This Is What Empire Looks Like

 

This Is What Empire Looks Like

by C.A. Matthews

...Mark Twain, William Jennings Bryan, and all those early anti-imperialists understood America had a choice: It would be empire abroad or democracy at home, but it could not be both. The choice is now bitterly obvious.

This leaves Americans with nothing left to believe in, nothing worth lifting a finger or even raising a voice to defend. As our militarists mull whether to reinstitute the draft to fill the ranks of the reluctant, we should consider: This is what empire looks like. --Patrick Lawrence: The Dialectic of the Draft

What does “empire” look like to you?

When you spot a homeless person wandering the streets of an urban setting, bags in hands and perhaps pushing an old shopping cart full of their earthly possessions, does the word “empire” and all that it implies spring to mind?

Whenever you encounter a crumbling bridge or a pot hole the size of the Grand Canyon as you commute to work, do you think: Wow. Isn’t it great that the US has invaded so many other countries and forced them to give up their resources so we can enjoy the best of everything here?

After you’ve gifted your last twenty bucks to a friend’s GoFundMe to help him pay for an operation he desperately needs, but he can’t afford since he has no health insurance, do you jump for joy upon reading a headline stating that Biden has given another $24 billion dollars to an endless proxy war?

Are you anxiously awaiting your turn to join or be drafted into the army so you can experience “survivable nuclear warfare” up close and personal in Ukraine, Iran, China or...?

Do you still call Juan Guaido “el presidente” of Venezuela? Did you support the blowing up of the Nordstream 2 pipeline, because you believe the US should keep it’s European allies dependent on us for the fuel to heat their homes and run their factories?

Whenever you read how Israel just blew up a home in Gaza full of little children does it bring tears of joy to your eyes because you figure all Palestinian nine-month olds are terrorists?

Are you ecstatic whenever you see the price of gasoline has jumped by another fifty cents? Are you happy to pay significantly more for the same bag of groceries that you purchased last month? Is paying your landlord yet another rental increase the most beautiful thing in the world to you?

Do you think the “Climate Emergency” is completely made up? “Global Boiling” or warming isn’t even a real thing? That there’s never going to be a day of reckoning for what we’ve done to our planet?

Can’t wait to lock up all the “homos, drag queens, and rapist migrants”? Can’t wait to put women back in their rightful place—in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant, with no access to abortion care or birth control? The world would be a happier place with everyone in their proper place, wouldn’t it?

Are you gathering up books right now for a good ol’ fashioned book burning? Are you keeping your kids out of the socialist public school systems that teach how all people are equal (CRT) when it’s more than obvious some just aren’t?

Do you believe in active censorship of social platforms, broadcast media outlets and the press? Can’t wait to shut down all opposition groups that defy those in power? Do you get a thrill out of kicking alternative party candidates off the ballot?

Voting? Really? It’s for the birds! Let the billionaires run the show outright from now on. It would save a lot of trouble holding pretend elections every so often, right?

Did you learn that freedom and capitalism go hand in hand? Do you still believe it even after you’ve been laid off from your job and thrown into debtors’ prison through no fault of your own?

Deep down, do you feel it’s gotta be your fault if you can’t make it in an economic system that favors those who are born in the “right” zip code with the “right” last name and the “right” network of friends and family members? Anyone can “get ahead” if they do capitalism right, right?

What’s your excuse? Oh, yeah, it’s those migrants who keep “stealing” our jobs by working for pennies on the dollar and the union members who keep insisting on a living wage. They’re making the bosses hire the “wrong” type of workers, right?

Have you figured out yet that agreeing to any or all of the above demonstrates you have no problems living in an empire?

This is what empire looks like. If you were born in the US, you’ve been living in one your entire life. You’re used to the harsh treatment of both yourself and your neighbors. That’s because an empire will try to pass itself off as a “representative democracy” or some related thing and tell you that you’re stupid if you think it’s otherwise. You’ll take the denials of your human rights and be satisfied.

It’s the ultimate Stockholm Syndrome. A co-dependent relationship where you feel you’re deserving of abuse. Bend over and take it and be happy that you don’t live in… wherever it is the propagandists are telling you where you don’t want to live in this moment in time because they don’t have “freedom and democracy” like Americans all think we do.

It’s easy letting your betters in the empire do all the thinking for you, isn’t it? Just nod and do as you’re told and you’ll be all right—that is, until they figure out you’re not worth keeping around anymore.

That’s the true beauty of running an empire. An empire can just ignore the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the unemployed, and the sick without the means to get well. Eventually they just die off from neglect by the state. By the hundreds of thousands, even millions. They call it, “Survival of the fittest.”

Are you “fit”? Are you sure? Do you really want to find out when the US military drafts you and ships you out to another war for oil or uranium or lithium or whatever it is the Empire is interested in this time around? When they neglect you in your time of greatest need?

This is what empire looks like.

The alternative to empire is practicing true democracy and equality for all. Folks caring for one another. Putting social programs and the needs of the people before the greed of the military-industrial complex. Putting the health of our planet and the well-being of our children above killing and stealing from fellow human beings in order to make a quick profit.

Dr. Cornel West promotes this better way of living. If you’re interested in leaving the US empire behind and building a democracy instead, check out his platform. But don’t wait. We don’t have long. The wildfires caused by our empire’s neglect of the planet and its people are burning everywhere. It’s time to help put them out by squashing the oxygen to the empire builders once and for all.

 

One huge obstacle to revolutionary change is that people can’t really see the depravity of the empire, because they’ve been conditioned not to look at it too closely, and because they’ve been habituated to it their entire lives. It’s possible to help them see it with fresh eyes. --Caitlin Johnstone, The Most Important Election Of All Time

 

Related Articles and Interesting Links:

It's Never About The US President, It's About The US Empire
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/its-never-about-the-us-president

Patrick Lawrence: The Dialectic of the Draft  https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/10/patrick-lawrence-the-dialectic-of-the-draft/

Biden Asks Congress for Additional $24 Billion to Spend on Ukraine War https://news.antiwar.com/2023/08/10/biden-asks-congress-for-additional-24-billion-to-spend-on-ukraine-war/ 

 

Capitalist Greed And Imperialist Policies Fuel Migrant Housing Crisis https://popularresistance.org/capitalist-greed-and-imperialist-policies-fuel-migrant-housing-crisis/

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - The Israel Lobby’s Useful Idiot

https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/robert-f-kennedy-jr-the-israel-lobbys

Ohio voters reject referendum measure backed by anti-abortion forces https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/08/10/lxej-a10.html

The Illusory Truth Effect And The "Unprovoked" Invasion Of Ukraine https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-illusory-truth-effect-and-the

Defense Contractor Funded Think Tanks Dominate Ukraine Debate https://quincyinst.org/report/defense-contractor-funded-think-tanks-dominate-ukraine-debate/

How Swedish Love for the US Turned Deadly https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/10/how-swedish-love-for-the-us-turned-deadly/

New York Times Helps Marco Rubio Push Persecution Of Antiwar Leftists https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/new-york-times-helps-marco-rubio

More People Die Young in US Due to Health Care and Welfare Cuts, Study Findshttps://truthout.org/articles/more-people-die-young-in- us-due-to-health-care-and-welfare-cuts-study-finds/

Building Grassroots Power For National Universal Health Care
https://popularresistance.org/building-grassroots-power-for-national-universal-health-care/

The UN’s Vague ‘New Agenda for Peace’ https://consortiumnews.com/2023/08/08/the-uns-vague-new-agenda-for-peace/

Survivors Of Oppenheimer’s Trinity Test Are Still Fighting For Justice https://popularresistance.org/survivors-of-oppenheimers-trinity-test-still-fighting-for-justice/

109-year-old Tulsa Massacre Survivor Becomes Oldest Woman in the World to Release a Memoir https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/08/109-year-old-tulsa-massacre-survivor-becomes-oldest-woman-in-the-world-to-release-a-memoir/

In A Summer Of Record Heat, Striking Workers Are Making Climate Demands https://popularresistance.org/in-a-summer-of-record-heat-striking-workers-are-making-climate-demands/

Maui’s deadly wildfires burn through Lahaina – it’s a reminder of the growing risk to communities that once seemed safe https://theconversation.com/mauis-deadly-wildfires-burn-through-lahaina-its-a-reminder-of-the-growing-risk-to-communities-that-once-seemed-safe-211317

Congress ADMITS U.S. Has Invaded Hundreds of Other Countries!
https://youtu.be/AEiSiozBHmM

New Study Finds Fracking Is Linked To Seismic Tremors https://popularresistance.org/new-study-finds-fracking-is-linked-to-seismic-tremors/

3-Year-Old Dies En Route to Chicago Under Abbott’s Anti-Migrant Bussing Program https://truthout.org/articles/3-year-old-dies-en-route-to-chicago-under-abbotts-anti-migrant-bussing-program/

Seen on (formerly known as) Twitter:

Joe Biden just announced another $13B to Ukraine. The total is now ~$130B. For that price Americans could have:

Ended Homelessness permanently ($20B)
Universal Pre-K ($35B)
Free Community College ($30B)
Fix all 45k structurally insufficient bridges ($42B)
= $127B

Priorities

— Robert (Durden) (@realrobdurden) August 10, 2023

https://twitter.com/realrobdurden/status/1689693557869674497 

Coming soon, the first book from The Revolution Continues blog:  The Little Red Book of Revolution

How can you get your e-copy? The easiest way is to subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack as a paying subscriber. Choose what level you'd like to subscribe at: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com

If you'd like to help out in the meantime, buy me a coffee!  https://ko-fi.com/therevolutioncontinues

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The Choice

The Choice

by C.A. Matthews

I attended the Green Party US Annual National Meeting this past weekend. Once again we convened together online to hear what our fellow Greens and others have to say about the state of our nation and our planet. I have to admit that I quite enjoy online conventions. They’re cheaper and easier to attend, and you don’t have to dress up—or at all—if you don’t want to. Given a choice, I’d be happier attending online conventions from now on. This is probably going to be possible even with next year’s Presidential Nominating Convention, as I understand they’re planning a “hybrid convention” with both in-person and online components. Sounds good to me.

But some things in life don’t offer you a choice. You’re stuck with what you’re given, like it or not.

I’m one of those persons who’ll fight against anyone who tells me that I’m stuck with voting for only a “red” or “blue” candidate. Unless “red” means they’re a socialist, I’ll politely decline. And if “blue” means I’m supposed to hold my nose and “vote for the lesser evil,” then no thanks. I’m quite happy voting for the greater good by supporting the Green candidate who follows our Four Pillars of “people, planet and peace not (corporations’) profits.” 

My ability to vote for the candidate of my choice is important to me, as I hope it is to others as well. That’s why I’m volunteering to help out with the 2024 ballot access initiative throughout the US, so voters will have the opportunity to vote Green and not feel stuck voting for one of the “lesser evils.” The more choices Americans have at the ballot box, the better outcomes (I hope) we can expect for our country.

But some things in life don’t offer you a choice. You’re stuck with what you’re given, like it or not.

I repeat that line because that was essentially the theme behind this year’s Green Party keynote address given by NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus. Peter didn’t give us a choice when he stated quite plainly that Earth is in big trouble, and human beings have caused this big trouble, and we might already be at the point of no return even if we act now. Peter isn’t seeing any nation on the planet taking any real actions to address the climate emergency. He told us, “Don’t lose hope—but don’t have false hope” either. 

That was not a thought I wanted to hear. It takes away our choice to do something to rectify this dire climate crisis situation, but Peter is right. We don’t have a choice today because we have chosen foolishly in the past. We have voted for the “lesser evil” too many times and have received evil in abundance by electing politicians firmly under the control of Big Oil.

Worse yet, even with all the signs and warnings from planetary scientists, we continue to act foolishly by supporting and increasing our dependency on fossil fuels. There is no excuse for our behavior. Americans have had choices and have repeatedly chosen the wrong path. The “global boiling” we’ve witnessed this summer in the oceans full of blanched coral reefs, on land with the hottest temperature ever recorded at 136 degrees F., and in the massive forest fires continually burning in Canada that have blanketed most of the eastern half of the US with smoke particulates, killing thousands though respiratory failure, demonstrates that, when given a choice about our leadership, we choose the wrong leaders.

And look where our wrong choices have gotten us—we’ve put our planet and its inhabitants, including the fish, birds, animals, insects and plant-life at risk of total extinction. I hope buying that gas-guzzling SUV and taking all those air flights and Princess cruises to dump sewage water in the Caribbean were worth it. It hasn’t been for the Earth.

Peter stated that he feels rage particularly at the sheer stupidity of our society. He noted that all the seemingly positive talk politicians make about becoming “Net Zero by 2050!” is dangerously misinformed. There’s no way we will be able to sequester all the carbon already let lose in our atmosphere. Our children twenty years from now won’t be able to to use this mythological “carbon capture” technology, even if it does exist by then.  

Why? Well, it’s simply because they’ll have their hands full of dealing with all the constant flooding, massive heatwaves, ocean level rise, increasingly destructive tornadoes, hurricanes and tsunamis creating billions of climate refugees worldwide. When will they have the time and energy to create this magical tech?

Even worse, if we want to even lessen the impacts these disasters will have on our children in the future, we’d need to start now doing what needs to be done. We’d have to kick the fossil fuels addiction yesterday. That means giving up the family car. That means not flying or yachting about the planet constantly. That means no more disposable water bottles and fast-food wrappers. How easy is that going to be? 

Are you willing to give up your creature comforts so your grandchildren can have a livable planet to live on in the coming decades?

 

Americans—well, all human beings really—love to have choices. But some things in life don’t offer you a choice. You’re stuck with what you’re given, like it or not. We’ve hurt Mother Earth. Badly, perhaps fatally. It’s time to repent and change our ways, drastically change our polluting ways. Or else we’ll be as dead as Mother Earth will be.

Peter made a good point that the tiny number of climate activists currently protesting, shouting at, and standing up to the fossil fuel industries isn’t going to make them shut down. The corporations are protected by governments with big armies and deep pockets. The planet is calling out for planetary leadership that puts Earth first before corporations’ profits.

In the US, we ‘ll need the power of executive branch to ban fracking, end pipeline construction project and stop the disinformation coming from the Big Oil CEOs according to Peter. The president should declare a climate emergency and get our economy on a “war footing” like we did during World War 2, but instead it would be fighting to save our planet and its people.

Peter confessed that he didn’t trust either of the “red” or “blue” teams to be up to the task. He recommended Americans work to enact Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in order to give an alternative (or “third”) party US presidential candidate a chance of gaining the presidency who is willing to take on Big Oil and do what needs to be done. 

Okay, now that is a choice and an action I can get behind. What do you think?

Peter emphasized that disinformation (or what I’d call “propaganda”) aimed at the working class has made these workers vote against their best interests for decades. The Green Party isn’t widely known as being pro-worker, even though its platform is clearly pro-worker with its support of universal health care and the rights of workers to strike. A “Green-Labor alliance” needs to form. The labor movement, working hard to organize the proletariat in order to enact a general strike, and the environmental movement, working to save our world from further ecological disaster through acts of civil disobedience against Big Oil and others, must come together to take on the “rich sociopaths” destroying our planet.

These rich sociopaths, whose private jets and yachts burning fossil fuels cause a large portion of the carbon building up in our atmosphere, have never been held accountable for their actions under our present system of government. Why? They simply bribe the politicians (through their lobbyists with big briefcases full of cash), as well as gifting jobs and trips to the politicians after they leave office. 

 

If both environmentalists and laborers don’t take them on then what will our children say about us in the year 2040 or 2050? That we cared more about placating the polluting status quo than we cared about our planet and their very lives?

In the end, we all have a choice to make. It is a difficult choice, but we must make it. We will all live with the consequences of that choice, for better or worse. Peter Kalmus says we should never give up. The hour is late, but we must rise up together to save all that we can. Nothing is more important. Our children deserve our best efforts.

Which choice will you make?

 

Peter Kalmus:

“Biden’s refusal to declare a climate emergency and his eagerness to push new pipelines and new drilling — at an even faster pace than Trump — goes against science, goes against common sense, goes against life on Earth.”

--from Joe Biden must declare a climate emergency. And he must do so now

Related Articles and Interesting Links:

Keynote address from Peter Kalmus https://youtu.be/Subt87Vsp9E

Joe Biden must declare a climate emergency. And he must do so now https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/27/joe-biden-climate-emergency-peter-kalmus

Polluters Rely On Old Rhetoric To Block Clean Energy Future
https://popularresistance.org/polluters-rely-on-old-rhetoric-to-block-clean-energy-future/

The climate movement has a recruiting and retention problem – here’s how we fix it  https://wagingnonviolence.org/2023/08/climate-movement-recruitment-retention-problem/

There Are Enough Resources In The World To Fulfill Human Needs
https://popularresistance.org/there-are-enough-resources-in-the-world-to-fulfil-human-needs/

US/France threaten intervention in resource-rich Niger: Fears of war in West Africa  https://geopoliticaleconomy.substack.com/p/us-france-intervention-niger-west-africa

SCOTT RITTER: The Atomic Executioner’s Lament
https://consortiumnews.com/2023/08/02/scott-ritter-the-executioners-lament/

Decades later, the US government called Hiroshima and Nagasaki ‘nuclear tests’ https://www.nationofchange.org/2023/08/03/decades-later-the-us-government-called-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-nuclear-tests/

Commemorating Hiroshima And Nagasaki Bombings
https://popularresistance.org/commemorating-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-bombings/

Military.com Op-Ed Calls for Military Draft
https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/02/military-com-op-ed-calls-for-military-draft/

How to Ignore 4.5 Million Deaths
https://fair.org/home/how-to-ignore-4-5-million-deaths/

'Will Literally Change Lives': Massachusetts Legislature Approves Universal Free School Meals https://www.commondreams.org/news/will-literally-change-lives-massachusetts-legislature-approves-universal-free-school-meals

Patrick Lawrence: Reading the Mess the Democrats Have Made
https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/02/patrick-lawrence-reading-the-mess-the-democrats-have-made/

Report Details 'Shocking Pattern' of Abuse by US Agents at Mexico Border https://www.commondreams.org/news/migrant-abuse

The Forever War’s Forever Legacy https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/03/the-forever-wars-forever-legacy/

Deep State? Or American Mafia? https://julianmacfarlane.substack.com/p/deep-state-or-american-mafia

Judge Orders DOI to Move on Rule for Tribes Reapplying for Federal Recognition https://truthout.org/articles/judges-orders-doi-to-move-on-rule-for-tribes-reapplying-for-federal-recognition/


Another 165 million people join more than one billion in poverty as cost of government debt servicing soars
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/08/02/kxiy-a02.html

 
UPS-Teamsters: The Strike That Wasn't, The Tentative Agreement, Union Leadership and The Upcoming Vote | How Did We Miss That? https://indienewsnetwork.substack.com/p/ups-teamsters-the-strike-that-wasnt

Wage Gains at UPS Have Amazon Workers Demanding More
https://www.labornotes.org/2023/08/wage-gains-ups-have-amazon-workers-demanding-more 

Headlines and front lines: How US news coverage of wars in Yemen and Ukraine reveals a bias in recording civilian harm https://theconversation.com/headlines-and-front-lines-how-us-news-coverage-of-wars-in-yemen-and-ukraine-reveals-a-bias-in-recording-civilian-harm-209652

 

Coming soon, the first book from The Revolution Continues blog:  The Little Red Book of Revolution

How can you get your e-copy? The easiest way is to subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack as a paying subscriber. Choose what level you'd like to subscribe at via the buttons on any post online at: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com

If you'd like to help out in the meantime, buy me a coffee!  https://ko-fi.com/therevolutioncontinues

More details to come. Power to the people! 

 

Seen on (formerly known as) Twitter:

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, just recorded a heat index of 136°F (57.8°C) at midnight.

A heat index that high is near the limits of human survival. pic.twitter.com/nFRPhJWyM7

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) August 6, 2023

Disinformation Wars

Disinformation Wars

by C. A. Matthews  

“The first casualty when war comes is truth.” —Senator Hiram W. Johnson

From Caitlin Johnstone’s Newsletter:

AP's anonymously sourced report which said "A senior U.S. intelligence official says Russian missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, killing two people" went viral because of the massive implications of direct hot warfare erupting between Russia and the NATO alliance. AP subsequently retracted its story as the mainstream political/media class came to accept that it was in fact a Ukrainian missile that had struck Poland.

AP's firing of reporter James LaPorta looks at this time to be the end point of any accountability for the circulation of this extremely dangerous falsehood. AP spokesperson Lauren Easton says no disciplinary action will be taken against the editors who waved the bogus story through, and to this day the public has been kept in the dark about the identity of the US official who fed such extremely egregious misinformation/disinformation to the public through the mainstream press. —AP Editor Says She “Can’t Imagine” a US Intelligence Official Being Wrong

I find it odd that any grown, normally-functioning person couldn’t possibly imagine being lied to by a US intelligence official, but that is what this recent news story suggests. The mainstream media (the AP or Associated Press, no less) is acting stupid to please the American intelligence community. Simply put, the US government wants to keep us in the dark about which one of their propagandists fed false information about these missiles to a now unemployed reporter, James LaPorta. I think in this case the intelligence official(s) knew the lie would be exposed sooner or later, but they felt confident that the damage they wished to inflict upon the reputation of Russia would be enough to justify their actions.

According to journalist Ben Norton at Multipolarista:

By publishing the fake news, the AP set off an international scandal that could have triggered a direct US military attack on Russia.

 

To try to save face, the AP fired LaPorta on November 21... This controversy shows how cozy mainstream corporate media outlets are with US intelligence agencies, and how anonymous spies feed them claims that are often false, but that serve Washington’s foreign-policy interests. —Media Regurgitates Fake News From US Spies Risking World War III with Russia

“All is fair in love and war.”—a proverb attributed to John Lyly's Euphues

Is it? When has “lying in war” ever come close to the equivalent of “fairness”? To propagandists, lying is just another tool in their repertoire they use to control the public’s initial reaction and later to build devotion to a cause. In this case, the cause is the continued support of the NATO-led proxy war in Ukraine and the continuing monetary and military aid the US is sending without hesitation to that part of the world. 

 

If any evidence would surface to demonstrate that the billions of dollars of weaponry the US is giving away isn’t being used for the purpose it was sent for, then it would be more than embarrassing—it could prove fatal to the cause. (For more about the 70% of US-provided weapons gone missing in Ukraine, check out Lab Rats of the World Unite! and the archived CBS 60 Minutes documentary.)

 

If the actual facts were made crystal clear, people might see through the trickery practiced by the US "Ministry of Truth" and demand an end to this conflict altogether. But never fear, the military industrial complex and fossil fuel corporations would never stand for that. Neither would their politician-puppets who enjoy all the money that come from these special interest groups. 

 

The propaganda-spewing US mainstream media stays in step as they cry in horror about the dangers of free speech. Award-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald states:

Online censorship has become one of the most potent propaganda weapons they possess, and there is no way they will allow anyone to dilute it even mildly without attempting to destroy them.  (...)

In unison, these media outlets decreed that not only would greater free speech on Twitter usher in the usual parade of horribles they trot out when demanding censorship — disinformation, hate speech, attacks on the “marginalized,” etc. etc. — but this time they severely escalated their rhetorical hysteria by claiming that Musk would literally cause mass murder by permitting a broader range of political opinion to be aired. —The Media's Deranged Hysteria Over Elon Musk's Restoration of Free Speech

Journalist Matt Taibbi shares another instance of how the US intelligence community is working to muddy the waters of public opinion:

Whether or not you thought the actual content of the story was important, the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop affair was a crossroads moment in the history of modern censorship. YouTube played a major role in this event.

This was a case in which major news media — including CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and countless other outlets — actively embraced disinformation, in the form of a group letter from 50-plus former intelligence officials saying the laptop story (they referred to a “laptop op”) had the “classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” All the aforementioned news agencies fell for this, as did Twitter (which blocked access to it, in what then-CEO Jack Dorsey later admitted was a “total mistake”) and Facebook (whose increasingly adrift founder Mark Zuckerberg later told Joe Rogan the story was throttled down at the suggestion of the FBI).

YouTube also pushed this disinformation campaign. It still does. Despite the total absence of evidence ever existing that the laptop was either fake or part of a Russian “information operation” and a growing pile of evidence that the laptop is real, YouTube continues to leave unmolested on its site countless videos promoting the conspiracy theory — that’s what it is, let’s be clear — that the laptop story is both bunk and an intelligence op. —YouTubeCensors Reality, Boosts Disinformation: Part 1

Once again, a US intelligence agency—in this case it appears to be the FBI—has jumped into the news cycle and tried to deflect attention away from what is actually happening. Not only did they try to cast doubts on the authenticity of the contents of the Hunter Biden laptop, they tried to place the blame for the laptop’s potentially embarrassing and possibly criminal contents on another source. 

 

Hunter Biden’s laptop contents were a “Russian op” like the Ukrainian missiles shot into Poland were “Russian missiles.” No thoughts are given to the facts of how the Ukrainians are still using Soviet-era rocket launchers and multiple experts in ballistics can prove the missiles were launched by Ukraine. No thoughts as to how much of the content of the laptop in question has already been verified. (Read more about how Hunter Biden joined the board of directors of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma in 2014 here.) Whatever the US intelligence community wants the public to think, that's the story mainstream media is going with.

 

There seems to be sort of a pattern to these disinformation attempts... Who are we supposed to trust? Who are we supposed to distrust? What actual evidence have we been given not to trust these people other than what the US intelligence services have told us?

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” —John 8:32

Before we get too down on journalists in general, here's more sobering news that reporting the truth can prove dangerous to one’s health and career:

Sweden’s parliament adopted a major espionage law expansion that will permit the country’s police to investigate journalists, publishers, and whistleblowers if they reveal secret information that “may damage Sweden’s relationship with another state or an international organization.”

Journalists, publishers, or whistleblowers found guilty of revealing such “damaging” information could be sentenced to up to four years in prison under the new law.

The expansion was aimed at ensuring the Swedish government has even more control over what the public learns about the country’s cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and the United Nations. —Sweden Expands Espionage Law, Endangering Freedom of Journalists and Whistleblowers

What comes to mind after reading this bit of news is that Sweden has cooperated with the United States and the United Kingdom to keep Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange imprisoned, first in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and currently in Belmarsh Prison. Western governments—particularly NATO members—seem to be big on perpetuating their propaganda and covering up the truth from the public. They're more than willing to cooperate with each other if the lie proves to be of benefit to them, too.

Here’s another example of the hypocrisy of this situation:

US State Department spokesman and CIA veteran Ned Price tweeted disapprovingly about the Kyrgyz Republic's decision to deport investigative journalist Bolot Temirov to Russia, where press freedom groups are concerned that the Russian citizen could face conscription to fight in Ukraine. (...)

This is after all the same government that is working to extradite an Australian journalist from the United Kingdom with the goal of imprisoning him for up to 175 years for exposing US war crimes. Price says "Journalists should never be punished for doing their job," but that is precisely what the government he represents is doing to Julian Assange, who has already spent three and a half years in Belmarsh Prison awaiting US extradition shenanigans. This is in top of the seven years he spent fighting extradition from the Ecuadorian embassy in London under what a UN panel ruled was arbitrary detention. —US Officials Concern Troll About World Press Freedoms While Assaulting Them

Whistleblowers are forever being painted as the enemy, but never those who openly lie and obfuscate the truth via the implementation of propaganda. Our so-called freedom relies on government officials lying to us and locking up truth-tellers, or so it seems.

“A fool and his money are soon parted.” —Proverbs 21:20

Once again, US propagandists and mainstream media pundits are good at confusing the public about what’s really going on in the world and how much tax payer money we’re throwing at it. We’re informed that economically distressed Americans shouldn’t be too concerned about how the US is sending billions of dollars in military aid to country with a dubious history to fight our proxy war against Russia. There's never enough money for social programs such as universal health care and student loan debt relief, but there's always enough to buy and ship instruments of death: 

The White House on Tuesday asked Congress to approve $37.7 billion in new aid for Ukraine, which would bring total US spending on the war to about $105 billion.

According toThe Hill, the request includes $21.7 billion in military aid for Ukraine and to replenish US military stockpiles that have been sent to the country.

A total of $14.5 billion in budgetary aid to directly fund the Ukrainian government is included, as Kyiv is expecting the US and its allies to pay its budget deficit for 2023. —White House Asks Congress for $37.7 Billion in New Ukraine Aid

Over one-hundred billion dollars sent to Ukraine and who knows how much more will be forthcoming. And US intelligence officials will continue to lie to us about what’s really going on there.

 

When will Americans realize that wars are not being run by generals? They’re being run by propagandists. Yeah, fools and their money are soon parted. Disinformation from our own government is turning us all into penniless fools. What are we going to do about it?

 

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White House Asks Congress for $37.7 Billion in New Ukraine Aid
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Seen on Twitter:

Whole lotta “AsSaNgE iS nOt A JoUrNaLisT” geniuses out today so allow me to remind you that not only is Assange a journalist, he’s the only journalist on earth with a 100% record of accuracy. Thank you, next. #FreeAssangeNOW pic.twitter.com/5B5L7BMkpb

— Comrade Misty is Putin’s Buddy 🍀 (@SarcasmStardust) November 28, 2022

US changed Iranian flag to that of protesters during #WorldCup coverage. Iran should change the US flag to a BLM flag pic.twitter.com/eEEb27knLm

— Lee Camp [Redacted] (@LeeCamp) November 28, 2022