In what the BBC is unironically referring to as “a remarkable show of solidarity,” the US and more than 20 other countries have participated in the largest collective expulsion of Russian diplomats ever in history. The US topped them all with no less than 60 diplomats expelled, far exceeding the 23 diplomats expelled by the UK, the location of the alleged “Novichok” poisoning which the expulsions are intended as a response to.

This is just the latest gratuitous cold war escalation against the Russian Federation by the Trump administration, which will still remain plagued by accusations of Kremlin collusion despite this latest act and all the others preceding it. Those previous escalations include Trump’s capitulation to the longstanding neoconservative agenda to arm Ukraine against Russia, killing Russians in Syria as part of its regime change occupation of that country, adopting a Nuclear Posture Review with greatly increased aggression toward Russia and blurred lines between when nuclear strikes are and are not appropriate, sending war ships into the Black Sea “to counter Russia’s increased presence there,” forcing RT and Sputnik to register as foreign agents, expanding NATO with the addition of Montenegro, assigning Russia hawk Kurt Volker as special representative to Ukraine, shutting down a Russian consulate in San Francisco and throwing out more Russian diplomats in August of last year.

Isn’t it weird how when you ignore the narratives being promoted by both sides and just look at the raw behavior, being a “Putin puppet” looks exactly the same as being a dangerously aggressive Russia hawk?

Washington's basement gimp.https://t.co/UDi4CbAL9A

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) March 26, 2018

As we’ve discussed previously, this “Novichok” poisoning was suspiciously inflicted upon an ex-spy who had been strategically irrelevant for many years, in a way that both (A) failed to kill him and (B) looks really Russian. Other intelligence agencies take out key strategic assets and make it look like an accident, but the FSB fumbles its assassinations while implicating itself.

These facts alone make it very hard to believe such an assassination attempt just so happened to occur at a time when the US-centralized empire is facing post-primacy and desperately needs a major turn of events to secure its dominance, but if you need further evidence the excellent Moon of Alabama blog has been doing a great job of pointing out all the gaping plot holes in the establishment narrative about the Skripal case.

And yet here is the US-centralized empire, collaborating to deteriorate diplomatic relations with a nuclear superpower without having seen a shred of reliable evidence. The empire has an extensive history of using lies, propaganda and false flags to manufacture public support for insane escalations that the people would otherwise refuse to consent to in order to advance elite agendas of global domination, and there is certainly no reason to go believing them about this new case.

1) Other than bombing Moscow, is there anything Trump could do to make people rescind the "he's-a-Kremlin-puppet" line? (would bombing Moscow even work?); 2) who will be the 1st to say Putin told him to do this to hide the plot?; 3) can't Putin use the pee-pee tape to stop this? https://t.co/Yg17XDw11u

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 26, 2018

But it’s working anyway. Democrats support each of these escalations because they suffer from the delusion that any attack on Russia is an attack on Donald “Literally Hitler” Drumpf, and Republicans consent to it because it’s being done by their president and they believe it helps fight the collusion narrative, which they fear will hurt them in the midterms.

Well I got news for you, snowflakes: if we all get nuked, there ain’t gonna be no midterms. Democrats won’t get Joe Biden riding in to the throne room on a white horse in 2020 after a completely uncontested primary. Republicans won’t get to see “Qanon” proven right as Trump delivers the final uppercut to the deep state and jails every Democrat and Never-Trumper in Washington for pedophilia. None of your weird political fantasies will ever come true if a world war erupts between nuclear superpowers, as it is looking increasingly likely.

Stop consenting to these escalations and insist on detente. Spread the word and fight the lies with truth. They wouldn’t be working so hard to manufacture our consent if they didn’t need it.

So refuse to give it to them. Fight the disinformation with information. Attack the propaganda machine at its weakest points, and never stop throwing punches. Remain agile and willing to switch tactics on a dime. Refuse to fight the empire on its terms. Be unorthodox. Break the rules. Hide brass knuckles in your boxing gloves. Think outside the box, keep throwing gravel in the gears of the machine, and never give these bastards time to establish a dominant narrative.

If we are creative and relentless enough, we can disrupt the propaganda machine so much that the spell of believability falls away, and instead of being paced into consenting to world war for the preservation of imperial hegemony, we can shrug off the old mechanizations of manipulation and control and build a new world together.

Fight their lies. Be aggressive, be creative, and never, ever give up. If these pricks are going to drive our species into extinction, the least we can do is make it hard for them.

Take 2

Dear America: Please Stop This Shit. Signed, The Rest Of The World.

They want you arguing over who should and shouldn’t be called a terrorist based on what ideology you subscribe to and what color the latest killer’s skin was. They do not want you talking about the way the label “terrorist” itself is being used to justify unconstitutional detentions, torture, mass surveillance, and wars.

They want you arguing over whether to support the Democrats because the Republicans will take civil rights away from disempowered groups or Republicans because the Democrats will take away your guns and force you to bake gay wedding cakes. They don’t want you talking about the fact that both parties advance Orwellian surveillance, neoliberal exploitation and neoconservative bloodshed in a good cop/bad cop extortion scheme to keep Americans cheerleading for their own enslavement.

They want you arguing about whether Trump did or did not collude with Russia. They do not want you looking at what preexisting agendas the CNN/CIA Russia narratives are advancing and who stands to benefit from them.

Some dismaying messaging at #MarchForOurLives: "There is no reason why anyone other than military and law enforcement should have an assault weapon like this." Sad to see the centrist-imposed script justify police militarization and normalize endless shooting abroad. pic.twitter.com/1cp3o6TtH8

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) March 25, 2018

They want everyone fighting over table scraps while they pour unfathomable riches into expanding and bolstering their empire. They psychologically brutalize you with propaganda day in and day out, and then expect you to look to them for protection from the phantoms they invented.

They don’t want you paying attention to the growing number of signs that the current administration is gearing up for a major military bloodbath which may lead our species into a third and final world war. They want you talking about Stormy Daniels instead.

And by “they” I of course mean the loose transnational alliance of plutocrats and defense/intelligence agencies who control the US-centralized empire, whose primary agenda is always to expand their own power and influence.

The “they” in question are aware that their empire is (according to their own data) entering post-primacy, which will lead to the rise of a multipolar world in which the US-centralized empire suddenly has rivals which can compete on equal footing for resources, assets and allies. Unless they do something very drastic very soon.

This arrival at post-primacy just so happened to coincide with the choice in 2016 between a warmongering establishment stalwart whom the DNC and media propaganda machine tried to force into the White House at great expense, and a billionaire who knew what people wanted to hear and has proven himself to be every bit the violent empire loyalist that his opponent would have been.

The election was fake and meaningless. Both candidates are owned and operated by the same unelected power establishment.

Now the Trump administration is being filled with more and more bloodthirsty neoconservatives of the same strain which backed Hillary Clinton, who are being promoted to higher and higher positions within that administration. Longtime Iran and Russia hawk Mike Pompeo’s promotion into Hillary Clinton’s old job as Secretary of State was quickly followed by the elevation of John Bolton, easily the most virulent neoconservative war hawk in Washington, to the position of National Security Advisor.

There were many perfectly qualified candidates who could have served as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, but Trump selected the two most violent neoconservatives on the menu. There is no reason to do such a thing unless wars are planned; none of the countless feeble arguments I’m seeing from Trump apologists come anywhere close to a convincing argument to the contrary. All John Bolton does is war. You don’t appoint him to the leading advisory position on national security unless war is what you want.

In response to all this, Trump’s political opponents are of course talking about what he did with his penis.

As of this writing, #StormyDanielsDay is the top US trend on Twitter. I don’t know what #StormyDanielsDay is. I don’t care what #StormyDanielsDay is. Neither should you. Neither should anyone else.

Sex worker Daniels: A reckless distraction cynically used by Trump's enemies at a moment when humanity should have its eyes focused on averting a nuclear war.

Please stop this shit, America. If the US war machine goes after Iran or Russia it will likely mean a world war against multiple nuclear-armed countries, which could very easily send our species the way of the dinosaurs should a nuke get deployed in the fog of war. We don’t have time to focus on Stormy fucking Daniels.

Those most fiendishly devoted to the service of the empire would rather take that risk than see the US lose its dominant role on the global stage; for them there is no difference between the end of their empire and the end of their lives. From their point of view they are fighting for their lives, and they are willing to take all-or-nothing gambles with the lives of every terrestrial organism in order to win.

We are staring down the barrel of world war and possible extinction. This should deeply impact the hearts and minds of Trump’s opponents and his supporters. Stop arguing about Stormy fucking Daniels and spread awareness about things that really matter.

Thanks for reading, clear-eyed rebel. My daily articles are entirely reader-funded, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following me on Twitter, bookmarking and getting on the mailing list for my website, checking out my podcast, throwing some money into my hat on Patreon or Paypal, or buying my new book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.

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