KEVIN ZEESE—I think this is the beginning of another phase of the defense of Julian Assange. Unfortunately, we knew this day was likely to come, but extradition [to the US] is not guaranteed. People can organize and mobilize, and they started to do that very quickly. This is not the only protest happening today, on this first day of this extradition challenge.We recognize that Julian Assange is a truth teller. His case is the case that determines the future of journalism in the 21st century. It’s equivalent to the John Peter Zenger case. It’s a case that occurred before the United States [existed], in the colonial era, when a publisher published the truth about a corrupt British governor. He told the truth and was arrested. In those days, telling the truth was not a defense. In those days, there was no First Amendment. As a result of that case, truth is a defense, and there is a First Amendment.As a result of Julian’s case, we’re gonna see a democratized media; a media that empowers the people, takes away power from the stranglehold of corporations – the half dozen corporations that control 90 percent of the news. Wikileaks has opened that up. They’ve allowed people who see crime to report crime.”
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PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS—I don’t believe the charge against Assange. If Wikileaks cracked the code for Manning, Wikileaks did not need Manning.The alleged Grand Jury that allegedly produced the indictment was conducted in secret over many years as Washington searched for something that might be pinned on Assange. If there actually was a grand jury, the jurors were devoid of integrity, but how do we know there was a grand jury? Why should we believe anything Washington says after “Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction,” “Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his own people,” “Iranian nukes,” “Russian invasion of Ukraine,” “Russiagate,” and on and on ad infinitum. Why believe Washington is telling the truth this time?
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The new book, “The Russian Peace Threat: Pentagon on Alert”, has been released to rave reviews. It reports on the propaganda that informed US-Russian relations from the Bolshevik Revolution to the present. He takes us through historical events forgotten by time and shaped by propaganda to explain a history that is largely unknown in the west. Brian and John speak with Ron Ridenhour, the author of the book.
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GEOFFREY O’NEILL—Most Americans are unaware of the amount of human suffering the U.S. government has inflicted on others throughout the world, especially post 9/11. We are incessantly told it is our duty to support the troops and our leaders who invade, bomb or otherwise intervene in other nations. The motives offered might be to stop genocide, to take down a maniacal despot, or to spread democracy and American values. Our government purportedly acts with reluctance as well as with compassion, respect for others, and good intent. We are reminded that the troops keep us safe, all the while helping spread the American way of life to a needy world. Why? It is because we are “exceptional.”
