EDITOR—The panel discusses the pathetic Biden-Trump debate, and how it reflects the extreme political decomposition of the United States as it flops around in its late imperial stage exhibiting pathetic leadership and rotten policies at home and throughout its client states in Europe, Asia and other corners of the globe. The main question right now for humanity is whether humanity can survive the fall of US imperialism without an economic implosion or, worse, a cataclysmic nuclear war.
SCUMWATCH
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CAITLIN JOHNSTONE—After bemoaning Israel’s lack of success at “PR” regarding its Gaza assault, Romney just came right out and said that this was “why there was such overwhelming support for us to shut down potentially TikTok or other entities of that nature” — with “us” meaning himself and his fellow lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
“How this narrative has evolved, yeah, it’s a great question,” Blinken responded, saying that at the beginning of his career in Washington everyone was getting their information from television and physical newspapers like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
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Hollywood’s Dangerous Afghan Illusion: “Charlie Wilson’s War”. Legacy of the late Robert Parry
42 minutes readTHIS IS A REPOST
ROBERT PARRY—First, there was the ascendance of propaganda over truth. The U.S. government was well aware of the gross human rights crimes of the Afghan “muj” but still sold them as honorable “freedom fighters” to the American people. Second, there was the triumphalism of Gates and other war hawks, who insisted on rubbing Moscow’s nose in its Afghan defeat and thus blocked cooperation on a negotiated settlement which held out the promise of a less destructive outcome. -
THOMAS FAZI—The US’s role in the overthrow of Allende, and its support for Pinochet’s regime, is well known. Israel’s role, on the other hand, is lesser known — but just as important. Israel did not just train Chilean personnel to aid the repression of its own people. After a US arms embargo against Chile passed the US Congress in 1976, a cable from the US Embassy in Chile on April 24, 1980, acknowledged that Israel was a major arms supplier to Pinochet [including missiles, tanks, and aircraft]. Another US cable, on April 10, 1984, quoted the American undersecretary of state as saying that Israel was still one of the main weapons suppliers to the regime. This steady stream of defense equipment undercut any potential benefits of the US arms embargo because Israel was not part of the deal.
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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.