IDEOLOGICAL STRUGGLE

PEPE ESCOBAR—The plenum proved once more that “socialism with Chinese characteristics” – or, for the recalcitrant, Chinese-modified capitalism – is “people-centric”. The supreme values are national interest and the people’s interests – attested by the fact that large private corporations remain under the strategic control of the CPC.

It’s idle to try to find in the final communique at the end of the plenum any restrictions on private capital on the path to “universal prosperity”. The key point is that the role of capital should always be subordinated to the concept of “socialism with Chinese characteristics”.

GEORGE GALLOWAY—One of my earliest memories was watching Scottish soldiers murdering Yemenis in the Crater district of Aden. We’ve been trying for hundreds of years to vanquish them, unsuccessfully.

INDRAJIT—While ‘Israel’ has been pre-occupied with a genocide in the south, they have lost the north. As I discussed earlier, Hezbollah has been systematically eye-poking the cyclops and, now, half the time the sirens don’t even go off. Hezbollah can fire at will and the Iron Dome is broken. ‘Israel’s’ border points have been dismantled and they’re completely open to ground invasion. ‘Israel’s’ problems compound every day the attrition goes on, and it’s been nine months of daily attacks now.

MAX BLUMENTHAL—There are three major factors behind the shift: first, many on the right have begun to share the same sense of disgust and indignation with Israel that progressives have. Who can suppress the pangs of outrage when confronted with the live-streamed industrial level Israeli butchering of children each day for the past 6 months?

Second, more American Christians recognize the threat Zionism poses to Palestinian Christians, whether in Gaza, Bethlehem or Jerusalem. The Christ at the Checkpoint Initiative Munther Isaac helps to lead and US groups like Sabeel have provided a critical network for connecting US churches to Palestine.

Finally, American conservatives are recognizing that the Israel lobby’s influence runs counter to the ethos of America First, and that many of the most heavily promoted right wing influencers are just controlled opposition projects whose careers were astroturfed by pro-Israel billionaires.

ROGER BOYD—Within this mysticism is The Man of Destiny, created by the propagandists funded with ruling class money. His image will never be allowed to be tarnished by the actual policies and real personal history. Does not the cult of Obama fit with the Man of Destiny? A man whose path in life was carefully groomed and lubricated, with a meteoric political rise, who perfectly served the ruling elite instead of the people throughout his two terms? The man who told the bankers that he was there to protect them against the avenging people, who ramped up covert operations and the surveillance state, who prosecuted whistleblowers but not war criminals and torturers, destroyed Libya and Syria, remained in Afghanistan and Iraq, and turned the hope of real healthcare reform into a new massive capitalist subsidy program? Of course Trump is attempting to also fill that role, but his Man of Destiny project is spoiled by the resistance of the Mainstream Media. In the same way that TikTok has undermined the Israeli Nation of Destiny project.