It makes me physically ill to watch these clowns pretend to do journalism. They have to attack you, Matt, because otherwise what does that say about them? That they were complicit in all of it, that they work for the administrative state. They should hang their heads in shame. I would call them whores but that's an insult to whores.
Yes! Exactly! They won't cover it because they're in on it! And while my favorite term is 'presstitute', while doing a little research into the word I came across 'Whorespondent', which is also top-notch.
It really is a damning indictment of the mainstream media that they seek to impose professional consequences on journalists who don’t agree with or parrot every liberal piety. Taibbi has already been right-coded for straying from the left-wing consensus, and his lack of deference to his "betters" employed at establishment lie merchants puts him at odds with the anti-majoritarian party line that progressive journalists, who endorse a new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that attenuate our norms of open debate and intellectual diversity in favor of ideological conformity, have fervently policed since Trump’s election.
And the 'parrots' know that as soon as they deviate on ONE SINGLE THING, they will be excommunicated from the tribe -- a real problem if your identity is wrapped up in your political positions.
Thus you have people arguing to disarm Americans while arming Ukraine to protect freedom, or any other of non-sensical positions that only exist because of peer pressure.
It may not go back far enough but "follow the money" started when Walter Duranty excused totalitarianism with his "you can't make an omellete without breaking eggs" while he watched Stalin crush the Ukraine. The "parrots of today" are no different.
One of the things I recently learned about the Ukraine famine was that starving people were gathering at train stations to beg for food. The government's response was to mandate the window coverings be used when going through these areas -- out of sight, out of mind!
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is defending the city's decision to start the process of encrypting police radio transmissions, a move that will block the public from listening to those transmissions in real time.
A coalition of media organizations, including ABC7, is asking the mayor to reconsider the decision. Among the reasons is the impact it will have on the release of real-time information to keep the public safe during an emergency.
Stalin intentionally starved to death about 4 million Ukrainians. I don't know if that's your definition of "crush," but it's a pretty big deal, don't you think?
Well his relative Jimmy sang "Ya gotta start off each day with a song, even when tings go wrong......" People in the Ukraine didn't take this advice. Maybe someone should crack an egg over Walter's head. (Kidding, I'm a non violent person.) And I know he's not related to the great Jimmy Durante. Kidding again.
The unfortunate thing is that many ordinary people, if not most, would agree with their assessment of Matt, and I've already come across it. They are aligned with MSNBC, or CNN. Someone claimed Musk is all in it for the money, and Taibbi jumped on his money bandwagon. I wonder if he was a troll because he was abusive in terms of his responses to my posts, and almost demanded I agree. Authoritarian SOB. Gave it right back to him. I always find that people who attack independent journalists which provide a truthful perspective on things are attacked, and hated by those who are paid to lie since money owns their soul. Screw them.
I'm so proud to read these comments, and know there are people out there smart enough to see all of this for what it is... But, my God, for journalists to *go after another journalist for reporting the truth*. It's truly Orwellian.
Orwellian yes, but now common place. They're paid to be lying "patriots." and these lying "patriots" ultimately sell out the people they pretend to inform and claim they want to protect.
I'm ambivalent. It is good to see others voicing reasonable and intelligent, genuine pushback on this garbage. But distraught that its so entrenched that pushback is necessary. That the status quo has diminished to the point of disenfranchisement. Worrisome.
Sinclair Broadcasting attempted to create an unbiased news network without embellishing or editing footage. The reporters were given free reign to ask questions while in the field but not interjecting ideological spill or slant. The broadcast news would remain neutral. Pundits, guests and audience ( on shows that had an open forum)could interact without being badgered or interrupted . Every faction of the American spectrum was allowed to express their thoughts, ask questions and interact respectfully but without hostility.
They began an ad campaign that was well received. So many Americans were sick of the left/right presentations on seperate channels with edited, truncated film clips, based solely on bashing the other side, pushing a narrative that shut out any dissenting voice or platform that veered from singular bias and redundancy.
I was thrilled. Couldn’t wait. Anticipated that long overdue catharsis that comes with conversation versus angry shoutdowns and divide.
Sinclair was advertising the MSM networks and Fox. Can’t recall whether NewsMax was available. OAN liked the concept and hoped to air the shows .
However, when CNN, MSNBC and Fox realized the concept was gaining steam, they were able to somehow shut it down before it launched. Proving that this divide was purposely orchestrated to push viewers to one side or the other by maintaining an ever widening gap to keep the bipolar duplicitous establishment status quo .you had either chocolate or vanilla, period. Fuck the plebes who craved strawberry. That brisk, healthy springtime The breath of fresh air that makes us feel happy and free.
The Kleptocorporate multinational globalist mockingbird NWO monopoly won that round and several more. But the walls started to crack and the censorship, banning , lockdowns, masking, surveillance, street violence and alienation is backfiring. Finally! Because the brave people who were becoming increasingly skeptical and began questioning our own judgement .. How did we get here? This is no longer just politics as usual. Something far darker and far more deviant was becoming too big and too threatening way too fast.And Substack, Rumble, Rogan became this weird Underground Railroad where for the first time, we ventured outside of our mental confines and began to forge a new alliance and still be ourselves, but better.
Ergo , the duopolous , duplicitous, soulless overlords have become scared and sloppy and more hateful, aggressive, divisive and dangerous. Now it’s our turn. “ We The People” against THEM! The whole rotten, toxic, corrupt evil megalomaniacal demonic fascist elite cult of psychopaths. The Cult of Death and Hatred for all Things Living. The DAVOS/Bilderberg/UN/NATO/EU/US /NGO Kleptocorporate multinational Transhumanist Technocracy. Mass murdering Malthusisian Mengelian Maoist Machiavellian Fourth and Final Reich.
Gail you really write so well! It doesn't surprise me that the network didn't come to fruition and I'm not even sure you needed the other networks to help shut it down. A non biased news forum isn't a money making business, but cultivating people's biases is. Years ago the news cycle wasn't 24/7, a source of non-stop entertainment, and there was a genuine sense of responsibility to convey the truth. It was their job. No more. Our government encourages division as well, divide and conquer, as they say. The democrats certainly used Trump to divide a country proclaiming themselves to be on the right side of things. I gave up Gail, and you just have to wade through the crap to get at the truth., and most will make that a difficult chore. Substack is indeed a refuge from all of that.
Absolutely hideous. The US/NATO war with Russia to cover up the Russia Hoax and the 2014 False Flag used to cover up the Ukraine proxy corruptitude and selling our uranium to Russia and the backdoor deal allowing Russia arms sales to Iran in exchange for the JCPOA. Trump/Flynn was the greatest threat to the Deep State global mafia. Ditto Tulsi, who Bannon was eyeing for a top ranking appt to the Trump admin.Putin would have decoupled from Iran if a deal was reached to ensure Russian sovereignty.
The first Trump impeachment was about stepping on the Master Plan (of which VP Biden was Viceroy in Ukraine). The corruption was blatant, and Ukraine was a huge honey pot for the Establishment to launder money, and provoke Russia into WAR (and US war profiteering; wonder how much that happens in Russia?)
When you have so much of the State Department and their contractors from East European backgrounds re-fighting WWII against Russia (on NAZI Germany's side of course), you have to wonder who is running our country and for what purpose?
They’ve done so time and again. Sharyl Attkisson, James Rosen, Lara Logan, O’Keefe, Assange, Andy Ngo, Ian Miles Cheong, Jon Solomon, Posobiec, Kim Iversen, Larry Klayman, Sara Carter, Richard Pollock, Ami Horowitz, Miranda Devine, David Marcus, Chris Farrell… It no longer matters which side of the aisle or neither. Only if the honest journalism exposes the truth. It’s just that heinous.
We're fighting for freedom, fairness, and sanity -- but the crooks among these guys are fighting for their lives. As they are exposed, and as their criminality becomes too difficult to fool the majority anymore with fig leaves, they will do ANYTHING to avoid an SBF-level fall from power and grace. Remember that, as this hybrid stealth war (that they unilaterally started against us years ago) really heats up -- and hedge accordingly.
"Trump is a criminal, an unfit ignoramus, a malignant lying narcissist"
Joni Ellsworth, you may think this means something about Trump supporters, but you're wrong. Trump won despite his character flaws (exquisitely exaggerated by the media) -- not because of them. And in late 2016 and early 2017, as I well recall, there was scattered in the press some miraculous soul-searching beginning, just a bit, here and there, to understand the real reasons most people voted for Trump. But then, of course, the TPTB got to work, nipping these revelations in the bud, in their place cultivating widespread, full-blown, monomaniacal TDS. Sadly, I see you've got a case of this; my sympathies, best wishes for your recovery.
Brad has pointed this shining example of what it means to cross TPTB, confirming my first comment above. But all you have in response, ironically, is mindless hate.
Yup, and I don't even care for the man. In particular, would absolutely love to hear you try to argue why Trump "didn't actually win." Please do educate me.
He lost the 2020 election by over seven million popular votes. Over fifty court challenges came up empty. There was no election fraud in the amount of votes that would have changed those results.
My new year's resolution was to stop following "news reporting," because it just gives me heartburn. But I have to say, the news about "classified" stuff at the Biden UPenn "Think Tank" is so reflective of the "democracy" we live in right now. Corrupt to the core. And apparently its only reason for existing. Not for freedom. Not for fairness. Not inspiring or aspiring. Certainly not for, us.
So what's in the closet at UPenn. Over-classified docs that don't amount to a hill of beans, the discovery of which wasn't outed until after the mid-terms (for some reason)? Or, government docs that if made public would make the Biden Government Syndicate detract from the Scranton Joe persona? Or maybe a little trace evidence that they are in the bag for (fill in the blank) China, Ukraine, Soros, every NGO, the EU, BLM, and on and on.
This, is the story. There are NO rules that apply to Our Betters. And the coastal media are on board with the belief that they and their friends are Our Betters. Nothing they do really looks bad or is out of line. We have a serious problem in our country. To quote our eloquent Pres, "I'm not joking."
While I agree totally with you, why do you watch them?
These are the people in the Milgram Experiment that would have electrocuted their own loving mothers. They suffer from a disease of consciousness that may be termed a form of possession in the sense of Dostoevsky’s “Demons” (aka The Possessed).
Demons? Really? Isn’t that over the top? Yes and no. Carnival show demons levitate and speak in deep strange voices through their victims. They’re great for movies and folk tales. But the real demons are anthropomorphic expressions of disembodied but intelligent energies, they work silently and Invisibly eating like flies on shit at the edges of human consciousness, parasites inside the mind of the host, destroying everything before they move on to another host. Like addictions to meth or heroin or gambling. They devour their host and turn it into their puppet. Ecce Homo.
Yeah, it really isn’t about clicks for money, because they’re clearly failing in that respect. It’s about propaganda for the centers of power. How exactly they get enlisted into this is not entirely clear, but the Twitter files give a little peak behind the curtain.
And we know that at least with respect to Covid, they were paid directly by Uncle Sam to serve as propagandists. I’m not aware of a money trail that enlists MSM to unfailingly support the military industrial complex, but there is clearly some mechanism that exists to achieve that goal.
And I would love to see the “ex”-spooks’ tax returns. Are they just so ideologically committed to the system that they remain loyal? Or are they still raking in tax dollars to serve as propagandists and ensure their co-workers in the newsroom do the same? Lots of questions about how the MSM sausage gets made. Clicks for dollars doesn’t explain it at all.
Too many people confuse and conflate materialism with capitalism. That has the effect of hiding the deleterious effects of the former and creating unwarranted criticism of the later. Corporate media whores are all about the perk$.
What I want to know is Who funds todays MSM outlets, subsiding and influencing reporters and coverage sub rosa. There have to be substantial financial deals with the IC / DNC. They seem deputized as confidential human resources in service of The State. Something terrible has happened to independent thought within these organisms.
It was the 'modernization' of Smith-Mundt that basically opened the door for infiltration of the media. No doubt they're getting huge checks -- not to mention the 'covid' money and their recent attempt to literally fund the 'correct' journalists out in the open.
I saw an article in the Columbia Journalism Review some time back about how much money the Gates foundation was distributing to press organs and it was pretty mind-boggling.
Here is that CJR story. Incredible how much money the corporatists are spending in the name of improving journalism. It is destroying the institution it professes to rescue.
I don’t ever watch CNN or MSNBC and I had no idea of the extent to which the intel agencies had infiltrated them (and others, I’m sure). This is insidious and just plain wrong.
How can CNN even be considered a “news” organization. We need to rethink the concept of a free press & journalism. In some ways this is worse than Pravda.
We need to call a spade a spade (I know) - CNN is a partisan propaganda organization, and they don’t belong in press conferences.
Your comment made me think of that CS Lewis quote about “a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims” is the most oppressive. I’m a margarita or two too deep to type it out… but worth looking up if you’re unfamiliar.
The best remedy is to not watch them at all, and simply get you news analysis from Substack, and you daily fix from scanning the tabloidy headlines at Citizen Free Press.
Basically you can tell what’s important by what they ignore. Then you can tell who’s speaking truth by who they attack. They are actually making it pretty easy.
I'm resigned to the fact that looking to the mainstream media for truth is like looking to a prostitute for love. That's no longer what the profession is about. They're propagandists.
I went from “mueller is gonna get him I’m so frickin excited” to “oh this is complete bullshit I was duped now I’m pissed” in 2 years. How many of y’all are out there?
I became the at-home care giver for my elderly demented mother at the beginning of 2017.
She was a life-long Democrat who only watched MSNBC and old movies.
So I saw a lot of it and figured that with all those guns pointed at him, they'd find "crimes" and thus might be able to force a resignation.
And yeah, I was rooting for that.
In general, I don't get angry watching them. They harp on stories against the Republicans the same way Fox does to Democrats (whose headlines I follow at the gym).
That dialectic is like a malign form of Yin/Yang, each creating and necessitating the other, but it serves its purpose; each side shows that the other is unfit to govern.
Touche’! The dummy Conservatives need to wake up. NOBODY who dissents from the narrative is exempt.
I’d hardly label Naomi Wolf, Russell Brand, Kim Iversen, Jimmy Dore, Majid Nawaz, Andy Ngo,Tulsi Gabbard,Lex Fridman, Bari Weiss, Michael Schellenberger,Bret Weinstein, Heather Heying, Glenn Greenwald, Joe Rogan, Aaron Rodgers, Tim Canova, Steve Kirsch,Lara Logan, Ami Horowitz, Bill Binney, Jonathan Turley, Dershowitz,Neil Oliver,Ayaan Hirsi-Al, Drs Risch, Malone, Battacharaya, Shiva, Gold, Kuldorff,Marek,Cole,Malone,Yeadon,KoryIonnides,Ladapo,,Levitt, Atlas, McCollough,Mikovits, Makary, Oswui, Smith,Hatfill or (RIP) Kary Mullis, Luc Montagnier,Zev Zelenko, Peter Pry,Phil Haney, Jim Kallstrom, Seth Rich,….Julian Assange, Andrew Yang, RFK Jr, Charles Ortleb as “ Far Rightwing White Supremacist Conspiracy Theorists”, liars, frauds …
The hysteria-mongering, hate spewing , lying , vile, vicious authoritarian tyrants are projecting.
You don't understand: they are "right wing" by this new definition. They need to embrace it! The new right wing is pro 1st amendment, anti war, anti-authoritarian, pro diversity of opinion (vs. the extrem superficial diversity of skin color) on college campuses, government agencies etc.etc. I obviously say that some irony. But there's a shift in the political matrix for sure. It's the liberal elites that have abandoned Liberalism. Or have they? I recommend John Mearsheimer's "The Great Delusion" with the subtitle "Liberal Dreams and International Realities".
Substack has been the biggest threat to MSM. If one dares to post a link to a substack article the common refrain (fr progressive left mainly) was "unreliable" , "not legit", "opinion only" can't take a "newsletter" seriously and so on. Now substack has only grown in popularity leading to its authenticity and MSM has zero control. I can only imagine what happens in those management meetings. Journalists like Matt no longer need to butter their bread w the likes of CNN. I hope this site continues to grow and more people invest in subscriptions.
The only way to change it is to edit it. It is very difficult to go against the majority. I've been trying very hard on the Twitter Files article but am very much in the minority.
The Berenson files today when he shifted from Twitter to his Substack has made this very difficult as substacks can't be cited on Wikipedia since they are self-published. Which is what has blown up the discussion of even having a Table on the page.
I think a lot could be made better in Wikipedia if editors were not anonymous. There is no verification process of editors in Wikipedia although IP addresses are known. Wikipedia is not difficult to edit although there are many rules that take a while to learn. There are many tutorials to assist in learning.
Would be nice to see Substack replace State Media for most people. However we know the Federal Government has its sights on alternative/ independent media and will not tolerate opinions counter to the Official Narratives.
The spectacular US failure in handling Covid is a good example of what the Federal Government will do to control every important issue and situation.
Of course! How could I possibly forget? Russell Brand had a fabulous podcast enumerating his issues and what he believed would create a more harmonious way of life. They were neither radical nor fringe. Neither left nor right. Nothing that could be remotely construed as hateful . He laid out a pragmatic, representative form of government beginning at the community level with everybody having a voice. Minus hatred. He included the quality of life that comes with spirituality whether religious, earthly or non-defined, but by conscientiously searching one’s soul to fing peace.
He was attacked so viciously that he followed up with a second podcast, again expressing his feelings, additionally spoke of the tattered life he lived with every imaginable addiction, the people he hurt along the way, taking responsibility and opening his mind, engaging with others who he may have disagreed with and learning. Just because one may see things differently does not make them bad. He concluded
“ If that makes me a “ Right Winger” then so be it. “ I’m a Right Winger”. So what does that make authoritarian, bigoted, biased , racist, illiberal, intolerant, hysterical, close-minded fist waving angry zealots blinded by hatred? Liberal?”
It was a true ba-da-bing! If two years ago someone had told me Russell Brand, Matt Taibbi,Naomi Wolf, Glenn Greenwald,would be on my hit parade, I’d have been insulted. Even though I’m not hyper-ideological right or left, the issues that I disagreed with stuck.
I began watching Tucker when he took on “ Tech Tyranny”. It was a relevant, fascinating subject that nobody else had touched. Also, it was a break from the usual sniping about the Democrats or sniping about Republicans. It was and is an incredible threat to humanity as a whole.
So Tucker had completely changed his format. He began hosting an incredibly diverse spectrum of guests and rather than picking a fight, found common ground on issues that were ignored and should not be. Even the most divisive topics somehow became less bellicose and more solvable.
Tucker embarked on the Fox Nation extensive interviews that were so interesting, respectful and without interruption.And Tucker didn’t denigrate or badger. He is able to say,” That is so interesting! I didn’t know”. “ I can see why you think that, even if I disagree”. “ Wow! I completely agree! I really appreciate knowing that”. From Victor Davis Hanson, Mike Rowe, Glenn Beck, Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirstie Alley, Jaco Boozman, Bret Weinstein, Kyle Rittenhouse, Matt Taibbi,JD Vance, Rose McGowan, Andrew Yang… All over the place. Save ourselves
The most vicious attacks go always to the ones who call BS on both parties. Tucker has evolved from a conservative, bow tie wearing GOP establishment buffoon to a thinking - and therefore more free - political commentator. That's too dangerous because he exposes the games that are being played on all sides. Trump did the same that's why he became the "biggest threat to democracy this country has ever seen"! Because he did it from the highest office in the land. People who call bs on all teams, when they see it, are "dangerous" to the power elites. And the higher in the power structure or media ladder they are sitting the more dangerous they are.
I think the labels have long been superfluous. All those people Gail mentions would probably have been called communist/left wing rabble rousers in the 60s. And you're right in that many have abandoned principles. The Left now loves war; the Right now hates the FBI. Go figure. The system doesn't care about right/left, it cares only about support for its key platforms: 1) rich people get richer; 2) endless war is not a bad thing; 3) surveillance and censorship of citizens. The system will fight anyone not with the program, whether it be Bernie, Trump, or in the day, Pat Buchanan or Dennis Kucinich. The system does not appreciate populism.
We inhabit a post-Seuss-ian, warped version of Seuss's The Sneetches. It's essentially the Sneetches on the Beaches, with an ongoing twist. The guy with the star-on-the-belly machine made a lot of quick cash, but left town when the Sneetches decided love and inclusion were better. The twist with us is that the system is still making money off us (who didn't see Maverick or Avatar? or bought something direct on a social media site? or isn't a member of Amazon Prime?). But the system is also very closely watching all us Sneetches, especially the ones on the left side of the beach who gripe about treatment of the LGBTQ community and the ones on the right side of the beach who gripe about not being able to call women Sneetches "Beetches" anymore, since it's sexist. And the system is able to keep all the Sneetches distracted and pissed off by reminding them that the other Sneetches are bad.
Wait, there are two still-accurate labels: Haves and Have-Nots.
You’re correct. Now we’re whittled down to Fascists, Communists, White Supremacists, Nazis, Putin Apologists,White Supremacists in Blackface, Russia shills, apartheid Zionists, antisemites,xenophobes, homophobes, transphobes,Islamophobes, and drumroll… Domestic Terrorists, extremists, worse than Al Qaeda and the Taliban
Note that all of the above labels cancel each other out. So if one doesn’t stick try the other. Regardless that none apply. To “ We The People”. Our Kleptocorporate multinational monopolistic sold out globalist Malthusian megalomaniacal government WEF technocracy is the enemy of everything living
Bottom line, the entire cabal hates “ We The People”. It matters not which party nor the individual.Once the veneer is stripped off, they are seen for what they really are. Corrupt, evil liars who see us all as less than human. Ironically, they see themselves as greater than human. They are gods. Untouchable and above the mere disposable peons.
The difference between McConnell and Biden? Hard to differentiate. They’re both physically repugnant, corrupt to the core, have harmed the American people and the institutions established as safeguards, lie effortlessly, are long past their expiration date and refuse to step aside, both have long profitted by selling out to China, Ukraine, Mexico, Pharma, the military industrial complex, special interests, have become filthy rich while in office, both were remarkably fond of Strom Thurmond, private prison industry,interventions , judicial activism, open borders-though Biden used to be a border hawk. Biden is decomposing in plain sight, McConnell never appeared to be alive. But yesterday, McConnell exhibited the first sign of actual excitement and energy. He actually travelled with Joe to Kentucky, enthusiastically sharing such brotherly love and self congratulatory praise on the passage of the omnibus bill . Mitch is getting a bridge! Never mind it will take three years to build and a decade to pay off the debt for the bridge alone. Never mind that the Kentucky voters are extremely angry. Their single most valuable resource which provides employment, lowered energy costs and sustains the poor and lower middle class workers… coal…is not included in the bill. It has been stripped. But Mitch received a windfall in bribes from Soros, BlackRock, FTX, Carlyle, McKinsey, Pfizer, Gates. You go Mitch! Straight to hell! With your pals Cassidy, Mitt, Lindsey,Cornyn, Burr, Wicker,Portman,Murkowski, Shelby , Xi and Zelenskyy
I don't dispute anything you say. I first heard your Sneetches allegory from my brother. Nevertheless, I'm still discouraged by it because of what seems like a lack of any real energy for resistance. If you cannot walk away from what the corporatocracy is pushing at you, then they will get to call the shots forever! They do effectively own you. "Power concedes nothing without a demand." It's great that so many voices are now able to articulate what is wrong and hypocritical with our system -- I see this as super important progress over the last decade. And I have learned a lot!! But understanding can only go so far without action.
Here is my personal status wrt your "complacency checklist":
* Have never seen Maverick or Avatar. [CHECK] (I think these are movie references, yes?)
* Have never bought anything off a social media site. [CHECK] (Unless you count Substack as SM, and a subscription purchase as "buying something.")
* Not a member of Amazon Prime. [CHECK] (MUCH more than that: Never bought anything from Amazon. PERIOD. EVER!)
If even Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald readers are not willing to do real resistance, then I'm pretty sure things will continue in the same direction. More of the same, just louder.
Anyone else tired of watching and waiting? Maybe reply here as a start.
Ditto Avatar or Maverick. I’ll up you with Hunger Games, Titanic, The Butler, Shakespeare In Love, Close Encounters, Pirates of the Caribbean,anything with Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Beyoncé’, anything Netflix post 2017.
Stopped purchasing from Amazon,Walmart, Apple in 2017. No longer purchase Ben and Jerry’s, anything Heinz related which includes Kraft, Oscar Meyer, will not book anything Airbnb. Proctor and Gamble, Disney, Verizon, Cancelled CitiBank, transferred any investment BlackRock/Vanguard/StateStreet/Bloomberg/JP Morgan related, will not travel to any nation governed by a WEF Young Global Leader Puppet
No longer donate to ADL, ACLU ( going on 9 years), Gave up our synagogue membership, stopped all political donations but for a few select candidates that aren’t dispersed by a PAC, my husband sold his season tickets to his once much enjoyed sporting events, cancelled every fashion , leisure, sports, interior design and so-called educational magazine subscription (I.e Nat Geo, Smithsonian, Science, Discovery
Canceled Angie’s List
And I refuse to be silenced to appease political party requisite, family, friends , neighbors or random acquaintances( if they are willing to converse)
If I don’t act upon my own stances, nobody will. Those days are over. I have zero faith , trust or expectations that our “ vaunted” overlords are on the side of We The People. That ship sailed long ago. I just didn’t realize we were all left at sea. Sink or swim.
The real heroes are those who have sacrificed the prestige they once enjoyed to do what’s right.
That's a big list but I'll bet you're happier and wealthier. Moreover it's a pretty intelligent list. I live in a small town and I support local. Very, very, rarely buy Amazon. I try to always buy made in USA and if I can't I ALWAYS look for the alternative to China. It appears we both are good citizens and make efforts to do good where we can. Nice to meet you!
Really love your reply. Thank you! What it shows me is you have the mindset to take action, not just complain and hope the system will somehow get better. Absent an epic miracle, it won't.
I can match every one of your "boycotts" -- they are all really important. We cancelled our Netflix subscription in 2016. Pro sports are especially toxic -- like the soma drug in Huxley's Brave New World. Or "Bread and Circuses" from the collapse of the Roman Empire. And few of the people I know who are addicted to spectator sports are ever willing to quit. So good for you!! Congrats to your husband too.
I will check out your substack. I also want to build a platform to facilitate collective action. My idea is only in initial stages, but at minimum it would be good to have a place for action oriented people to connect. It will take me at least a couple weeks, and I've been derailed from this twice before, but please keep your eye out here in case I finally succeed.
Re. people who "sacrificed prestige": Totally agree. I never had the prestige to sacrifice, but I think it's accurate to say I walked away from enticements early on. I got the Ivy League credentials and the "opportunities," but was not willing to "play the game" when I was told to. I'm in the minority, but I also know I'm not alone.
agree. always tension between people and property. democrats used to (in some capacity) endorse the former. sometime around the clinton administration the democrats abandoned the people and now we have stagnation as neither party represents the people. the middle class is dying, upward mobility is a joke, and good luck buying a home. this will not end well.
Oh, but I do understand. Rightwing has always been used as a pejorative. It immediately conjures up images of Nazis, White Supremacists, fringe conspiracy theorists or the most rigid , judgmental, religious Fundamentalists. Regardless of the fact the most tyrannical fascists are either atheist, Islamist and in many cases, ignorant . Which is what they’ve become.
Supportive of the Police State, surveillance, endless war, discrimination, segregation, infanticide, political prisoners, the Patriot Act, censorship, forced medical procedures, child abuse, predation, violence, humiliation, unequal justice, removal of basic civil rights, releasing violent recidivist crimson on an unsuspecting public to reoffend, banning safe, long approved, repurposed, cheap, effective life saving therapeutics, prophylactics and curative medication and treatment, cheering for lockdowns, masks, forced unproven dangerous gene therapy as “ vaccines”, censoring science and debate. , approval of asset forfeiture, crushing small businesses, ripping friends and family apart, turning neighbor against neighbor
All in good company. I would add Jordan Peterson, Glen Lowery , Bret Weinstein, Elon Musk and Sam Harris was on his way were it not for his TDS that saved him.
Chris, I personally always thought that Harris was a lightweight who came into the spotlight only thru his proximity to the extremely polished and courageous Christopher Hitchens. The contemporary regurgitation of the philosophical atheist debates of the 19th century was, in my humble view, rather a snooze fest. Sam Harris, unlike Hitchens who was a true man of letters, fell deeply in love with listening to himself talk. An intellectual bullshitter he finally revealed himself as an arrogant elitist who dispises commoners, and who sees himself as a very worthy chaperone in charge of guarding our precious democracy.
He is insane. Actually stated he was fine with promoting egregious falsehoods if the desired outcome aligned with his . Absolutely unacceptable and unconscionable. Which appears to be the growing norm.
Bret Weinstein is such a decent and brave soul. I’ve always liked Elon.He’s brilliant, unique, quirky and witty. He’s proven to be the bravest of all. I’ve never witnessed or even imagined private citizens who dared step outside the box face such vicious, massive threats and attacks from the media, political class, White House, Deep State, DAVOS and the global apparatchiks in concert… simultaneously fawning over China, Tedros, Faustus,Bill Gates Klaus Schwab, the CIA,FBI,Military Industrial Complex, Pharma, Maduro and Islamist terrorists… and the Churchillian hero, St. Volodymir Zelenskyy with his merry band of Nazis in tow
Jordan Petersen is honest. He has integrity. One needn’t align with his ideology, but it isn’t fair to impugn his character. He is completely decent. And brave. Unlike the duopoly of shitheels spanning the aisle of duplicitous duopolous bastards. Among those on the “ right”, the Bushwhacks Marc Thiessen, David French, Jonah Goldberg, Steven Hayes, Norman Podhoretz, George Conway, Max Boot, George Will- sanctimonious shitheels.
The NYT and WaPo are so over the top insane as to be truly frightening.
You don’t want me to go there. I’ve developed Hypergraphia Derangement Syndrome.😂The most severely irritating, annoying form of obsessive behavior… next to the Mockingbird Media Hysteria and Hannity’s obnoxious, redundant mantra and constant interruptions.
The shorthand version: Every player within the Lincoln Project, The Bulwark , Quincy Institute should be prosecuted for treason, sedition domestic terrorism and handed the most severe punishment allowed by federal law. Or the Old Testament.😇
I find Jordan Peterson a bit more credible, given his Clinical Psychology scholar background. Reality perception, manifestation of realities and sense making, survival of cultural signifiers thru time etc. are all difficult subjects but Jordan has done some really interesting academic work in that area. His recent books and lectures are obviously more of a pedestrian though not irrelevant nature. Sam Harris has never produced anything original in his field. My take, anyway. :)
The philosopher Marc Champagne has written a book recently in which he offers an analysis of Peterson’s work. His is the only deep dive into Peterson’s ideas I know of, as virtually no one has read Peterson’s Maps of Meaning. Champagne also presents an overall analysis of Peterson’s public lectures which, again, are not viewed in their entirety by most people. It’s a sympathetic and critical examination of Peterson, imo. Of course, since I grew up with a grandmother who insisted that making your bed in the morning was important to leading an orderly and sober life, I don’t find Peterson’s common sense views on individual responsibility to be an ideology. He has warts, as we all do. Buy why is he so hated?
I still like to listen to Harris as I think he's the smartest and most principled on the left. He gives a clear argument but I only align with him probably 25% of the time. I have also noticed that he seems a little embarrassed to intersect with voices on the right and takes every opportunity he can to keep his distance so his NYT and WPO friends don't judge him. Also his public Twitter break up was nauseating and totally unnecessary and only revealed his narcissism.
If everyone on the left who deviates from MSM groupthink isn't reclassified as right wing, then sooner or later it will become apparent that the dissent has broad bipartisan support. And if that happens the talking heads can no longer claim to hold the coveted "sensible" centrist position, for they would be the ones taking a non-mainstream extremist position. The relabeling is all about controlling public perception and discourse.
Reading Taibbi, I feel like the little kid in the school yard, standing behind the cool guy who can actually stand up to a bully and do it well. And I shout "yeah get 'em, Matt!". It feels good.
If mainstream media organizations were really trustworthy news reporters instead of shills who regurgitate the latest establishment narrative, they would be investigating and publishing their own pieces on the Twitter Files. The fact that they are reacting with talking points instead of curiosity confirms that they cannot be trusted. Not that they don’t get a lot of things right, but it is mixed with who knows how much propaganda. As a result, we all have to question and doubt everything they say.
I mean, you're not wrong necessarily. At the risk of doing a whataboutism, though... if you view dishonesty and lack of credibility as mainly left-wing problems, I have to ask where your head has been for the last 20 years of US politics.
My apologies if I just happened to miss all the comments where you slam Trump and his cronies for all their lies, graft, and double-think.
Absolutely agree. This is why I'm so disappointed that Matt took the bait and now exclusively slings mud at the left.
That said, at present I'm more concerned about the fringes (yes, on both sides) and their ability to ideologically isolate and radicalize the people in their orbit. The constitution has no remedy for that, and Taibbi is unquestionably at the forefront of feeding people into the right wing of that system.
When I look at your 'Stack, I see "tens of thousands of paid subscribers".
I don't see that on the 'Stacks of drone reporters, and for good reason -- the value of their reporting is basically zero because they only repeat what they've been told to say. OF COURSE they aren't covering the Twitter Files, because there's also a CBS Files and an ABC Files, etc.........and government is still in control of those places.
Calling someone a troll just because they disagree with you is a symptom of extreme ignorance. It used to be that only lefty snowflakes would stoop to that tactic... I guess that says a lot about where the right is at these days.
No I call you a troll because I can read your comments up and down this thread -- none of them adding anything at all to the conversation.
Matt gets tens of thousands of subscribers because he writes shit worth reading. MSM 'Stackers do not, because they don't. The facts remain the facts no matter what you say about them.
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damn, I missed the circle jerk
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lol, who are you calling sycophant, sycophant?
Pathetic is right.
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What's worse? Lying, or being a pro-Russian hack who can't get basic historical facts straight?
I'd call you a shill if I could imagine anyone hiring you.
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Matt's following seems to be about 98% brain-dead conservatives these days... even calling him a lefty anymore is a stretch.
...but don't let me interrupt your jerk session.
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Just a taste of your 'contributions' to the thread.
No, my facts are facts. Does Matt have tens of thousands of paid subs? (Yes) Do MSM 'Stackers like Taylor Lorenz? (No) Are your replies all to me and my 'opinions'? (No) Are you here to distract from the thread with name-calling? (Yes)
Between the woke takeover of universities and the takeover of media by the intelligence community I am starting to feel like I live in some version of Soviet Russia.
Its certainly nothing like the Soviet era, presently, but its also certainly the American version of that same phenomenon. Which we would do VERY WELL to keep an eye on....
Basically it shows how the corruption and non-reality of society happened first in Russia starting in the early 21st century, and then spread to the west eventually. It's a fascinating story and reads like a novel, although it's all true. I've been reading a lot about Russia lately since the parallels to our own situation are so striking.
Kayfabe is the perfect word to sum up our world. All about the image/appearance, nothing about substance. Biden has just said he wants to ban gas stoves to solve climate change. OK... Is that a serious thing, or just kayfabe to play well with his followers on the broadkast television каннелы...
Dirty pool, Deep State! But it’s kinda peak 21st Century that the only rebuttal these empty-headed shills have to Matt’s journalism is essentially “I know you are but what am I?”
Sadly there are still lots of old people who loyally watch that MSM shit and believe the propaganda. And the Pelosi “documentary”... I need to go vomit until I feel clean again. Keep up the good work Mr. Taibbi.
Plenty o fold people readiing Matt and Glenn. Some of us noticed that authority could not be trusted; no, it CAN be trusted, to lie. I consider that a chief lesson of my now-long life.
Journalism is a made up term of art to compare the business of dressing up in a suit and sitting at a desk wearing makeup and reading a teleprompter to the businesses of LAW and MEDICINE. They don't have reporting school, they have JOURNALISM school. It's completely made up shit.
I had an LOL reading this article. Here is Matt a lefty, however unlike the MSM lefties he mentioned, his followers, even conservatives like me, actually trust and believe his writings are based on facts you can bet money on. I’m really looking forward how he will report on all the proposed House investigations. My bet is he’ll stick to honest and truthful reporting wherever the Chios might fall.
Same here. I'm conservative (actually more libertarian), and I have come to highly respect Matt's journalism. In fact, he is one of the VERY few journalists whom I trust.
I would describe myself as a libertarian now. Not because I find Ayn Rand, Hayek, etc., persuasive, but because I’ve come to realize on a profound level that the psychopaths always, ALWAYS, seize the ring of power, the one ring that rules them all. The only solution is to cast it into the fires of Mount Doom.
I would be one of Matt’s lefty followers (for many years) who think the liberal faux lefties have lost their GD minds. It’s like watching “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” in real time. I’m glad Matt has followers of different political persuasions. It shows he sticks to the evidence regardless of where it leads. A real journalist.
Speaking of betting money... ever notice that the only thing that the government won't let you bet on in this country now is elections?
Everything other sin is now legal. Sports gambling, weed smoking, shoplifting, setting fire to police stations, defecating in the streets of major cities... no foul.
But opening a electoral prediction betting exchange? ILLEGAL. Why is that?
For a guy who claims cannot want to interrupt church sessions, you sure are posting a lot in this thread. I believe Matt struck a nerve. It’s sad watching a little boy reduced to nothing more than vapid ad hominems…proving once again that the last line of defense for a tired mind with no argument remaining are personal insults.
Ha ha…auto correct. ‘Jerk sessions’ was what you said you allegedly didn’t want to interrupt…but you just can’t quit us - or this thread. The jig is up. You’ve been exposed for the frauds many of us knew you leftists were all along…and it took a liberal like Matt to remove your masks for you.
I'm guessing their logic goes like this: "Matt relentlessly hammers the left, while conveniently ignoring or minimizing the right's insane spiral into anti-democratic authoritarianism; therefore, Matt is leading people to authoritarianism"
I'm not saying you have to agree with it, but let's not play dumb about what the argument is.
"I read their argument as: our followers are leaving us!"
Okay, but that's your interpretation (and quite an extrapolation at that). You must admit that not everyone shares it.
Anyway, how is that different from "whaaaah, the MSM is trying to make me look bad for siding with Russia on the Ukraine war and running interference for Trump"? Turnabout is fair play... if Taibbi didn't want to be criticized by MSM, he should think twice about taking pro-authoritarian stances.
Okay, but now you're moving the goalposts. It's completely fair to say that Taibbi is funneling people into right-wing authoritarian echo chambers... big tech can be a piece of that, but it doesn't have to.
...and now you're criticizing an argument I didn't make.
It's the *selective* criticism of left-MSM, without acknowledging the gaping maw of insanity that is their competition, that I object to.
Where exactly does Matt think people should be getting their news? Substack? That's not really what the platform is optimized for... it's a blogging site that doesn't hold its writers to any standard of journalism whatsoever. It's only a competitor to the news in that it competes for the same people's attention.
I don't recall Taibbi telling people where they should get their news, rather, he is pointing out the too-cozy relationship between Big Tech and the government.
With a whopping dose of Brave New World, Fahrenheit,The Island Of Dr. Moreau, I Robot,Machiavelli, Mein Kampf, Das Kapital, Communist Manifesto, J Edgar Hoover, Louis Farrakhan, Jim Jones, The Manchurian Candidate, Clockwork Orange,Soylent Green and the Twilight Zone
Also there was a trend in the 70's and 80's of the companies trying to peel front men (and women) off their original backing bands. I think they thought the front was all the audience cared about in a band and probably made it easier to control the singers, especially as front men tend to have major Egos (and cocaine doesn't help). This of course, had about the same impact as killing the goose that was laying the golden eggs. There are more than a few classic bands that never reached what could have been their potential because they were split up.
I kinda like the whole Joe Jackson-Diamond Dave neo-cabaret thing from the early 80s. They are/were performers in the best sense of the word, not whiny, tortured artistes….
Caveat, I saw the 1984 tour. Third or fourth row center (gift from a friend). Def one of the best touring shows of that era- although I saw Rush a month or so before and they were amazing too, just in a different, more cerebral way.
I sat front row @ MSG for the Diver Down tour...a really great memory (I think the ticket was less than $20).
But those were much wilder times: a kid twice my size with missing teeth appeared and told me we were now sharing the seat! There were no security guards to rescue me, so it was either agree or get a black eye.
I think you have to really love big brother to think the authoritarianism on the left isn't showing it's face proudly for all to see - sam Harris anyone?
What are the chances Dwhy agrees with Matt’s latest proffer for a truth and reconciliation committee?🤣
“But the country is currently paralyzed by distrust of media that runs so deep that it prevents real dialogue, and that situation can’t be resolved until the corporate press swallows its pride and admits the clock has finally run out on its seven years of loony Russia conspiracies.
It’s over, you nitwits. It’s time to stow the Mueller votive candles, cop to the coverage pileup created by years of errors, and start the reconciliation process.”
…says the guy who prefers the Soviet style consensus the leftist party is forced to adhere to in the name of ‘unity’. Too bad you are too dense to be incapable of differentiating unity from autocracy. Your authoritarianism comment is simply more projection, which is what we see occurring when I left us accuse someone else of wrongdoing. Now go check those classified documents Biden withheld and work on your spin
Once upon a time, you could tell the quality of a person by his friends. Today, it's by his enemies. And by that standard, you're definitely one of the good ones.
I wish I were confident it's desperation. But they may just be coolly fulfilling their assigned functions, knowing they have captured virtually all relevant institutions, assured that they can never be held accountable. MiniTrue was not desperate.
I understand where you're coming from. But given the way they are hemorrhaging viewership, I want desperately (that word again) to believe that they are reacting so ridiculously because they feel the control slipping away.
Yourself, no, but as a way to judge the value of taking precious time to listen to someone else speak in a world full of noise, knowing who would silence them (read: their enemies) is a handy way to begin to start to winnow the wheat from the chaff.
I would call it a temper tantrum. They are throwing a fit because they can’t control the narrative and they don’t have a substantive, constructive way to react.
It makes me physically ill to watch these clowns pretend to do journalism. They have to attack you, Matt, because otherwise what does that say about them? That they were complicit in all of it, that they work for the administrative state. They should hang their heads in shame. I would call them whores but that's an insult to whores.
Yes! Exactly! They won't cover it because they're in on it! And while my favorite term is 'presstitute', while doing a little research into the word I came across 'Whorespondent', which is also top-notch.
https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/its-no-surprise-medias-ignoring-the
It really is a damning indictment of the mainstream media that they seek to impose professional consequences on journalists who don’t agree with or parrot every liberal piety. Taibbi has already been right-coded for straying from the left-wing consensus, and his lack of deference to his "betters" employed at establishment lie merchants puts him at odds with the anti-majoritarian party line that progressive journalists, who endorse a new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that attenuate our norms of open debate and intellectual diversity in favor of ideological conformity, have fervently policed since Trump’s election.
https://euphoricrecall.substack.com/p/matt-taibbi-and-bari-weiss-are-conservative
And the 'parrots' know that as soon as they deviate on ONE SINGLE THING, they will be excommunicated from the tribe -- a real problem if your identity is wrapped up in your political positions.
Thus you have people arguing to disarm Americans while arming Ukraine to protect freedom, or any other of non-sensical positions that only exist because of peer pressure.
It may not go back far enough but "follow the money" started when Walter Duranty excused totalitarianism with his "you can't make an omellete without breaking eggs" while he watched Stalin crush the Ukraine. The "parrots of today" are no different.
Yet we never seem to get that omellete, do we?
One of the things I recently learned about the Ukraine famine was that starving people were gathering at train stations to beg for food. The government's response was to mandate the window coverings be used when going through these areas -- out of sight, out of mind!
I thought of that when I read this:
https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-police-scanner-encrypted-radio-news/12571741/
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is defending the city's decision to start the process of encrypting police radio transmissions, a move that will block the public from listening to those transmissions in real time.
A coalition of media organizations, including ABC7, is asking the mayor to reconsider the decision. Among the reasons is the impact it will have on the release of real-time information to keep the public safe during an emergency.
On the flip-side, Stalin did make the "omellete" quite a bit bigger too - by adding nice chunks from Poland, Romania, Hungary / Slovakia. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/09/13/cc/0913cc23fdef6eec59b37524d8130766.jpg
That was his Western Omelet.
Stalin didn’t crush Ukraine . Ukraine aligned with Hitler. Two faces of evil with American appeasement
Holodomor=1932
Operation Barbarossa=1941
Ukraine never had a thing to do with Hitler prior to the invasion-and still got treated as Untermenschen.
Stalin intentionally starved to death about 4 million Ukrainians. I don't know if that's your definition of "crush," but it's a pretty big deal, don't you think?
Right. And the holdomor was bad weather and locusts. Very ignorant comment and fairly disgusting, especially if you're Ukrainian.
The soviet attack on ukraine started long before Hitler became chancellor in 1933 so i have no idea what you are talking about
Duranty was despicable. Perfect for the current regime.
Well his relative Jimmy sang "Ya gotta start off each day with a song, even when tings go wrong......" People in the Ukraine didn't take this advice. Maybe someone should crack an egg over Walter's head. (Kidding, I'm a non violent person.) And I know he's not related to the great Jimmy Durante. Kidding again.
The unfortunate thing is that many ordinary people, if not most, would agree with their assessment of Matt, and I've already come across it. They are aligned with MSNBC, or CNN. Someone claimed Musk is all in it for the money, and Taibbi jumped on his money bandwagon. I wonder if he was a troll because he was abusive in terms of his responses to my posts, and almost demanded I agree. Authoritarian SOB. Gave it right back to him. I always find that people who attack independent journalists which provide a truthful perspective on things are attacked, and hated by those who are paid to lie since money owns their soul. Screw them.
I'm so proud to read these comments, and know there are people out there smart enough to see all of this for what it is... But, my God, for journalists to *go after another journalist for reporting the truth*. It's truly Orwellian.
Orwellian yes, but now common place. They're paid to be lying "patriots." and these lying "patriots" ultimately sell out the people they pretend to inform and claim they want to protect.
I'm ambivalent. It is good to see others voicing reasonable and intelligent, genuine pushback on this garbage. But distraught that its so entrenched that pushback is necessary. That the status quo has diminished to the point of disenfranchisement. Worrisome.
Sinclair Broadcasting attempted to create an unbiased news network without embellishing or editing footage. The reporters were given free reign to ask questions while in the field but not interjecting ideological spill or slant. The broadcast news would remain neutral. Pundits, guests and audience ( on shows that had an open forum)could interact without being badgered or interrupted . Every faction of the American spectrum was allowed to express their thoughts, ask questions and interact respectfully but without hostility.
They began an ad campaign that was well received. So many Americans were sick of the left/right presentations on seperate channels with edited, truncated film clips, based solely on bashing the other side, pushing a narrative that shut out any dissenting voice or platform that veered from singular bias and redundancy.
I was thrilled. Couldn’t wait. Anticipated that long overdue catharsis that comes with conversation versus angry shoutdowns and divide.
Sinclair was advertising the MSM networks and Fox. Can’t recall whether NewsMax was available. OAN liked the concept and hoped to air the shows .
However, when CNN, MSNBC and Fox realized the concept was gaining steam, they were able to somehow shut it down before it launched. Proving that this divide was purposely orchestrated to push viewers to one side or the other by maintaining an ever widening gap to keep the bipolar duplicitous establishment status quo .you had either chocolate or vanilla, period. Fuck the plebes who craved strawberry. That brisk, healthy springtime The breath of fresh air that makes us feel happy and free.
The Kleptocorporate multinational globalist mockingbird NWO monopoly won that round and several more. But the walls started to crack and the censorship, banning , lockdowns, masking, surveillance, street violence and alienation is backfiring. Finally! Because the brave people who were becoming increasingly skeptical and began questioning our own judgement .. How did we get here? This is no longer just politics as usual. Something far darker and far more deviant was becoming too big and too threatening way too fast.And Substack, Rumble, Rogan became this weird Underground Railroad where for the first time, we ventured outside of our mental confines and began to forge a new alliance and still be ourselves, but better.
Ergo , the duopolous , duplicitous, soulless overlords have become scared and sloppy and more hateful, aggressive, divisive and dangerous. Now it’s our turn. “ We The People” against THEM! The whole rotten, toxic, corrupt evil megalomaniacal demonic fascist elite cult of psychopaths. The Cult of Death and Hatred for all Things Living. The DAVOS/Bilderberg/UN/NATO/EU/US /NGO Kleptocorporate multinational Transhumanist Technocracy. Mass murdering Malthusisian Mengelian Maoist Machiavellian Fourth and Final Reich.
Gail you really write so well! It doesn't surprise me that the network didn't come to fruition and I'm not even sure you needed the other networks to help shut it down. A non biased news forum isn't a money making business, but cultivating people's biases is. Years ago the news cycle wasn't 24/7, a source of non-stop entertainment, and there was a genuine sense of responsibility to convey the truth. It was their job. No more. Our government encourages division as well, divide and conquer, as they say. The democrats certainly used Trump to divide a country proclaiming themselves to be on the right side of things. I gave up Gail, and you just have to wade through the crap to get at the truth., and most will make that a difficult chore. Substack is indeed a refuge from all of that.
The federal government outsourced virtually everything else it does, so why not surveillance and propaganda?!?!
Absolutely hideous. The US/NATO war with Russia to cover up the Russia Hoax and the 2014 False Flag used to cover up the Ukraine proxy corruptitude and selling our uranium to Russia and the backdoor deal allowing Russia arms sales to Iran in exchange for the JCPOA. Trump/Flynn was the greatest threat to the Deep State global mafia. Ditto Tulsi, who Bannon was eyeing for a top ranking appt to the Trump admin.Putin would have decoupled from Iran if a deal was reached to ensure Russian sovereignty.
The first Trump impeachment was about stepping on the Master Plan (of which VP Biden was Viceroy in Ukraine). The corruption was blatant, and Ukraine was a huge honey pot for the Establishment to launder money, and provoke Russia into WAR (and US war profiteering; wonder how much that happens in Russia?)
When you have so much of the State Department and their contractors from East European backgrounds re-fighting WWII against Russia (on NAZI Germany's side of course), you have to wonder who is running our country and for what purpose?
They’ve done so time and again. Sharyl Attkisson, James Rosen, Lara Logan, O’Keefe, Assange, Andy Ngo, Ian Miles Cheong, Jon Solomon, Posobiec, Kim Iversen, Larry Klayman, Sara Carter, Richard Pollock, Ami Horowitz, Miranda Devine, David Marcus, Chris Farrell… It no longer matters which side of the aisle or neither. Only if the honest journalism exposes the truth. It’s just that heinous.
Or maybe they just think he's a dick. Who knows? Don't overthink things, Brad.
The irony is that the is nothing "liberal" about these people.
Oh, man, "whorespondent" is my new favorite word! Thanks.
Mine too!
"Presstitute" and "Whorespondent" are both very clever!!!
I like the Sorros, Schwab, Gates "philanthropath" label too. Works a generation or two ago too...Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, Mellon...
I'm going to have to go with "Narrative Nazi".
I call them “Reality Vacuums”. Their efforts to suck up reality and spit out their own version reveals they are truly truly evil.
But we already have Asshole. Who needs anything better.
As in: "And then there's this asshole..."
I wouldn't be insulting honest sex workers by comparing them to this dreck.
Where does one find one of those?
Not at MSNBC nor CNN.
Another good one I've heard is 'Urinalist.'
LOL awesome!
I don't know Commander. Isn't that comparison just a little unfair to the working girls of this country?
LOL I do often make a note of that, but in this case Sasha already had it handled. 😂
Can we get cuntporter in the mix?
Wonderfully said! I'm adopting both terms next chance I get.
We're fighting for freedom, fairness, and sanity -- but the crooks among these guys are fighting for their lives. As they are exposed, and as their criminality becomes too difficult to fool the majority anymore with fig leaves, they will do ANYTHING to avoid an SBF-level fall from power and grace. Remember that, as this hybrid stealth war (that they unilaterally started against us years ago) really heats up -- and hedge accordingly.
Yes! We saw how the elites reacted to a Trump win and a populist challenge to their power. Disgusting.
Except that Trump is a criminal, an unfit ignoramus, a malignant lying narcissist, and he didn't actually win.
"Trump is a criminal, an unfit ignoramus, a malignant lying narcissist"
Joni Ellsworth, you may think this means something about Trump supporters, but you're wrong. Trump won despite his character flaws (exquisitely exaggerated by the media) -- not because of them. And in late 2016 and early 2017, as I well recall, there was scattered in the press some miraculous soul-searching beginning, just a bit, here and there, to understand the real reasons most people voted for Trump. But then, of course, the TPTB got to work, nipping these revelations in the bud, in their place cultivating widespread, full-blown, monomaniacal TDS. Sadly, I see you've got a case of this; my sympathies, best wishes for your recovery.
Brad has pointed this shining example of what it means to cross TPTB, confirming my first comment above. But all you have in response, ironically, is mindless hate.
You're a brainwashed moron.
So what I said about Trump is untrue?
Yup, and I don't even care for the man. In particular, would absolutely love to hear you try to argue why Trump "didn't actually win." Please do educate me.
>> Except that Trump is a criminal, an unfit ignoramus, a malignant lying narcissist
You could say the same thing about virtually every politician in DC. And you have probably voted many times for some of them.
>> he didn't actually win
He did win. It's time to move on.
He lost the 2020 election by over seven million popular votes. Over fifty court challenges came up empty. There was no election fraud in the amount of votes that would have changed those results.
He won the election. We have an electoral college. Deal with it.
Whoa. Cool. You mean Truth (capital "T") wins out. Like it.
Right on.
My new year's resolution was to stop following "news reporting," because it just gives me heartburn. But I have to say, the news about "classified" stuff at the Biden UPenn "Think Tank" is so reflective of the "democracy" we live in right now. Corrupt to the core. And apparently its only reason for existing. Not for freedom. Not for fairness. Not inspiring or aspiring. Certainly not for, us.
So what's in the closet at UPenn. Over-classified docs that don't amount to a hill of beans, the discovery of which wasn't outed until after the mid-terms (for some reason)? Or, government docs that if made public would make the Biden Government Syndicate detract from the Scranton Joe persona? Or maybe a little trace evidence that they are in the bag for (fill in the blank) China, Ukraine, Soros, every NGO, the EU, BLM, and on and on.
This, is the story. There are NO rules that apply to Our Betters. And the coastal media are on board with the belief that they and their friends are Our Betters. Nothing they do really looks bad or is out of line. We have a serious problem in our country. To quote our eloquent Pres, "I'm not joking."
While I agree totally with you, why do you watch them?
These are the people in the Milgram Experiment that would have electrocuted their own loving mothers. They suffer from a disease of consciousness that may be termed a form of possession in the sense of Dostoevsky’s “Demons” (aka The Possessed).
Demons? Really? Isn’t that over the top? Yes and no. Carnival show demons levitate and speak in deep strange voices through their victims. They’re great for movies and folk tales. But the real demons are anthropomorphic expressions of disembodied but intelligent energies, they work silently and Invisibly eating like flies on shit at the edges of human consciousness, parasites inside the mind of the host, destroying everything before they move on to another host. Like addictions to meth or heroin or gambling. They devour their host and turn it into their puppet. Ecce Homo.
Oh I don't watch them.
Nope do not watch any of the alphabet idiots
Why watch them?
The Godfather said it best: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
And while we're at it, Matt, you need to scream that they're committing "VIOLENCE!"
I think psychopaths and sociopaths now rule the US (maybe they always have?)
No need for external influences like demons or Russians.
Loved: "These are the people in the Milgram Experiment that would have electrocuted their own loving mothers."
But, supernaturally, they would have felt bad about it. Right?
Well if you do not watch them you will be living in a different reality than 90 percent of everyone else and that is lonely.
Desmet's 10%-ers have responsibilities. Let's live up to them.
They aren't doing journalism. They are doing capitalism: clicks = bucks.
They are doing propaganda. Which they consider to be their job.
Exactly. They aren't in the news business. They are in the politics business. They have been prepping for this since Government 101 at Hahvahd.
Yeah, it really isn’t about clicks for money, because they’re clearly failing in that respect. It’s about propaganda for the centers of power. How exactly they get enlisted into this is not entirely clear, but the Twitter files give a little peak behind the curtain.
And we know that at least with respect to Covid, they were paid directly by Uncle Sam to serve as propagandists. I’m not aware of a money trail that enlists MSM to unfailingly support the military industrial complex, but there is clearly some mechanism that exists to achieve that goal.
And I would love to see the “ex”-spooks’ tax returns. Are they just so ideologically committed to the system that they remain loyal? Or are they still raking in tax dollars to serve as propagandists and ensure their co-workers in the newsroom do the same? Lots of questions about how the MSM sausage gets made. Clicks for dollars doesn’t explain it at all.
Yes. I'm sure that excessive devotion to capitalism is the problem at MSNBC.
Too many people confuse and conflate materialism with capitalism. That has the effect of hiding the deleterious effects of the former and creating unwarranted criticism of the later. Corporate media whores are all about the perk$.
The moment that Trump started taking away their local tax deductions from their federal taxes, was the moment they started to freak the fuck out.
Wait 'til a real populist IRS starts counting corporate limousine rides and complimentary "staff" lunches as taxable income...
And not succeeding very well judging by their audience losses.
What I want to know is Who funds todays MSM outlets, subsiding and influencing reporters and coverage sub rosa. There have to be substantial financial deals with the IC / DNC. They seem deputized as confidential human resources in service of The State. Something terrible has happened to independent thought within these organisms.
It was the 'modernization' of Smith-Mundt that basically opened the door for infiltration of the media. No doubt they're getting huge checks -- not to mention the 'covid' money and their recent attempt to literally fund the 'correct' journalists out in the open.
I saw an article in the Columbia Journalism Review some time back about how much money the Gates foundation was distributing to press organs and it was pretty mind-boggling.
I vaguely remember NPR got 2 million.
Here is that CJR story. Incredible how much money the corporatists are spending in the name of improving journalism. It is destroying the institution it professes to rescue.
https://www.cjr.org/criticism/gates-foundation-journalism-funding.php
Thanks for this. Boy was I off. NPR received 17.5 million from Gates’ coffers since 2000.
Spooky
American Pravda.
I don’t ever watch CNN or MSNBC and I had no idea of the extent to which the intel agencies had infiltrated them (and others, I’m sure). This is insidious and just plain wrong.
How can CNN even be considered a “news” organization. We need to rethink the concept of a free press & journalism. In some ways this is worse than Pravda.
We need to call a spade a spade (I know) - CNN is a partisan propaganda organization, and they don’t belong in press conferences.
0
At least whores don’t pretend to be beacons of virtue. Which is a hundred times more virtuous than the monsters claiming heroism and patriotism.
Your comment made me think of that CS Lewis quote about “a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims” is the most oppressive. I’m a margarita or two too deep to type it out… but worth looking up if you’re unfamiliar.
Right on, Sasha. At least whores don't lie about who they are and what they do.
The good expensive ones do. At least to the IRS.
What Sasha said. ⬆️
“It makes me physically ill to watch these clowns ...”
Now you sound like a triggered left wing college student at the prospect of a conservative on campus!
Good point!
The best remedy is to not watch them at all, and simply get you news analysis from Substack, and you daily fix from scanning the tabloidy headlines at Citizen Free Press.
You're lying through your teeth!
NOBODY watches them except clips kids like Matt brings us! Admit it! LOL
I can't watch them. Even when I hear them on someone else's show I fast-forward. It makes me too mad.
damn, I missed the circle jerk
Desperate grasping by the armies of sycophantic wanna bes. Pathetic.
You know you scored, when they circle the wagons!
Well played Matt!
Basically you can tell what’s important by what they ignore. Then you can tell who’s speaking truth by who they attack. They are actually making it pretty easy.
I'm resigned to the fact that looking to the mainstream media for truth is like looking to a prostitute for love. That's no longer what the profession is about. They're propagandists.
I went from “mueller is gonna get him I’m so frickin excited” to “oh this is complete bullshit I was duped now I’m pissed” in 2 years. How many of y’all are out there?
Better late than never!
sorry you fell for the mueller bullshit.
I became the at-home care giver for my elderly demented mother at the beginning of 2017.
She was a life-long Democrat who only watched MSNBC and old movies.
So I saw a lot of it and figured that with all those guns pointed at him, they'd find "crimes" and thus might be able to force a resignation.
And yeah, I was rooting for that.
In general, I don't get angry watching them. They harp on stories against the Republicans the same way Fox does to Democrats (whose headlines I follow at the gym).
That dialectic is like a malign form of Yin/Yang, each creating and necessitating the other, but it serves its purpose; each side shows that the other is unfit to govern.
Republicans and Democrats are both unfit to govern. They are loyal to party over country. They are all traitors.
Yes, they put tribe first over their constituents. But mostly, they are loyal to their donors.
well said!
Touche’! The dummy Conservatives need to wake up. NOBODY who dissents from the narrative is exempt.
I’d hardly label Naomi Wolf, Russell Brand, Kim Iversen, Jimmy Dore, Majid Nawaz, Andy Ngo,Tulsi Gabbard,Lex Fridman, Bari Weiss, Michael Schellenberger,Bret Weinstein, Heather Heying, Glenn Greenwald, Joe Rogan, Aaron Rodgers, Tim Canova, Steve Kirsch,Lara Logan, Ami Horowitz, Bill Binney, Jonathan Turley, Dershowitz,Neil Oliver,Ayaan Hirsi-Al, Drs Risch, Malone, Battacharaya, Shiva, Gold, Kuldorff,Marek,Cole,Malone,Yeadon,KoryIonnides,Ladapo,,Levitt, Atlas, McCollough,Mikovits, Makary, Oswui, Smith,Hatfill or (RIP) Kary Mullis, Luc Montagnier,Zev Zelenko, Peter Pry,Phil Haney, Jim Kallstrom, Seth Rich,….Julian Assange, Andrew Yang, RFK Jr, Charles Ortleb as “ Far Rightwing White Supremacist Conspiracy Theorists”, liars, frauds …
The hysteria-mongering, hate spewing , lying , vile, vicious authoritarian tyrants are projecting.
You don't understand: they are "right wing" by this new definition. They need to embrace it! The new right wing is pro 1st amendment, anti war, anti-authoritarian, pro diversity of opinion (vs. the extrem superficial diversity of skin color) on college campuses, government agencies etc.etc. I obviously say that some irony. But there's a shift in the political matrix for sure. It's the liberal elites that have abandoned Liberalism. Or have they? I recommend John Mearsheimer's "The Great Delusion" with the subtitle "Liberal Dreams and International Realities".
Substack has been the biggest threat to MSM. If one dares to post a link to a substack article the common refrain (fr progressive left mainly) was "unreliable" , "not legit", "opinion only" can't take a "newsletter" seriously and so on. Now substack has only grown in popularity leading to its authenticity and MSM has zero control. I can only imagine what happens in those management meetings. Journalists like Matt no longer need to butter their bread w the likes of CNN. I hope this site continues to grow and more people invest in subscriptions.
Yes, Wikipedia will not accept links to any Substack.
Wikipedia has still all the MSM lies about Dr. Robert Malone in his biography.
The only way to change it is to edit it. It is very difficult to go against the majority. I've been trying very hard on the Twitter Files article but am very much in the minority.
The Berenson files today when he shifted from Twitter to his Substack has made this very difficult as substacks can't be cited on Wikipedia since they are self-published. Which is what has blown up the discussion of even having a Table on the page.
Where were the wikipedians and CNN's factcheckers when George Santos was running vs. Tom Suozzi. Assholes.
Hmmmm, shame on Jimmy Wales-he has always been one of the good ones.
O, it is not really under his control anymore. It's a matter of who edits. There seem to be a lot more that don't want this covered than do.
He's trying. They need funding otherwise vested interests step in and overwhelm the process.
I didn't know this!
I think a lot could be made better in Wikipedia if editors were not anonymous. There is no verification process of editors in Wikipedia although IP addresses are known. Wikipedia is not difficult to edit although there are many rules that take a while to learn. There are many tutorials to assist in learning.
Would be nice to see Substack replace State Media for most people. However we know the Federal Government has its sights on alternative/ independent media and will not tolerate opinions counter to the Official Narratives.
The spectacular US failure in handling Covid is a good example of what the Federal Government will do to control every important issue and situation.
Amen. Er.. “ Awomen”. I hope all the right, left, center come together and take down the entire disgusting evil cabal!
And I've heard, "no editorial board"....which is funny cuz that's exactly the idea!
Of course! How could I possibly forget? Russell Brand had a fabulous podcast enumerating his issues and what he believed would create a more harmonious way of life. They were neither radical nor fringe. Neither left nor right. Nothing that could be remotely construed as hateful . He laid out a pragmatic, representative form of government beginning at the community level with everybody having a voice. Minus hatred. He included the quality of life that comes with spirituality whether religious, earthly or non-defined, but by conscientiously searching one’s soul to fing peace.
He was attacked so viciously that he followed up with a second podcast, again expressing his feelings, additionally spoke of the tattered life he lived with every imaginable addiction, the people he hurt along the way, taking responsibility and opening his mind, engaging with others who he may have disagreed with and learning. Just because one may see things differently does not make them bad. He concluded
“ If that makes me a “ Right Winger” then so be it. “ I’m a Right Winger”. So what does that make authoritarian, bigoted, biased , racist, illiberal, intolerant, hysterical, close-minded fist waving angry zealots blinded by hatred? Liberal?”
It was a true ba-da-bing! If two years ago someone had told me Russell Brand, Matt Taibbi,Naomi Wolf, Glenn Greenwald,would be on my hit parade, I’d have been insulted. Even though I’m not hyper-ideological right or left, the issues that I disagreed with stuck.
I began watching Tucker when he took on “ Tech Tyranny”. It was a relevant, fascinating subject that nobody else had touched. Also, it was a break from the usual sniping about the Democrats or sniping about Republicans. It was and is an incredible threat to humanity as a whole.
So Tucker had completely changed his format. He began hosting an incredibly diverse spectrum of guests and rather than picking a fight, found common ground on issues that were ignored and should not be. Even the most divisive topics somehow became less bellicose and more solvable.
Tucker embarked on the Fox Nation extensive interviews that were so interesting, respectful and without interruption.And Tucker didn’t denigrate or badger. He is able to say,” That is so interesting! I didn’t know”. “ I can see why you think that, even if I disagree”. “ Wow! I completely agree! I really appreciate knowing that”. From Victor Davis Hanson, Mike Rowe, Glenn Beck, Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirstie Alley, Jaco Boozman, Bret Weinstein, Kyle Rittenhouse, Matt Taibbi,JD Vance, Rose McGowan, Andrew Yang… All over the place. Save ourselves
The most vicious attacks go always to the ones who call BS on both parties. Tucker has evolved from a conservative, bow tie wearing GOP establishment buffoon to a thinking - and therefore more free - political commentator. That's too dangerous because he exposes the games that are being played on all sides. Trump did the same that's why he became the "biggest threat to democracy this country has ever seen"! Because he did it from the highest office in the land. People who call bs on all teams, when they see it, are "dangerous" to the power elites. And the higher in the power structure or media ladder they are sitting the more dangerous they are.
Ain’t that the truth?!
I think the labels have long been superfluous. All those people Gail mentions would probably have been called communist/left wing rabble rousers in the 60s. And you're right in that many have abandoned principles. The Left now loves war; the Right now hates the FBI. Go figure. The system doesn't care about right/left, it cares only about support for its key platforms: 1) rich people get richer; 2) endless war is not a bad thing; 3) surveillance and censorship of citizens. The system will fight anyone not with the program, whether it be Bernie, Trump, or in the day, Pat Buchanan or Dennis Kucinich. The system does not appreciate populism.
We inhabit a post-Seuss-ian, warped version of Seuss's The Sneetches. It's essentially the Sneetches on the Beaches, with an ongoing twist. The guy with the star-on-the-belly machine made a lot of quick cash, but left town when the Sneetches decided love and inclusion were better. The twist with us is that the system is still making money off us (who didn't see Maverick or Avatar? or bought something direct on a social media site? or isn't a member of Amazon Prime?). But the system is also very closely watching all us Sneetches, especially the ones on the left side of the beach who gripe about treatment of the LGBTQ community and the ones on the right side of the beach who gripe about not being able to call women Sneetches "Beetches" anymore, since it's sexist. And the system is able to keep all the Sneetches distracted and pissed off by reminding them that the other Sneetches are bad.
Wait, there are two still-accurate labels: Haves and Have-Nots.
You’re correct. Now we’re whittled down to Fascists, Communists, White Supremacists, Nazis, Putin Apologists,White Supremacists in Blackface, Russia shills, apartheid Zionists, antisemites,xenophobes, homophobes, transphobes,Islamophobes, and drumroll… Domestic Terrorists, extremists, worse than Al Qaeda and the Taliban
Note that all of the above labels cancel each other out. So if one doesn’t stick try the other. Regardless that none apply. To “ We The People”. Our Kleptocorporate multinational monopolistic sold out globalist Malthusian megalomaniacal government WEF technocracy is the enemy of everything living
Bottom line, the entire cabal hates “ We The People”. It matters not which party nor the individual.Once the veneer is stripped off, they are seen for what they really are. Corrupt, evil liars who see us all as less than human. Ironically, they see themselves as greater than human. They are gods. Untouchable and above the mere disposable peons.
The difference between McConnell and Biden? Hard to differentiate. They’re both physically repugnant, corrupt to the core, have harmed the American people and the institutions established as safeguards, lie effortlessly, are long past their expiration date and refuse to step aside, both have long profitted by selling out to China, Ukraine, Mexico, Pharma, the military industrial complex, special interests, have become filthy rich while in office, both were remarkably fond of Strom Thurmond, private prison industry,interventions , judicial activism, open borders-though Biden used to be a border hawk. Biden is decomposing in plain sight, McConnell never appeared to be alive. But yesterday, McConnell exhibited the first sign of actual excitement and energy. He actually travelled with Joe to Kentucky, enthusiastically sharing such brotherly love and self congratulatory praise on the passage of the omnibus bill . Mitch is getting a bridge! Never mind it will take three years to build and a decade to pay off the debt for the bridge alone. Never mind that the Kentucky voters are extremely angry. Their single most valuable resource which provides employment, lowered energy costs and sustains the poor and lower middle class workers… coal…is not included in the bill. It has been stripped. But Mitch received a windfall in bribes from Soros, BlackRock, FTX, Carlyle, McKinsey, Pfizer, Gates. You go Mitch! Straight to hell! With your pals Cassidy, Mitt, Lindsey,Cornyn, Burr, Wicker,Portman,Murkowski, Shelby , Xi and Zelenskyy
I don't dispute anything you say. I first heard your Sneetches allegory from my brother. Nevertheless, I'm still discouraged by it because of what seems like a lack of any real energy for resistance. If you cannot walk away from what the corporatocracy is pushing at you, then they will get to call the shots forever! They do effectively own you. "Power concedes nothing without a demand." It's great that so many voices are now able to articulate what is wrong and hypocritical with our system -- I see this as super important progress over the last decade. And I have learned a lot!! But understanding can only go so far without action.
Here is my personal status wrt your "complacency checklist":
* Have never seen Maverick or Avatar. [CHECK] (I think these are movie references, yes?)
* Have never bought anything off a social media site. [CHECK] (Unless you count Substack as SM, and a subscription purchase as "buying something.")
* Not a member of Amazon Prime. [CHECK] (MUCH more than that: Never bought anything from Amazon. PERIOD. EVER!)
If even Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald readers are not willing to do real resistance, then I'm pretty sure things will continue in the same direction. More of the same, just louder.
Anyone else tired of watching and waiting? Maybe reply here as a start.
Ditto Avatar or Maverick. I’ll up you with Hunger Games, Titanic, The Butler, Shakespeare In Love, Close Encounters, Pirates of the Caribbean,anything with Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Beyoncé’, anything Netflix post 2017.
Stopped purchasing from Amazon,Walmart, Apple in 2017. No longer purchase Ben and Jerry’s, anything Heinz related which includes Kraft, Oscar Meyer, will not book anything Airbnb. Proctor and Gamble, Disney, Verizon, Cancelled CitiBank, transferred any investment BlackRock/Vanguard/StateStreet/Bloomberg/JP Morgan related, will not travel to any nation governed by a WEF Young Global Leader Puppet
No longer donate to ADL, ACLU ( going on 9 years), Gave up our synagogue membership, stopped all political donations but for a few select candidates that aren’t dispersed by a PAC, my husband sold his season tickets to his once much enjoyed sporting events, cancelled every fashion , leisure, sports, interior design and so-called educational magazine subscription (I.e Nat Geo, Smithsonian, Science, Discovery
Canceled Angie’s List
And I refuse to be silenced to appease political party requisite, family, friends , neighbors or random acquaintances( if they are willing to converse)
If I don’t act upon my own stances, nobody will. Those days are over. I have zero faith , trust or expectations that our “ vaunted” overlords are on the side of We The People. That ship sailed long ago. I just didn’t realize we were all left at sea. Sink or swim.
The real heroes are those who have sacrificed the prestige they once enjoyed to do what’s right.
That's a big list but I'll bet you're happier and wealthier. Moreover it's a pretty intelligent list. I live in a small town and I support local. Very, very, rarely buy Amazon. I try to always buy made in USA and if I can't I ALWAYS look for the alternative to China. It appears we both are good citizens and make efforts to do good where we can. Nice to meet you!
Really love your reply. Thank you! What it shows me is you have the mindset to take action, not just complain and hope the system will somehow get better. Absent an epic miracle, it won't.
I can match every one of your "boycotts" -- they are all really important. We cancelled our Netflix subscription in 2016. Pro sports are especially toxic -- like the soma drug in Huxley's Brave New World. Or "Bread and Circuses" from the collapse of the Roman Empire. And few of the people I know who are addicted to spectator sports are ever willing to quit. So good for you!! Congrats to your husband too.
I will check out your substack. I also want to build a platform to facilitate collective action. My idea is only in initial stages, but at minimum it would be good to have a place for action oriented people to connect. It will take me at least a couple weeks, and I've been derailed from this twice before, but please keep your eye out here in case I finally succeed.
Re. people who "sacrificed prestige": Totally agree. I never had the prestige to sacrifice, but I think it's accurate to say I walked away from enticements early on. I got the Ivy League credentials and the "opportunities," but was not willing to "play the game" when I was told to. I'm in the minority, but I also know I'm not alone.
agree. always tension between people and property. democrats used to (in some capacity) endorse the former. sometime around the clinton administration the democrats abandoned the people and now we have stagnation as neither party represents the people. the middle class is dying, upward mobility is a joke, and good luck buying a home. this will not end well.
LOL I have a meme for an upcoming article about that:
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68ab7e27-4662-4c67-9628-e9a95ce73af7_2048x1741.jpeg
(Sorry for the insane substack URL)
Fabulous!
Excellent!
Great meme!
I still think this meme sums everything up better:
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/everyone-i-dont-like-is-hitler/
Fantastic!
Oh, but I do understand. Rightwing has always been used as a pejorative. It immediately conjures up images of Nazis, White Supremacists, fringe conspiracy theorists or the most rigid , judgmental, religious Fundamentalists. Regardless of the fact the most tyrannical fascists are either atheist, Islamist and in many cases, ignorant . Which is what they’ve become.
Supportive of the Police State, surveillance, endless war, discrimination, segregation, infanticide, political prisoners, the Patriot Act, censorship, forced medical procedures, child abuse, predation, violence, humiliation, unequal justice, removal of basic civil rights, releasing violent recidivist crimson on an unsuspecting public to reoffend, banning safe, long approved, repurposed, cheap, effective life saving therapeutics, prophylactics and curative medication and treatment, cheering for lockdowns, masks, forced unproven dangerous gene therapy as “ vaccines”, censoring science and debate. , approval of asset forfeiture, crushing small businesses, ripping friends and family apart, turning neighbor against neighbor
They have to be considered right wing. The talking heads can't claim to hold a centrist position on an issue with bipartisan support.
All in good company. I would add Jordan Peterson, Glen Lowery , Bret Weinstein, Elon Musk and Sam Harris was on his way were it not for his TDS that saved him.
Chris, I personally always thought that Harris was a lightweight who came into the spotlight only thru his proximity to the extremely polished and courageous Christopher Hitchens. The contemporary regurgitation of the philosophical atheist debates of the 19th century was, in my humble view, rather a snooze fest. Sam Harris, unlike Hitchens who was a true man of letters, fell deeply in love with listening to himself talk. An intellectual bullshitter he finally revealed himself as an arrogant elitist who dispises commoners, and who sees himself as a very worthy chaperone in charge of guarding our precious democracy.
Like comparing Bertrand Russell to George Soros.
I scratched Sam Harris off my list about a year ago. His TDS now defines him and drowns out anything else he has to say.
He is insane. Actually stated he was fine with promoting egregious falsehoods if the desired outcome aligned with his . Absolutely unacceptable and unconscionable. Which appears to be the growing norm.
Bret Weinstein is such a decent and brave soul. I’ve always liked Elon.He’s brilliant, unique, quirky and witty. He’s proven to be the bravest of all. I’ve never witnessed or even imagined private citizens who dared step outside the box face such vicious, massive threats and attacks from the media, political class, White House, Deep State, DAVOS and the global apparatchiks in concert… simultaneously fawning over China, Tedros, Faustus,Bill Gates Klaus Schwab, the CIA,FBI,Military Industrial Complex, Pharma, Maduro and Islamist terrorists… and the Churchillian hero, St. Volodymir Zelenskyy with his merry band of Nazis in tow
Jordan Peterson??.. I would have to add him to Sam Harris me thinks.
Jordan Petersen is honest. He has integrity. One needn’t align with his ideology, but it isn’t fair to impugn his character. He is completely decent. And brave. Unlike the duopoly of shitheels spanning the aisle of duplicitous duopolous bastards. Among those on the “ right”, the Bushwhacks Marc Thiessen, David French, Jonah Goldberg, Steven Hayes, Norman Podhoretz, George Conway, Max Boot, George Will- sanctimonious shitheels.
The NYT and WaPo are so over the top insane as to be truly frightening.
Now tell us how you really feel?!? 😄 The "Lincoln Project" grifters are arguably the very finest scumbags money can buy, no?
You don’t want me to go there. I’ve developed Hypergraphia Derangement Syndrome.😂The most severely irritating, annoying form of obsessive behavior… next to the Mockingbird Media Hysteria and Hannity’s obnoxious, redundant mantra and constant interruptions.
The shorthand version: Every player within the Lincoln Project, The Bulwark , Quincy Institute should be prosecuted for treason, sedition domestic terrorism and handed the most severe punishment allowed by federal law. Or the Old Testament.😇
I find Jordan Peterson a bit more credible, given his Clinical Psychology scholar background. Reality perception, manifestation of realities and sense making, survival of cultural signifiers thru time etc. are all difficult subjects but Jordan has done some really interesting academic work in that area. His recent books and lectures are obviously more of a pedestrian though not irrelevant nature. Sam Harris has never produced anything original in his field. My take, anyway. :)
The philosopher Marc Champagne has written a book recently in which he offers an analysis of Peterson’s work. His is the only deep dive into Peterson’s ideas I know of, as virtually no one has read Peterson’s Maps of Meaning. Champagne also presents an overall analysis of Peterson’s public lectures which, again, are not viewed in their entirety by most people. It’s a sympathetic and critical examination of Peterson, imo. Of course, since I grew up with a grandmother who insisted that making your bed in the morning was important to leading an orderly and sober life, I don’t find Peterson’s common sense views on individual responsibility to be an ideology. He has warts, as we all do. Buy why is he so hated?
He’s hated for subscribing to traditional values. Apparently, that makes him less than human.
Harris is a fraudulent coward and given his despicable admission, should be stripped of any medical credentials
I still like to listen to Harris as I think he's the smartest and most principled on the left. He gives a clear argument but I only align with him probably 25% of the time. I have also noticed that he seems a little embarrassed to intersect with voices on the right and takes every opportunity he can to keep his distance so his NYT and WPO friends don't judge him. Also his public Twitter break up was nauseating and totally unnecessary and only revealed his narcissism.
Thanks for the list. That might be useful. I know some of them, of course, but far from all.
Interestingly, it cover a very wide ideological spectrum.
If everyone on the left who deviates from MSM groupthink isn't reclassified as right wing, then sooner or later it will become apparent that the dissent has broad bipartisan support. And if that happens the talking heads can no longer claim to hold the coveted "sensible" centrist position, for they would be the ones taking a non-mainstream extremist position. The relabeling is all about controlling public perception and discourse.
"You only start taking heavy flak when you're getting near the target."
WWII RAF Bomber Command veteran in a letter to Nigel Farage in 2014
And now I know where that quote came from. I always liked that one.
lol, who are you calling sycophant, sycophant?
Pathetic is right.
Reading Taibbi, I feel like the little kid in the school yard, standing behind the cool guy who can actually stand up to a bully and do it well. And I shout "yeah get 'em, Matt!". It feels good.
When MSNBC puts out a hit piece on three of the sources I trust the most, I know I am getting my information from the right places.
The cognitive dissonance of these folks is downright comical.
If mainstream media organizations were really trustworthy news reporters instead of shills who regurgitate the latest establishment narrative, they would be investigating and publishing their own pieces on the Twitter Files. The fact that they are reacting with talking points instead of curiosity confirms that they cannot be trusted. Not that they don’t get a lot of things right, but it is mixed with who knows how much propaganda. As a result, we all have to question and doubt everything they say.
Have you considered the possibility that most people just *gasp* don't give a shit about Twitter?
Dad, is that you?
Is that a joke? You know Twitter is for old people now, right?
Spot 🎯 on ‼️❗️
And these sneering bluenoses wonder why they have such a richly deserved credibility problem with a massive swath of the country.
"Why does nobody trust us any more?"
It certainly couldn't be the constant lying and lying about the lying!
I mean, you're not wrong necessarily. At the risk of doing a whataboutism, though... if you view dishonesty and lack of credibility as mainly left-wing problems, I have to ask where your head has been for the last 20 years of US politics.
My apologies if I just happened to miss all the comments where you slam Trump and his cronies for all their lies, graft, and double-think.
So true! However, in this particular situation, it was the current administration that ramped up the censorship.
Not to worry though, the next swing of the pendulum will have the republicans in power at which point they will try to do these things.
This is why the constitution is so important: we need checks and balances and we need a bill of rights to protect us from these predations.
Absolutely agree. This is why I'm so disappointed that Matt took the bait and now exclusively slings mud at the left.
That said, at present I'm more concerned about the fringes (yes, on both sides) and their ability to ideologically isolate and radicalize the people in their orbit. The constitution has no remedy for that, and Taibbi is unquestionably at the forefront of feeding people into the right wing of that system.
What's worse? Lying, or being a pro-Russian hack who can't get basic historical facts straight?
I'd call you a shill if I could imagine anyone hiring you.
When I look at your 'Stack, I see "tens of thousands of paid subscribers".
I don't see that on the 'Stacks of drone reporters, and for good reason -- the value of their reporting is basically zero because they only repeat what they've been told to say. OF COURSE they aren't covering the Twitter Files, because there's also a CBS Files and an ABC Files, etc.........and government is still in control of those places.
Haha, the paid version of CNN died within a month, proving that no one wants to pay to be propagandized.
LOL That's right!
Dang you, SimulationCommandor. We meant to say that.
This is the saddest suck-up job I've seen in these comments so far, and that is no small feat.
You think Matt wants a thousand drooling morons slobbing his knob every time he puts pen to paper? Because that's how good writers become bad writers.
The truth hurts, troll.
Calling someone a troll just because they disagree with you is a symptom of extreme ignorance. It used to be that only lefty snowflakes would stoop to that tactic... I guess that says a lot about where the right is at these days.
The truth hurts, dummy.
No I call you a troll because I can read your comments up and down this thread -- none of them adding anything at all to the conversation.
Matt gets tens of thousands of subscribers because he writes shit worth reading. MSM 'Stackers do not, because they don't. The facts remain the facts no matter what you say about them.
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damn, I missed the circle jerk
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lol, who are you calling sycophant, sycophant?
Pathetic is right.
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What's worse? Lying, or being a pro-Russian hack who can't get basic historical facts straight?
I'd call you a shill if I could imagine anyone hiring you.
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Matt's following seems to be about 98% brain-dead conservatives these days... even calling him a lefty anymore is a stretch.
...but don't let me interrupt your jerk session.
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Just a taste of your 'contributions' to the thread.
So your opinions are facts, but my opinions aren't?
Like I said, dummy. It's not my fault that the comments are filled with people like you.
No, my facts are facts. Does Matt have tens of thousands of paid subs? (Yes) Do MSM 'Stackers like Taylor Lorenz? (No) Are your replies all to me and my 'opinions'? (No) Are you here to distract from the thread with name-calling? (Yes)
Between the woke takeover of universities and the takeover of media by the intelligence community I am starting to feel like I live in some version of Soviet Russia.
Its certainly nothing like the Soviet era, presently, but its also certainly the American version of that same phenomenon. Which we would do VERY WELL to keep an eye on....
You should check out the book Nothing is True and Everything is Possible. I wrote a review of it here with some great quotes from the book
https://theunhedgedcapitalist.substack.com/p/book-review-nothing-is-true-and-everything
Basically it shows how the corruption and non-reality of society happened first in Russia starting in the early 21st century, and then spread to the west eventually. It's a fascinating story and reads like a novel, although it's all true. I've been reading a lot about Russia lately since the parallels to our own situation are so striking.
Thanks for the word “kayfabe”. It really puts this all in context.
Kayfabe is the perfect word to sum up our world. All about the image/appearance, nothing about substance. Biden has just said he wants to ban gas stoves to solve climate change. OK... Is that a serious thing, or just kayfabe to play well with his followers on the broadkast television каннелы...
Our world is quite strange right now
It is a good word and so useful these days
Thx! i will certainly get this book.
That’s really interesting--I’ve been reading of these same parallels elsewhere, such as the work of Dmitri Orlov.
Thanks for the recommendation.
You're welcome. It's an addicting book, I read it in about 6 days
Welcome to the American Cultural Revolution.
Dirty pool, Deep State! But it’s kinda peak 21st Century that the only rebuttal these empty-headed shills have to Matt’s journalism is essentially “I know you are but what am I?”
Sadly there are still lots of old people who loyally watch that MSM shit and believe the propaganda. And the Pelosi “documentary”... I need to go vomit until I feel clean again. Keep up the good work Mr. Taibbi.
Plenty o fold people readiing Matt and Glenn. Some of us noticed that authority could not be trusted; no, it CAN be trusted, to lie. I consider that a chief lesson of my now-long life.
“Accuse the other side of that which you are guilty”
- Goebbels (supposedly)
We are living in the age of shadow projection.
One thing for certain: Not a single one of these individuals deserves to claim membership in the profession of journalism.
Journalism <> Reporting.
Journalism is a made up term of art to compare the business of dressing up in a suit and sitting at a desk wearing makeup and reading a teleprompter to the businesses of LAW and MEDICINE. They don't have reporting school, they have JOURNALISM school. It's completely made up shit.
I see it this way: Journalism is an ACTION, not a profession.
I had an LOL reading this article. Here is Matt a lefty, however unlike the MSM lefties he mentioned, his followers, even conservatives like me, actually trust and believe his writings are based on facts you can bet money on. I’m really looking forward how he will report on all the proposed House investigations. My bet is he’ll stick to honest and truthful reporting wherever the Chios might fall.
Same here. I'm conservative (actually more libertarian), and I have come to highly respect Matt's journalism. In fact, he is one of the VERY few journalists whom I trust.
Libertarians are the new moderates in our crazy new political spectrum, imo.
I would describe myself as a libertarian now. Not because I find Ayn Rand, Hayek, etc., persuasive, but because I’ve come to realize on a profound level that the psychopaths always, ALWAYS, seize the ring of power, the one ring that rules them all. The only solution is to cast it into the fires of Mount Doom.
I would be one of Matt’s lefty followers (for many years) who think the liberal faux lefties have lost their GD minds. It’s like watching “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” in real time. I’m glad Matt has followers of different political persuasions. It shows he sticks to the evidence regardless of where it leads. A real journalist.
Speaking of betting money... ever notice that the only thing that the government won't let you bet on in this country now is elections?
Everything other sin is now legal. Sports gambling, weed smoking, shoplifting, setting fire to police stations, defecating in the streets of major cities... no foul.
But opening a electoral prediction betting exchange? ILLEGAL. Why is that?
They're trying to protect you from losing money because the game is fixed!
The Presidential ballot harvesting has already begun. 'Just waiting to fill in the blank of the nominee. (Light the candle, Joe!)
Exactly!
Matt's following seems to be about 98% brain-dead conservatives these days... even calling him a lefty anymore is a stretch.
...but don't let me interrupt your jerk session.
For a guy who claims cannot want to interrupt church sessions, you sure are posting a lot in this thread. I believe Matt struck a nerve. It’s sad watching a little boy reduced to nothing more than vapid ad hominems…proving once again that the last line of defense for a tired mind with no argument remaining are personal insults.
Church sessions? huh? Are you having a stroke? Do you need medical help?
Ha ha…auto correct. ‘Jerk sessions’ was what you said you allegedly didn’t want to interrupt…but you just can’t quit us - or this thread. The jig is up. You’ve been exposed for the frauds many of us knew you leftists were all along…and it took a liberal like Matt to remove your masks for you.
So wait a minute: by exposing government efforts to control the narrative, Taibbi is leading people *to* authoritarianism?!?
Sayasaywhat?!?
Newspeak in the house…
I know, right?
I'm guessing their logic goes like this: "Matt relentlessly hammers the left, while conveniently ignoring or minimizing the right's insane spiral into anti-democratic authoritarianism; therefore, Matt is leading people to authoritarianism"
I'm not saying you have to agree with it, but let's not play dumb about what the argument is.
I read their argument as: our followers are leaving us!
And I think the issue is that our followers are leaving us because we are headed in the wrong direction.
"I read their argument as: our followers are leaving us!"
Okay, but that's your interpretation (and quite an extrapolation at that). You must admit that not everyone shares it.
Anyway, how is that different from "whaaaah, the MSM is trying to make me look bad for siding with Russia on the Ukraine war and running interference for Trump"? Turnabout is fair play... if Taibbi didn't want to be criticized by MSM, he should think twice about taking pro-authoritarian stances.
I don't think that the right are the ones leveraging Big Tech, which is the point of his reporting. For that matter, The Squad aren't, either.
Okay, but now you're moving the goalposts. It's completely fair to say that Taibbi is funneling people into right-wing authoritarian echo chambers... big tech can be a piece of that, but it doesn't have to.
Pointing out that the government is censoring and actively disinforming the citizenry is now "funneling people into right-wing echo chambers."
Whatever next....
...and now you're criticizing an argument I didn't make.
It's the *selective* criticism of left-MSM, without acknowledging the gaping maw of insanity that is their competition, that I object to.
Where exactly does Matt think people should be getting their news? Substack? That's not really what the platform is optimized for... it's a blogging site that doesn't hold its writers to any standard of journalism whatsoever. It's only a competitor to the news in that it competes for the same people's attention.
I used your own words.
I don't recall Taibbi telling people where they should get their news, rather, he is pointing out the too-cozy relationship between Big Tech and the government.
“Those who are capable of tyranny are capable of perjury to sustain it.”
― Lysander Spooner
*also applies to stealing elections
Im listening to 1984 right now, and the nerve of authoritarians to point a finger in any direction but their own is astounding
With a whopping dose of Brave New World, Fahrenheit,The Island Of Dr. Moreau, I Robot,Machiavelli, Mein Kampf, Das Kapital, Communist Manifesto, J Edgar Hoover, Louis Farrakhan, Jim Jones, The Manchurian Candidate, Clockwork Orange,Soylent Green and the Twilight Zone
The album by Van Halen, right?! 🤓
"Gonna pack your bags
And leave this house of paaaaaain!"
That’s a funny bit which I will be stealing
Hot for Teacher is best song ever!
Why. Why?? WHY did David Lee Roth think he could leave Van Halen?
1. Cocaine
2. Cocaine
3. MTV
4. Eddie could not stand to hear his voice anymore.
(but Dave vastly superior to Sammy)
Also there was a trend in the 70's and 80's of the companies trying to peel front men (and women) off their original backing bands. I think they thought the front was all the audience cared about in a band and probably made it easier to control the singers, especially as front men tend to have major Egos (and cocaine doesn't help). This of course, had about the same impact as killing the goose that was laying the golden eggs. There are more than a few classic bands that never reached what could have been their potential because they were split up.
Someone put it thusly, that the tension between EVH and DLR was what made Van Halen interesting.
Replacing Roth with Hagar made the band corporate and boring.
That Diamond Dave / Just a Gigolo stuff was awful. Kind of like that David Johansen / Buster Poindexter / Hot Hot Hot thing.
They were pretty similar, except Johansen probably really needed the check whereas DLR was singer in the world's biggest band.
Egos + drugs + money make people do foolish things...
Dave (LR) also has some interesting side gigs. Among many, he's a lisenced EMT tech in NY state.
Oh, Sherry! made some coin for Steve Perry, though.
I kinda like the whole Joe Jackson-Diamond Dave neo-cabaret thing from the early 80s. They are/were performers in the best sense of the word, not whiny, tortured artistes….
Well, it's got the best drum work, sure, but vs. Gimme Shelter, More Than A Feeling, or Philby (by Rory Gallagher)?
Wait, is this actually Jeff Beck?!
"Gimme Shelter"
💯++
ahh is all so subjective...H for T just always makes me smile.
Caveat, I saw the 1984 tour. Third or fourth row center (gift from a friend). Def one of the best touring shows of that era- although I saw Rush a month or so before and they were amazing too, just in a different, more cerebral way.
I sat front row @ MSG for the Diver Down tour...a really great memory (I think the ticket was less than $20).
But those were much wilder times: a kid twice my size with missing teeth appeared and told me we were now sharing the seat! There were no security guards to rescue me, so it was either agree or get a black eye.
But at least he shared his joint!
There’s a version of H for T that’s just the isolated vocal track on YouTube. It’s fucking incredible. DLR was a beast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kb6rllbDu4
Exactly, at least the right has the decency to not hide their authoritarianism anymore.
/s
I think you have to really love big brother to think the authoritarianism on the left isn't showing it's face proudly for all to see - sam Harris anyone?
If Sam Harris is your idea of an authoritarian, I have to assume you don't know much about him, or politics in general.
Do you get paid for holding / pushing idiocy? I hope so....
What are the chances Dwhy agrees with Matt’s latest proffer for a truth and reconciliation committee?🤣
“But the country is currently paralyzed by distrust of media that runs so deep that it prevents real dialogue, and that situation can’t be resolved until the corporate press swallows its pride and admits the clock has finally run out on its seven years of loony Russia conspiracies.
It’s over, you nitwits. It’s time to stow the Mueller votive candles, cop to the coverage pileup created by years of errors, and start the reconciliation process.”
Bravo to MT.
Do you get paid for being a moron? I hope not...
Like you, Sam Harris is an intellectual lightweight whose main talent appears to be that he has mastered the art of whataboutism’s.
Oh, okay. Enjoy your safe space bro.
…says the guy who prefers the Soviet style consensus the leftist party is forced to adhere to in the name of ‘unity’. Too bad you are too dense to be incapable of differentiating unity from autocracy. Your authoritarianism comment is simply more projection, which is what we see occurring when I left us accuse someone else of wrongdoing. Now go check those classified documents Biden withheld and work on your spin
lol, nice strawman
"Too bad you are too dense to be incapable"
............
"differentiating unity from autocracy"
I don't think I mentioned autocracy anywhere, so I'm not sure what you're on about.
‘There are none so blind as those who will not see’.
I wouldn’t expect you to admit to your thirst for autocratic order in your universe.
Once upon a time, you could tell the quality of a person by his friends. Today, it's by his enemies. And by that standard, you're definitely one of the good ones.
And it's not gall or nerve. It's desperation.
I wish I were confident it's desperation. But they may just be coolly fulfilling their assigned functions, knowing they have captured virtually all relevant institutions, assured that they can never be held accountable. MiniTrue was not desperate.
I understand where you're coming from. But given the way they are hemorrhaging viewership, I want desperately (that word again) to believe that they are reacting so ridiculously because they feel the control slipping away.
I hear you, they have accomplished so much in 6 years they must feel confident.
"they were the best and brightest, and they were wrong"
You should read Hate Inc. sometime.
Defining yourself by your enemies is still not a sign of virtue.
Yourself, no, but as a way to judge the value of taking precious time to listen to someone else speak in a world full of noise, knowing who would silence them (read: their enemies) is a handy way to begin to start to winnow the wheat from the chaff.
For some reason, the phrase "mental gymnastics" just kept springing into my head as I read this comment.
I'm not sure why. It's written in plain English.
The Washington Post is written in plain English, too. You can write BS in plain English.
So explain to me why you think it is "mental gymnastics" or, the less tactful, BS.
I would call it a temper tantrum. They are throwing a fit because they can’t control the narrative and they don’t have a substantive, constructive way to react.
That’s the woke way of reaction. They can’t control the narrative based on facts/reality, so they resort to childish emotional blackmail.
The Good Will Hunting clip was perfect! Made up names for “intelligence” 😂 ghouls pretending to be experts on themselves...yes, what a joke
Brothers in journalism.