populace? They've been manipulating their own people for so long, it's a fine art at this point... if you have those incredible propaganda tools they've been honing for the last hundred years or so, why wouldn't you use them against your arch-nemesis? Clearly, the people with "hands on the levers" aren't in a position to control the narrative, else Trump wouldn't have come within a thousand feet of a debate stage.
Hypnosis videos are used by therapists. Repeated watching reinforces the therapy.
Consider the possibility that television media might take advantage of this method of therapy. Consider the fact that some people sit around watching television all day.
If the hypothesis holds water, would reading transcripts in one's own voice be as effective? My guess is no.
Time to put down the bong, buddy.
Can not Clint and the rest of the goonies be charged with felony criminal fraud, identity theft, libel, slander, and then sued civilly for same? Not just by the politicians unfairly smeared by this fraud pump, but by the real Twitter users whose handles and identities were stolen? Every prosecutor in every state should start filing criminal charges on behalf of their constituents.
Also, they weren't media "fabulists." That's too lofty a term. They were extortionists, fraud merchants, and gangsters no better than cartel leaders. Prosecute them and sue them out of existence.
You just accused me on the basis of NOTHING. Of being a Russian bot. Why do you even read Taibbi corporal?
You're just like Hamilton 68. Are you senile or something?
OK, you're not a Russian bot. You're an asshole.
Feel better now, Sparky?
Not what you said. Did you forget already? I am an asshole that's true. But I don't want a war on Russia. That's why you accused me, and, no doubt, reported me to the FBI.
When do you leave to fight Russia, the way you want other people to do?
Never, that's when.
Since we agree we can both be assholes, I will address this issue with no more name-calling:
1. I don't drop dimes on anyone to the FBI. I address people directly, as I did you.
2. I don't "want" a war on Russia---I prefer peace to conflict. Nobody except arms merchants and politicians like war. But some wars must be fought, and the invasion and conquest of sovereign Ukraine by Putin is one of them.
3. Why? Self-interest and self-preservation. The world needs to enforce the global ban on building empires by invasion and conquest. If the West lets Putin walk into Ukraine and take it without consequence, then Europe becomes ripe to revert to the pre-WWII model of nation-building: Invade, Conquer, Massacre, Rinse, Repeat. That affects Americans and the rest of the planet, not just Europeans. It's therefore in the West's interests to help Ukraine push Russian invaders back to their side of the border. I wouldn't support Ukraine taking any Russian land, but completely support Ukraine reclaiming its own stolen land.
4. At the beginning of the invasion, I formally volunteered for the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. I was ready to go. They rejected me because I am over 60. I understand that, because Olds on a battlefield can be more hindrance than help. But I was willing to walk the walk, and at least I have a fun email from Ukraine saying they were sorry but, Nah. Or Nyet.
5. This whole thing began when you said Ukraine was always part of Russia so why is this circumstance any different? Simple: when Russian leader Boris Yeltsin granted Ukraine full independence and signed a treaty to that effect--and Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear shield in return--Ukraine was legally and morally no longer part of Russia.
6. Further, Ukraine gave up all nuclear weapons on the condition that the United States would defend it from outside aggression. We are obliged to do so.
7. Is the United States an empire that wants global hegemony? Does the CIA assassinate and destabliize governments so Corporate America makes more money? Of course. That's what empires do. But that's an issue separate from whether we and the rest of the West should thwart Putin's invasion and conquest of a sovereign neighbor.
8. If Ukraine and Russia can end this matter by agreeing to move the eastern border of Ukraine far enough west to include the Russian-centric provinces and then tell residents to choose a nation once and for all, fine by me. My support for this war is Putin's unilateral decision to invade and conquer a sovereign neighbor. If they agree to a border change, good on them, it has nothing to do with me.
FINALLY: I would be happy to quote you verbatim on Russia and Ukraine, but the original discussion between us seems to have disappeared from Matt's archives. I searched every January post with no luck.
"7. Is the United States an empire that wants global hegemony? Does the CIA assassinate and destabliize governments so Corporate America makes more money? Of course. That's what empires do. But that's an issue separate from whether we and the rest of the West should thwart Putin's invasion and conquest of a sovereign neighbor."
We have the makings of a civil war in our own country. We have no business policing the rest of the world. There are too many examples of our efforts at nation building coming to a dismal end.
Today, there is strong evidence of our own unaccountable secret agencies engaging in nation building right here at home. They are practicing exactly the same tactics of media manipulation they have been using overseas for decades. The result will be the same, because culture is a natural evolutionary process and cannot be forced or manipulated without disastrous results. Unfortunately, many of our own citizens are suffering, and many more will suffer, until this beast is brought back under control.
Today, as part of the military-industrial complex, we have scientists able to create viruses capable of destroying every mammal on the planet. Once perfected, gain of function could also create viruses which are specific to genotype.
Submitted for your review is a fresh article about the recent "leak" of a Pharmaceutical executive bragging about plans to create viruses in a lab.
Before getting carried away by this big news item, be aware that pharmaceutical companies have already been doing gain of function work for at least 10 years. I propose that this "leak" may be an effort to convince the public that gain-of-function work is something brand new, and that the Covid Virus broke out prior to any such work being conducted. Clearly that is not the case, and this new "leak" to Veritas is, in my humble opinion, an act of deception, designed to obscure the responsibility of pharmaceutical companies for the escape of Covid from one of their labs.
https://www.themainewire.com/2023/01/pfizer-director-of-research-spills-virus-vaccine-secrets-in-project-veritas-undercover-video/
https://www.pharmatimes.com/news/pfizer_to_build_r_and_d_facility_in_wuhan,_china_984211
I largely agree with you, GG. Our track record of "rightsizing" other cultures is miserable and we should abandon that kind of interference immediately. Societies grow only when societies are ready, everyone should butt out of everyone else's business. I agree that gain of function research is a ghastly mistake that will eventually kill every person on the planet---and should end immediately. We do have at least some business policing the rest of the planet, because our culture depends on global free trade, and that requires open shipping lanes and markets. I agree that the CIA and other secret agencies must end domestic manipulation.
But all that has nothing to do with Russia and Ukraine and my belief that this is one of the rare Just Wars we've had since WWII. Allowing Russia to freely take Ukraine and turn it back into Russia means that the medieval way of building nations---invade, conquer, kill, feast, rename, repeat--will return. That cannot be allowed to happen, for our own sake as well as everybody else's.
Maybe you should resubmit your application for duty. I’m guessing they’ve lowered the bar. Wear a swastika. They have a soft spot for Nazis
Swastika? Go fuck yourself, pal.
"You just accused me on the basis of NOTHING."
Nothing? Untrue. I based it on the fact you are pimping so hard for Putin to enslave Ukraine that it's difficult to come to any other conclusion.
Your accusations are not based on any facts or evidence, and are therefore not valid. It is important to always consider multiple perspectives and approach discussions with an open mind, rather than jumping to conclusions based on personal biases or assumptions.
"It is important to always consider multiple perspectives and approach discussions with an open mind, rather than jumping to conclusions based on personal biases or assumptions."
Jeepers, mom, thanks!
As for the original discussion, it's nowhere to be found in Matt's archives. If I do find it, I will be happy to quote Bill Owen verbatim on Russia and Ukraine.
I missed the post where he said that. Can you point me to it?
I never said that you retard.
Bill, this is the kind of guy people are talking about when they use the term NPC. If he didn't use his real name, I would have assumed he was a bot or paid shill. But instead he's merely an empty sack of flesh that parrots the words of his programmers. As an amusing experiment, try using Chat GPT to respond to these types. It will generate a response in seconds on his level, and you will not have to bother with any emotional investment in the responses or argument.
Edit: Thanks for pointing out the typo, Shane!
Yes, thanks! "Spasiba" lol
Because the only reason someone would "defend" Russia is because "PTUIN!!" paid them, and not because it's the truth.
They also forget, or don't care, that their mindless fact free accusations can have real world consequences.
Thanks again.
"He merely an empty sack of flesh ..."
I wish. I could stand to lose some weight.
ChatGPT is back up!
*This thing might not be sentient, but it's already 'smarter' than the people name calling me for presenting the "Soviet" POV.
"What should I say to someone who is calling me a russianbot on Substack" - me
ChatGPT: It depends on the context and the person making the accusation. Here are a few options:
Address the accusation directly and calmly, providing evidence to support your argument that you are not a Russian bot.
If the person making the accusation is not willing to engage in a productive conversation, it may be best to ignore or block them.
If the accusation is based on the fact that you are defending Russia, you could explain why you have a different perspective on Russia and its actions. It is important to have open and respectful dialogue even with those who disagree with us.
If the accusation is made in a public forum, it might be useful to remind people that labeling someone as a "Russian bot" or a "Russian agent" is a serious accusation and should not be thrown around casually. It is important to be vigilant against misinformation and disinformation, but it is also important to be accurate and fair."
Please, please make this post public. It needs wide distribution.
Agree on that one
The left whined about "losing our democracy" while actively working to undermine it. Elon Musk and you have exposed the rot, but I still talk to leftists who believe all the fake news they were fed since 2017 (including the "breaking news" that you are a right wing troll). The Truth has lost its meaning in a post-factual world. Punitive damages and criminal liability must be imposed on these con artists if we hope to restore a functioning society. More importantly the politicians who participated in this fraud must be permanently removed from political power. They are a danger not just to democracy but to civilization itself.
FBI Counterintelligence = fraud on steroids. Have we not obtained enough evidence to support a splitting of the Criminal/Law Enforcement agency from the domestic spying machine?
I'm thinking that even having a federal law enforcement agency is too great of a threat to individual rights. Maybe if we moved the headquarters out of Washington to Kansas or Nebraska I'd feel differently.
There should be no federal law enforcement agency. That should have always been reserved for each state only. The FBI is unconstitutional as is the CIA