|
|
Home | Switchboard | Unix Administration | Red Hat | TCP/IP Networks | Neoliberalism | Toxic Managers |
| (slightly skeptical) Educational society promoting "Back to basics" movement against IT overcomplexity and bastardization of classic Unix | |||||||
|
|
Switchboard | ||||
| Latest | |||||
| Past week | |||||
| Past month | |||||
| Home | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
For the list of top articles see Recommended Links section
| "The great masquerade of evil has played havoc with all our ethical concepts. For evil to appear disguised
as light, as charity, as historical necessity, or social justice is quite bewildering to anyone raised on traditional ethical
concepts. But for the Christian who builds his life on the word of God, it merely confirms the fundamental perversity of evil." -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer |
 |
 |
 |
Jun 22, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Peter AU1 , Jun 22 2021 20:31 utc | 23
Weaver "China seems to have defined "communism" as a rejection of democracy."
What is democracy? In the west, it has become apparent that whoever controls the media controls democracy. We elect rulers. We do not get any say in formulating many laws as in each new law being put to a referendum. China voted with its feet during the revolution. Many culture elect or otherwise have local leaders who everyone in the community knows and the community leaders decide on or elect who has positions at the next level of governance and so forth. In that way, China is very democratic beginning at the grass roots level.
The Chinese government have done a huge amount in bringing millions of people out of poverty, creating better living conditions for its people. When there is constantly and increase in prosperity at all levels, even if some prosper more than others, the people have an optimistic outlook.
Democracy at a national level where voters do not personal know the candidate requires accurate information to enable an informed vote. In that way, democracy in the west is non existent - it is an illusion but the sheeple cling to it.
Compared to the so called west, China government is very much of the people for the people.
Max , Jun 22 2021 21:06 utc | 30
William Gruff , Jun 22 2021 21:09 utc | 31@ Peter AU1 (# 23), name a democracy that isn't a suzerainty. We don't elect rulers. We elect puppets that have been selected by the rulers. Who owns the media? Who creates majority of money in your nation?
"The true equation is 'democracy' = government by world financiers."
– J.R.R. Tolkien"Democracy" is a temporary phase of history which allows the Global Financial Syndicate to take control from the earlier generation of dominant power players: the monarchies.
Long ago and far away, a group of very clever paleo-banksters figured out a way to stop those annoying periodic slave revolts... eventually it came to be known as "the two party system" (democracy/Republic) and it's working like a charm...Rulers make the slaves fight each other.
World Financiers & Banksters ENSLAVEMENT plan using democracy:
– Create a REVOLUTION & steal a region
– Create a Private CENTRAL BANK (First Bank of the USA, BoE-1694)
– Fund & control new rich individuals (Kleptocrats)
– Fund & control political PARTIES & MEDIA
– Nationalize the central bank (the Fed, BoE-1946)Enslave & control people by DOMINANCE over economic & political powers & call it a DEMOCRACY. An interesting FRACTAL emerges when one analysis the formation of democracies.
What we have is "representative" democracies designed by the economically powerful solely for their interests and in this sense would always be functioning anti-democratically. In a money democracy (where the fundamental element of influence is the unit of money), the political and legal system is influenced and shaped by systems of power to protect and enhance those systems of power.
"There are none so hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free. The truth has been kept from the depth of their minds by masters who rule them with lies. They feed them on falsehoods till wrong looks like right in their eyes."
– GoethePeter AU1 , Jun 22 2021 21:16 utc | 33Weaver @17
Your understanding of democracy and the prevalent Chinese understanding of democracy are divergent.
It is true that all of the political decisions in China are made by the communists; the CPC. But do note that the CPC has almost 100 million members . These are not simply voters like political parties have in the US, who just align themselves with a party and vote for it every couple years. These 100 million members of the CPC are actual decision-makers.
Of course, that is a lot of work and responsibility and not everyone in China wants to commit that much of their life to politics. With that said, how much of your life do you commit to politics? Does your biennial vote actually carry any weight, and do you take full responsibility for the consequences of it? Of course not on both points.
Those Chinese people who choose to do so live democracy. You, on the other hand, just play a shallow democracy game that is little more than a reality TV show like Survivor . Does Trump get voted off the island? Clinton? Sanders? That is your choice. Does America slaughter some more dark skinned people in the Global South? Do the banks get bailed out with your wealth? These things you get no say in.
Communists don't oppose democracy. They oppose the crappy reality TV "The Democracy Show!™" sham that westerners love to hate.
Max
I look on it as somewhat of a mixed group. Fellow travelers do the same thing but for different reasons. Finance, anglo supremacy ect. Amongst the vassal states in same cases straight out corruption as in selling their service es to the highest bidder, amongst the five-eyes, the elite in particular, in the current events of trying to bring down Russia and China, continued anglo dominance of the world is a very big driver. The anglosphere has been a dominant force in the world for close to 500 years and many are truly afraid of this ending. The cant envisage a world that is dominated by cultures other than anglo or anglo/europe.
|
|
|
Jun 22, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
robin , Jun 22 2021 19:33 utc | 14
Posted by: Down South | Jun 22 2021 18:01 utc |
They say madness is doing the same thing over and over again and each time expecting a different result.There's nothing mad about this strategy. If it doesn't make sense, your premise is probably wrong.
Think of it as the Imperial Pottery Barn rule :"What cannot be owned must be broken"
Weaver , Jun 22 2021 19:50 utc | 18
Robin, "the Imperial Pottery Barn rule" is an extremely good analogy. I'm going to have a hard time citing you if I ever use that. I've also seen US foreign policy described as "rubblization," with regard to Syria especially.
|
|
|
Jun 21, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
A.L. , Jun 21 2021 22:33 utc | 37
dh | Jun 21 2021 20:56 utc | 26
The US has fairly good relations with Vietnam
This "fairly good" relationship is mainly done in spite to China and to gain another pawn on the SCS theatre.
It's being wined and dined by the school jock after China gave him the finger like a back-up shag. But Vietnam knows the score, it works for them for now and it would be stupid not to play along as long as it is aligned to its interests.
A large number of its businesses exporting to the west are, you guessed it, are founded and operated by the Chinese for the lower wages and to skirt quotas, tariffs etc.
Vietnam is still a communist state, how is this fact not lost in the face of full spectrum demonisation of China for being communists in the minds of the 5 eyes populace is a most interesting question indeed.
It's as moronic as "China is authoritarian!" but Saudi Arabia is A-OK!
Today democracy and human rights are just fig leaves of the hegemony, war cry for the [colonization of] expendables.
|
|
|
Jun 20, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
JUN 20, 2021Authored by Sam Jacobs via Ammo.com,
Of course you've heard the name " George Soros ," often invoked as a sort of folk demon on the American and international right, it's likely that you have some vague notion of why you think he's a bad guy, or maybe you think the whole thing is a bunch of hype.
However, if you're a freedom lover, there's nothing "hype" about the influence that George Soros has around the world attacking your freedom. Indeed, you probably vastly underestimate the influence that he has on politics.
From the perspective of someone who values life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, there is no more dangerous man today than George Soros. This is not hyperbole, it is the simple truth. While we don't plan to paint a picture of a man standing behind the scenes, rubbing his hands together and cackling as he plays puppet master over each and every attack on freedom around the world, Soros acts as a strawman and a caricature of what is actually going on in the world.
George Soros, his money , and his NGOs are bankrolling and influencing public policy and opinion from the local level all the way up to the national level. Entire nations have been made to bow to the Soros agenda, but perhaps more importantly for our purposes, key local officials in government are increasingly wholly owned subsidiaries of the Soros machine.
Ever wonder why urban terrorists can burn down cities with no consequences but the McClaskys are prosecuted for defending their home against the same ? The answer is George Soros, his money, and his influence.
Do You Know Who Your District Attorney Is?American political culture focuses almost entirely on Presidential elections, with Congressional and gubernatorial races getting much less attention from the general public. When it comes to local politics, unless you live in a large city, chances are good that you don't know much about city politics. For example: Who is your local district attorney or county prosecutor?
Most people have no idea. It's a low-key office, generally staffed by someone looking to do public service, not advance their career. There is little glamor, low pay, and lots of thankless work to be done at this level, which means that for the most part, this is not where social climbers begin their careers.
That being said, these elected officials have enormous amounts of power because they decide who gets prosecuted, who doesn't, and what charges are levied against them. If your DA decides that the local band of looters are actually peaceful protesters, they won't ever see the inside of a courtroom. Similarly, if the local DA isn't a fan of the right to self-defense, one must consider this when choosing whether or not to pull your firearm if a mob of them shows up on your lawn.
George Soros understands this and has been quietly funding a campaign to place district attorneys amenable to his agenda across the United States.
The Los Angeles Times – hardly the Epoch Times – describes this as " a years-long campaign by liberal groups to reshape the nation's criminal justice system ." You should believe them when they tell you this, because that is precisely the goal. Not the litigation of the 10-yard fight that is the minutiae of law in America, but the radical reshaping of the legal system as we know it .
Part of this is just the very nature of bureaucracy, the plainer term for what people mean when they talk about "the deep state." The government rests on men doing things, chief among these are what Vladimir Lenin called "special bodies of armed men" : cops, courts, and jails. According to Lenin, this is the very essence of the state. Libertarians will sympathize with this definition of the state. At its core, the state is a man with a gun who will throw you in a cage or kill you if you fail to comply. Everything else is just window dressing.
The local prosecutor is a chokepoint in the special bodies of armed men. The attorney general isn't euphemistically called "top cop" for no reason and in his own way, the local prosecutor is also a "top cop," albeit with a much smaller jurisdiction. This also means that he has more direct control over the individuals in his district, as the attorney general deals more in broad brushstrokes.
Who is your local DA? George Soros knows. He might very well be his paymaster.The campaigns for local DAs and the like aren't shy about stoking racial resentment and animosity. The Democratic Party's playbook hasn't changed much since the days of Jim Crow, it's just that it has found new ways to make political hay out of sowing racial divisions among Americans. One Soros-produced ad for Noah Phillips campaign for District Attorney of Sacramento County, focuses almost exclusively on a black boy in a hoodie .
It is of course unrealistic to expect that even highly bureaucratic roles are entirely apolitical, however, the Soros DAs have ratcheted up the partisanship, not just in the race, but in the actual execution of the office. As of September 2020, there were 31 Soros-backed DAs in the United States . That might not sound like a lot, but it includes the DAs of Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, and St. Louis. All told, tens of millions of Americans are now victims of the Soros racket in the form of their local top prosecutor.
Some examples of the Soros machine at work in America's DA offices include:
After the last round of rioting, looting, and arson in St. Louis, Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner dismissed charges against all 36 people arrested. She's on the take from Soros for $307,000 . This is also the prosecutor who filed charges against the McCloskeys.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon got over $2 million from the Soros operation , he ended cash bail and is no longer prosecuting the crimes of trespassing, disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, prostitution, or driving without a license.
Kim Foxx is the Illinois State's Attorney and has received $807,000 from Soros. She also declined to prosecute rioters, saying "The question it comes down to is, is it a good use of our time and resources? No, it's not." Foxx likewise declined to prosecute hate crime hoaxer, Jussie Smollett.
Philly District Attorney Larry Krasner has received $1.7 million from Soros. He won't be prosecuting rioters, looters, and arsonists. Krasner was very open about the ideology driving his permitting chaos in the city: "Prosecution alone will achieve nothing close to justice -- not when power imbalances and lack of accountability make it possible for government actors including police or prosecutors to regularly take life or liberty unjustly and face no criminal or career penalty."
Krasner is worth calling out for special attention because he filed 75 cases against the police and has represented both Occupy Philadelphia and Black Lives Matter. At his victory party, supporters chanted, "F*** the police! F*** the police!" He generally declines to call himself a "prosecutor," instead labelling himself a "public defender with power."
The results in Philadelphia are stunning as charges are dropped in 60 percent of all shooting cases – though we suspect your odds of being a conservative self-defense case and having your charges waived are rather slim. Shootings in Philadelphia were up 57 percent year over year from 2019 to 2020.
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who's working off $620,000 in Soros money, proclaims that "[t]he criminal justice system isn't just massive and brutal, it's also racist." He doesn't prosecute crimes such as solicitation, public camping, or public urination, which has certainly transformed San Francisco into a paradise on earth . Homicide rates have increased, burglary cases have increased by 42 percent, motor vehicle theft increased by 31 percent, and arson rates increased by 45 percent. He was formerly an advisor to Hugo Chavez and his parents were members of the Weather Underground , a far-left terrorist organization who directly participated in the robbery of an armored car. His victory party included obscene anti-police chants.
DA Mike Schmidt of Portland, who's received $230,000 in Soros money, also declined to prosecute rioters who burned the city for months while besieging a federal building. He openly sympathized with the rioters saying that they "represent the instinctive reactions of people who have been gassed repeatedly, who have been struck with kinetic projectile weapons."
If the Soros machine can capture a District Attorney's office in San Francisco, which is extremely expensive, there is little preventing them from capturing prosecutorial powers in Omaha, Annapolis, or Colorado Springs – or indeed your hamlet.
The Soros Machine and Racial UnrestMuch like the Democrat Party he supports, George Soros is not the slightest bit afraid to go into the mud of the politics of racial resentment. The Open Society Foundations are the primary mechanism for Soros delivering money to political activists in the United States and around the world. In 2020, The Open Society Foundations unveiled plans to spend $220 million on "efforts to achieve racial equality in America."
To show you the relative priority that the Soros machine places on "racial equality" as opposed to electoral politics, the Soros machine only spent $28 million on the Democrat Party in 2020 .
When Soros says "racial equality," he means something very different from what you or the average American means when they say it. What Soros deems "racial equality" might more accurately be called "racial revenge," though the left prefers to use the term "racial equity." We will dive more into the ideology motivating Soros later, but our article on the Frankfurt School and Cultural Marxism is also an excellent resource on the deep philosophy of the Soros machine.
What Are the Open Society Foundations?It's important to know how the Soros machine operates so that you can learn to look for it. The Open Society Foundations is the main umbrella under which Soros distributes money. It includes a number of organizations, most of which you've probably never heard of and most of which feature very innocuous, even bland-sounding, names. The think tank used to generate the ideology is New America, formerly known as the New America Foundation, the name of which is much more direct about what it intends to create.
So what is an "Open Society?" Well it's based on a phrase used by Karl Popper , a somewhat obscure 20th Century thinker known best for his " paradox of tolerance ," which essentially says that liberals should stop tolerating diversity of opinion when it begins to threaten liberalism.
Where does the Soros operation put its money in America in order to transform the country into an "open society?" It aims to abolishing the police and invest $1.5 million into the Community Resource Hub for Safety & Responsibility, another one of these blandly named organizations working to undo the American way of life. Additionally, his money has been linked to the urban unrest in Ferguson in 2014 . In total he spent $33 million fomenting chaos in the formerly safe suburb of St. Louis.
Of course, no rogue's gallery of the radical left would be complete without mentioning Black Lives Matter (BLM), another one of these vaguely innocuous-sounding organizations that Soros spends his money on. And boy howdy, did he spend money on BLM - George Soros spent $33 million on BLM alone .
What Is the Philosophy of the Open Society Foundations?We've seen the modus operandi of the Soros machine, but what is the ideology that motivates it?
Soros' umbrella organization is The Open Society Foundations. The phrase "open society" is one of those things that sounds so unassailable that no one could be against it. After all, are you for a closed society?
This is the framing trick used by the left since time immemorial. Something vague and innocuous sounding is picked as a name which means something very, very different to those in the know. So what is an "open society" to Soros and his retinue?
It is a concept developed by Karl Popper, Soros' intellectual hero. Popper was not a Cultural Marxist, in fact he was highly critical of Marxism. However, there is so much overlap in terms of end results that it becomes a distinction without a difference.
Karl Popper didn't invent the concept of the open society, despite his association with the term and his development of the idea – that dubious honor falls to a Frenchman by the name of Henri Bergson. However, we can credit most of what the open society is understood as today as springing from the mind of Karl Popper.
There are some key takeaways about what an open society actually is. First, the open society is an atomized society. People are to be seen not as part of any kind of social organism, but rather as radically separate individuals. The individual is not an essential building block of society, it is the end to itself. Social norms and traditions are seen as necessarily oppressive.
The open society is hostile to the notion of natural law and instead puts man-made laws, properly called "legislation," over and above a more natural law flowing from a set of first principles, most notably God. Again, like Cultural Marxism, it seeks to "dethrone God" from society, replacing it with a cult of human judgment.
Popper also believed in a culture of constant critique, this is a point of overlap with Cultural Marxism; and humanitarianism, which is a loaded word designed to sound innocuous, but which actually means something far more specific than "being nice to people."
Perhaps most frighteningly, the "open society" is just that – open. That is, entirely without any sort of privacy. While the notion of a "right to privacy" as interpreted by United States courts as a justification is troubling in practice, far more troubling is Popper's conception of a society where every facet of a person's life is in the public sphere, irregardless of their consent.
Free speech and free elections were seen as a necessity for such a society, however, Popper and the Open Society Foundations had different interpretations for this. Free speech does not apply to opponents of the open society unless they are critiquing society from the left – the only way to complain about Comrade Stalin is to say how much better we would all be if there were but two of him. Similarly, free elections means that of the kind we had in 2020 – one with absolutely no safeguards against abuse and taking place behind closed doors under the supervision of ideologically motivated "monitors" with rampant fraud.
It's not just in America, it's a worldwide phenomenon.
George Soros: King of the Color RevolutionGeorge Soros' primary weapon for changing countries to be more pliable to his desires is the "color revolution." You've probably heard of revolutions occurring, generally in post-Soviet states, but also elsewhere. They have names like the Yellow Revolution (the Philippines), the Rose Revolution (Republic of Georgia), the Orange Revolution (Ukraine), and the Saffron Revolution (Myanmar).
There are some common themes to a color revolution which are worth noting for those wishing to prevent such a thing from happening in their own country. A disputed election where there is widespread cheating on the part of the "opposition" candidate generally kicks things off. The "opposition" is controlled by the Soros machine and friendly to NATO or other Atlantacist political organizations. There are then street rallies where violent operatives hide in crowds of otherwise peaceful protesters.
The government then responds and there is outcry from "humanitarian" organizations that the government has dealt sternly with what are effectively terrorists using human shields. There are generally operatives within the command structure who are sympathetic to Soros and his allies in Western governments.
There have been mixed success with color revolutions. They fail more often than they succeed. But they do succeed, especially where one defines success not so much as overthrowing the existing government, but forcing it to accept radical concessions that dramatically remake the political culture in the country. Color revolutions have resulted in what was effectively regime change in the Republic of Georgia ( twice ), Ukraine , the Arab World , and Belarus .
George Soros is deeply embedded in color revolutions around the world through the auspices of his Open Society Foundations NGO. The playbook should look somewhat familiar to most Americans after the summer riots of 2019 and 2020, as well as the aftermath of the 2020 elections .
It's important to remember that George Soros is not a god. He is simply a man with a lot of money. Thus, we should be cautious in attempting to attribute each and every action on the far left to him, particularly in the view that he is some kind of micromanaging puppet master who is involved in the trenches of making policy or street activism. He is not.
He is a real-world supervillain and he is able to direct the law, constitutional, and political culture of entire nations using his money and his vision for what society ought to look like. He is able to get away with it thanks to general ignorance of just how effective he is and a coordinated effort by the media to smear anyone who calls him out as a dangerous fanatic.
It is George Soros, however, who is the dangerous fanatic. He is gunning for you, your property, your children, and ultimately your way of life.
play_arrow
7thGenMO 4 hours agogregga777 5 hours agoIt is a bit of a red herring to focus only on Soros when he is part of a network - our friends of intelligence that:
- Gun down American sailors in lifeboats after firebombing their ship.
- Infiltrate the financial and, accordingly, the political systems.
- Steal military technology.
- Sell poor American kids as sex slaves.
- Etc., etc., etc.
Lordflin 5 hours agoGeorge Soros, aka Gyorge Schwartz, was a Nazi collaborator and assisted the SS in confiscating wealth from Hungarian ****. The Holtzman Amendment prohibits anyone who participated in Nazi persecution from living in the United States. Why is George Soros even allowed in the US not to mention being allowed to live here? Does that Law only apply to Gentiles and not to ****?
RedCharles 17 minutes agoWhen later asked how he felt about that part of his life... he said that aiding his Nazi stepfather to plunder his own people... made him feel powerful...
BaNNeD oN THe RuN 5 hours agoCompare Soro's moral position with Einstein's take on Gandhi's moral position.
Soros
https://youtu.be/AiqHiQYuoOs?t=577
Einstein/Gandhi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH5kNcAxtKs
Soros is absolutely immoral.
gregga777 5 hours ago (Edited)Operation Paperclip brought the best of Nazi middle management and scientists to the US and Canada. Wernher Braun for example.
Canada's Deputy PM is the descendant of a Ukrainian Nazi propagandist.
Fluff The Cat 5 hours agoNASA hero SS-Sturmbannführer Werner von Braun was an unindicted Nazi war criminal. He was responsible for deaths amongst slave laborers, probably numbering in the thousands, at the Mittelwert Dora V-2 assembly plant. But, 95-year old retired factory worker Friedrich Karl Burger was recently deported back to Germany because in 1945 he had served a few weeks as an 18-year old concentration camp guard. The 2010 Holtzman Amendment prohibits anyone who participated in Nazi persecution from living in the United States.
Gold Bug XXX 5 hours ago remove linkMillions of illegals get away with violating our sovereignty, yet the state will throw the book at the average Joe citizen for a misdemeanor. People like Soros and Gates are untouchable for a reason. It's not just because they have so much money but rather because they fill roles which help facilitate radical transformations to our detriment.
Thankfully, the 60 Minutes interview with Steve Kroft that exposes Soros' Sabbatean Frankist origins is still online. Anyone who wants to know the real story about Soros and the wealthy patron family behind him needs to read Rabbi Marvin Antelman's 2 book series: Eliminate The Opiate available on Amazon. Antelman was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Rabbinic Court of America from 1974 to 2004 and he exposes both who and what is behind Soros and his agenda. Literally, this is THE book every American needs to read now.
This is the group behind Fabian Socialism, the group exposed by George Orwell (Eric Blair) in his book 1984, as well as in Animal Farm. This is the philosophy of of modern progressive Democrats in the USA and the liberal Labour party in Britain. This is the group behind the Rhodes Trust, that created the Rhodes Scholarships, the London School of Economics (Soros is a grad) and the Royal Institute of International Affairs who created the CFR branch in the USA. Why do you think we have so many Rhodes Scholars and graduates of the London School of Economics in the Obama and Biden administrations and leading the far left?
Soros has sponsored everything evil from NAMBLA to BLM. He (and Bloomberg) funded the anarchy and nationwide explosion in violent crime that we are seeing in every Blue City where they installed their radical, Marxist prosecutors and DAs like Gascon in LA, Larry Krasner in Philly, Kim Gardner in St. Louis, and Kim Foxx in Chicago - all cities where prosecutors are emptying the jails, not prosecuting crime, and letting chaos reign supreme so they can Federalize the Police (Soros' primary agenda) giving the federal government more political power. This will extend the corruption we already see in our Intel Agencies, the DOJ, all the Courts, and especially in the rogue FBI which is now a purely NKVD, Brownshirt SA, STASI political police force focused inward on political dissidents and no longer a legitimate law enforcement agency.
America had better wake up and wake up now, because with the purge of conservatives, Christians and patriots from the military led by MIC Ratheon board member, the bitter affirmative action general known as Lloyd Austin and the bat ****e crazy radical Marxist Bishop Garrison, if we lose the police and the military - we will relive the Bolshevik Revolution... the round ups, the torture the gulags and the death.
And then just like Solzhenitsyn warned, we'll burn in the camps wondering what would have been if only we had resisted...
|
|
|
Jun 06, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Roman Protasevich, Casualty Of The Ryanair Incident In Belarus, Is Spilling The Beans Bemildred , Jun 4 2021 13:56 utc | 8
A TV documentary of the bomb threat against a Ryanair plan (vid) has confirmed our analysis of a false narrative which had been constructed by Belorussian regime change activists.
They had alleged that on May 23 a Ryanair plane had been forced by the Belorussian government to land in Minsk after which one activist on board, Roman Protasevich, had been arrested. But in reality a real bomb threat, delivered by email, had been received at Minsk airport as well as by Lithuanian air authorities. The plane was made aware of the threat by the Belorussian air traffic control and the pilot, after communicating with Ryanair management, had decided to land in Minsk.
Belarus handled the case by the book and the plane was released after it had been unsuccessfully searched for the alleged bomb. There were outstanding arrest warrants against two passengers on board, Roman Protasevich and his Russian girl friend Sofia Sapega. Both were detained after passing through the custom and passport controls.
Roman Protasevich had been betrayed. Other regime change activists, with whom he had disagreed, had sent the bomb threat email to get him trapped.
This is evident from his testimony in the later part of the TV documentary linked above, where he appears as a lively and engaged chain smoker.
A second Belorussian TV piece (vid) , with a ninety minutes excerpt from a four hour long interview of Protasevich, was broadcast yesterday :
Former editor-in-chief of NEXTA Roman Protasevich interviewed the Belarusian state channel ONT. In it, he pleaded guilty in a criminal case to organizing and preparing actions that violate public order, and also criticized the Belarusian opposition and said he respected Alexander Lukashenko.
In the interview Protasevich is spilling the beans about the whole foreign financed opposition organization which was behind the 2020 color revolution attempt in Belarus.
bigger'Western' media, as well as other regime change activist claim that Protasevich must have been tortured to say what he says. However, aside from light handcuff marks at his wrists there is no evidence of that. Protasevich had previously been wounded when he fought in the fascist Ukrainian Azov battalion against the Donbas secessionists. He is a tough guy who will not be impressed by handcuffs which, by the way, police everywhere use for good reasons .
During the Korea war U.S. pilots, captured by China, admitted to dropping biological weapons on China. The U.S. long denied the use of biological weapons and claimed that the pilots had been tortured and made false confessions. Decades later secret files were released which proved that the claims the pilots had made had been correct .
At the beginning of the interview with Marat Markov, the head of the Belorussian state TV channel ONT, Protasevich is still somewhat tense. But after 3 or 4 minutes the talk develops into a lively exchange during which Protasevich at times interrupts and corrects the journalist. Protasevich's voice sounds rough and at times pressed. He is a chain smoker and claims to have a cold. Towards the end, when they talk about the personal damage the color revolution attempt has caused to many, both get somewhat emotional but in no way hostile to each other.
Protasevich's demeanor, engagement, body language and general attitude throughout the interview has me convinced that he doing it voluntarily and that he is telling the truth. He is not reading off a script someone else has written. He is doing a tell all about the foreign financed regime change effort he had been part of. And why not? He has been betrayed by his former comrades. He is now expecting up to fifteen years of jail. Telling it all might well help him to lessen the sentence for his crimes.
There are yet no English subtitles on the interview and there is no English language transcript of the interview. The following are excerpts from an eight part summary published in Russian language on Office Life. The text is machine translated:
Cont. reading: Roman Protasevich, Casualty Of The Ryanair Incident In Belarus, Is Spilling The Beans
Yes, I see a lot of "he's being tortured" now, accompanied by pictures of him crying.
Luka is a more interesting guy than I had thought. He was, prior to all this, trying to do a balancing act between East and West, not unlike Ukraine pre-Maidan. This is pretty normal. He may have been a bit naive, but so have many others been. As Roman says, Luka is not just a suit droid. He has "eggs of steel". I think the final word on him will depend on how well he preserves the Soviet-style economy he has kept running there, while finally joining the "union state".
Cosham , Jun 4 2021 14:04 utc | 9
S , Jun 4 2021 16:04 utc | 22Incidentally, I am curious why no-one has commented on western hypocrisy when complaining about passengers being endangered (which they definitely were not), in light of the following (from wikipedia):
...he boarded an S7 Airlines commercial flight to Chișinău, where he would meet Moldovan President Igor Dodon, but the Romanian government again denied permission for the plane to enter its airspace, citing the "presence of a sanctioned person on board".[citation needed] The Boeing 737-800 went on a holding pattern in Hungarian airspace for a while,[17] but after Hungary denied permission for landing and ordered the plane to leave, it was decided to divert to Minsk, Belarus, outside of the EU, reportedly with barely enough fuel to reach there.[18] The plane later flew to Chișinău with the remaining passengers, but without Rogozin.[19] The Deputy Prime-Minister later tweeted: "The Romanian authorities endangered the lives of passengers on an S7 flight, women and children. Fuel was [just] enough to [get to] Minsk. ...
where western behavior definitely contravened the Chicago convention and actually endangered passengers...S Brennan , Jun 4 2021 16:36 utc | 28Protasevich also said that it was allegedly planned to transfer one of the Nekhta channels to Russian hands.This is either an incorrect translation or an incorrect summary. Protasevich said there were plans to switch the main Nekhta (NEXTA) channel to "Russian agenda", i.e. to start posting anti-Russian/anti-Putin stuff, as the channel had lots of subscribers from Russia. He was strongly against the plan, as Nekhta was one of the main media assets of the Belarusian regime changers. Later discussion was about making a separate Nekhta-branded channel for Russia.
This episode must have been important in making Protasevich realize he's not really "fighting for democracy" in Belarus, but is a mere cog in Washington's Drang nach Osten 2.0 machine.
b , Jun 4 2021 16:59 utc | 33Tortured confession or singing after being snitched on? Nobody here knows for sure.
What we do know is; this story makes sense.
Ratting Roman Protasevich out is consistent with SOP of the Langley/Langley-acolyte crowd; back in the day OSS field agents complained of being burned by the agency's well placed cadre of Nazi infiltrators. It's hard to imagine that the practice of compromising assets/floaters has gone away.
S , Jun 4 2021 17:01 utc | 34@Dunken
You do not seem to be a regular MoA reader. You otherwise would have read the six previous posts on the issue which discussed the evidence in detail and concluded that the narrative - that Lukashenko did something to the Ryanair flight - is false.
There was a real bomb threat and Belarus reacted to that by the book. The Ryanair pilot and his company decided to go to Minsk. Belarus did not know that Protasevich was on board. He was only arrested after passing through passport control.
- By The Book - What Really Happened With The Ryanair Flight In Belarus - May 27 2021
- Ryanair Incident - Email Warning Received Before Plane Entered Belorussian Airspace - May 28 2021
- How ProtonMail Lost The Public Trust It Needs To Do Business - May 29 2021
- 'Like An Amoral Infant' - How ProtonMail Contributes To False Media Claims About Belarus - May 30
- Ryanair Bomb Threat In Belarus - 'Western' Media Narrative Disagrees With The Facts - May 31
- Timeline, Narrative Control And Consequences Of The Ryanair Incident In Belarus - June 2
The last but one will probably of most help for you.
Biswapriya Purkayast , Jun 4 2021 17:07 utc | 36Boris Rozhin's summary of Protasevich's ONT interview (my translation):
1. There are plans to switch Nekhta [NEXTA] to the Russian agenda.2. Tikhanovskaya is financed from various sources, including the Lithuanian budget, diaspora money, etc.
3. The opposition of Belarus is controlled by Poland and Lithuania (which I wrote about back in August, calling it the "Polish-Lithuanian opposition"). In Poland, it is controlled by the Prime Minister of Poland.
4. Putilo is an ungrateful pig. He received the Sakharov Prize for the work done by Protasevich.
5. One advertising post on Nekhta in August 2020 cost $20,000.
6. The main specialists in the Belarusian opposition are money laundering specialists.
7. Nekhta did not come up with an information agenda - it was communicated to it from the top. In the building where Nekhta was located there were secret rooms where Nekhta's employees were not allowed.
8. The real ceiling of the Belarusian Telegram is about 1,000,000 people. The real audience of the opposition Telegram channels is 500,000 people.
9. A Russian oligarch competing with Gutseriev and connected with Ural was involved in financing Nekhta.
10. Protasevich believes that the opposition has lost and there will be no new serious protests at this stage.
11. Protasevich is afraid that he may be extradited to the LPR and very much hopes that Lukashenko will not allow that.
12. He now considers his trip to Donbass to "Azov" to be the biggest mistake of his life. He denies being a member of Azov.
13. Protasevich is grateful that he ended up in his native Belarus, and even alive.
14. The conspirators planning the assassination of Lukashenko were connected with Tikhanovskaya's HQ. Protasevich acted as one of the mediators. He participated in conspirators' zoom calls.
15. There are still sleeping combat groups and caches of weapons in Belarus, which have not yet been discovered by the KGB.
16. Protasevich fully cooperates with the investigation and is ready to continue providing valuable information in order to correct his mistakes.
17. He no longer wants to engage in politics, asks everyone for forgiveness and hopes that things will not turn out as badly for him as they could.
vk , Jun 4 2021 17:41 utc | 41Nazis betrayed one of their own when he became a liability?!?
What is the world coming to?!? After all this has never happened before !
JB , Jun 4 2021 17:44 utc | 42@ Posted by: Dunkan | Jun 4 2021 16:42 utc | 30
I agree with the blogger's assessment over the veracity of the interview.
Protasevich is clearly revising the story to make himself appear to be small fish in the whole scheme (to get a lighter sentence and also to open the remote possibility to get redeployed as a Belarusian asset), but his description of the whole scheme itself and the people involved is probably true in the general.
Those mercenaries - specially those liberal (fascist) ideologues - have, by nature, very low morale. They want a lot of money and comfort for their services, and have a very low tolerance for hardship. They also lack long-term vision, so they tend to be very greedy. Betrayal and surrender are very common among them, if you manage to hit back a little bit and/or capture them: one night at a prison cell without any luxuries already is enough.
Tortured people usually don't have the physical and mental capacity to tell such a detailed, colored and nonchalant confessions. Even if the confessor is a trained actor, it's impossible, as torture is designed to destroy the spirit/personality of the tortured. That's why confessions under torture are all in written form, just with the signature of the "confessor". The few confessions under torture are very short ones, recorded in a simple, front camera angle, with the tortured clearly physically and mentally spent, in a depressive mood/tone.
oldhippie , Jun 4 2021 17:51 utc | 44I find this intreview on public television of a person who has been arrested deeply disturbing.
Anyone under arrest can be considered to be in circumstances of coercion, pressure, not free.
It is highly unethical to broadcast a confession of a person under arrest.Regardless of whether Protashevich was telling the truth, and what his motives may have been,
this interview should not have been broadcast.Chilling!Paco , Jun 4 2021 18:02 utc | 45B says this is a tough guy. Looks soft to me. Looks pampered and privileged. I do not have a word of Slavic, still see Protasevich busy manipulating and negotiating from beginning to end. Guy can't stop scheming. He has not been tortured. He has not been broken. He is not fearful.
Cuffs were tight against wristbone. Briefly. The more usual way to stop someone from slipping the cuffs is to tape back the thumbs. Some officers do not believe that sufficient. They want a pain signal to interfere with fine coordination. Maybe they had cuffs, were low on supplies, did not have good enough duct tape handy. In totally normal custody wrists can look far worse than that. Slipping cuffs is a manipulation that any con can teach to a willing student quite quickly. The way prisoners are seen cuffed on the TV is what gets used on zero risk prisoners. Or prisoners who are broken, who have learned to cooperate with the routine.
I have spent a lifetime observing Slavic immigrants to Chicago. This is destination #1. Most come to work. They still have three buckets of attitude, and then they work. Then there is a big cadre of those who have heard that Americans are gullible and easy to con. This guy looks exactly like one of them. Most of those come from privileged backgrounds. I do not understand how privilege survived the Comintern years. But it did. A former Polish landlady of mine grew up in 60s and 70s in the family manor. Sure the roof was falling in. They still had the manor hall, the outbuildings, the tenants who no longer had any legal obligation still gave deference, did service, brought offerings. When the Wall came down she promptly went to court and reclaimed title to the 1939 estate. Then started proceedings to get back the 1914 estate. Class never dies. I see a child of privilege.
Abe , Jun 4 2021 18:24 utc | 46Posted by: oldhippie | Jun 4 2021 17:51 utc | 44
You should watch the Russian film "The Brother II", not as good as the first one by far, but since the first was a no budget project filmed with outdated stock and at friends houses, - up to this day is a very influential film that best describes Russia's meltdown of the 90's-, for the second version they had money, so they went to Chicago to film the second iteration, by my favorite director the late Balabanov. Easy to find with subtitles. The slavic -mainly Ukrainian- Chicago community has a big role to play in it.
Stonebird , Jun 4 2021 18:43 utc | 48Years back I knew one counter insurgency specials with whom I had always interesting conversations.
One of funny things he told me - best way to make someone spill beans is to raid their house, then let them know their neighbor ratted them out for some thing. More often than not, suspect would start to sing "Me has/did xxx? That bastard, he did even worse yyyy!"
So, theory that Belorussian (or Russian or anyone there) calling in that bomb threat, then convincing the guy that it was his people that sold him out - that theory hold water a lot more than other one.
Norwegian , Jun 4 2021 19:11 utc | 51As expected, the EU has it's own plan, which does not take into account the truth. Carry on regardless, as the real objective is the Belarusian "regime change".
https://www.rt.com/russia/525683-eu-bans-belarusian-carriers-airspace/
******
oldhippie | Jun 4 2021 17:51 utc | 44
As you say, he looks as if he thinks he " could zap the chain " if he feels too constricted by the programme. There is virtually no trauma.
****
Any news about the girl friend?
Jen , Jun 4 2021 21:15 utc | 67At some point, according to Protasevich, there was Russian funding: 3-5 thousand euros per week. The money came from a certain company from Russia, which, judging by the name, is associated with the Urals and mining.Its owner is a well-known Russian oligarch, and he is a direct competitor of Mikhail Gutseriev. Protasevich did not give his last name, but perhaps he means a native of Minsk, Dmitry Mazepin, who actually now controls Uralkali.
Dmitry Mazepin also owns the US American Formula one team Uralkali Haas F1 Team , where his son Nikita is one of the drivers https://www.formula1.com/en/drivers/nikita-mazepin.html (the son of Michael Schumacher, Mick Schumacher is the other).
Petri Krohn , Jun 4 2021 21:20 utc | 68James @ 21 and onwards:
I recall reading online that when Putin first became President in 2000, he more or less struck an understanding or a "deal" with the "oligarchs" at the time, that they could keep their billions and do what they wanted as long as they stayed out of politics and paid their taxes. During the Yeltsin era, "oligarchs" were buying politicians and, in the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, even buying political parties.
After Putin made an example of Khodorkovsky by having him jailed for 10 years, and had Roman Abramovich made governor of Chukotka (near Bering Sea) in the Russian Far East, the others either fell into line or fled to Britain.
The current situation seems about the same: Moscow allows Russian business magnates to carry on wheeling and dealing as long as they operate within Russian law. Putin does not run the country as his personal fiefdom. It is true very large investment projects costing billions will come to Putin's attention and he will want to meet the people directing these projects to see what their objectives are but that would be no more and no less of what we'd expect of our own politicians if they are capable people interested and curious about what is going on in the countries they govern.
It would seem also that China allows its business magnates to operate more or less independently except where they threaten to overstep Chinese laws concerning state control, as in the case of Jack Ma's arrest concerning issues of intellectual ownership (I'm vague on the details of Ma's arrest so barflies can correct if I am wrong), and Russia may be observing what the Chinese are doing in creating a mixed economy.
William Gruff , Jun 4 2021 21:24 utc | 70Posted by: U2 | Jun 4 2021 19:50 utc | 56
No, most of these "threats" aren't taken seriously. Only if there is some indication they might be real (intelligence/police) are they acted upon immediately.This blog or any other site still haven't presented any evidence showing that the first email claimed by Minsk was real, or that the opposition knew beforehand what was going to happen.
The email was a hoax, but it contained a real bomb threat that needed to be taken seriously. It was thus one step above a prank .
What made the threat real was the information about the passengers. It is prima face evidence that the threat came from an intelligence service, a terrorist group or from an insider. All of these would be capable of carrying out the threat.
Accessing information on the passenger list is costly. For a hostile agency or terrorist group it would mean exposing human agents to exposure or capture. For example, if Belarus had been behind the email, they could have sent an agent to Athens to make sure Protasevich had boarded the flight. Greek police would have video footage of him from tens of surveillance cameras.
rkka , Jun 4 2021 21:33 utc | 71Why the elaborate scheme to get rid of Nazi-boy when the Seth Rich solution is more efficient? The CIA and their attack dogs have always preferred drama when disposing of one of their own. Think of Boris Nemtsov, for instance. When a regime change "asset" starts to become a liability then there is always one final act in the play for them, which is to appear to die in the most memorable way at the hands of the empire's enemies. With Nemtsov: murdered in the perfect spot with Saint Basil's Cathedral as the backdrop - one of the few iconic visuals in Russia that any American could identify as Russian.
But what about Nazi-boy? How to kill him in a way to get the TV audience's attention and get them to automatically associate it with Belarus? Americans know absolutely nothing about Belarus. There is no pre-existing imagery in their empty little heads to connect with Belarus. They could not even use novichok because even the well-conditions American mass media consumers would get suspicious, or at least confused, because they expect that to be something to do with Russia.
No, the sky piracy nonsense was the best the western narrative spinners could cook up to get the media consumers' attention directed to Belarus.
Americans have become too jaded these days. They need drama in their brainwashing or it just won't take.
kons , Jun 4 2021 21:37 utc | 72"can you tell me how russia under putin works with these types of oligarchs - mikhail gutserijev and dmitry mazepin? it seems to me russia is run by oligarchs and putin has very little control over them.."
James @32
Under Yeltsin, the oligarchs owned the Russian state, and they shamelessly stripped assets out of enterprises yeltsin gave them, dodged taxes, and offshored the proceeds.
Russia was helpless, bankrupt, & dying off by 1m/yr.
Now, the State owns the oligarchs. Branko Milanovic below compares and contrasts:
https://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/04/07/2019/oligarchs-and-oligarchs
Money quote:
"The Putin oligarchs are billionaires which "serve" at the discretion of the state. As a Russian commentator once said, they should all consider themselves to be temporary custodians of their wealth. If they fall from grace with the regime they could be stripped of their assets either through dubious legal proceedings, or if needed, more forcefully by being imprisoned.The original kind of Yeltsin-type oligarchs, which "popularized" the term, were different. These oligarchs owned the state -- so the state existed only at their discretion. At the peak of their power, after Yeltsin's reelection in 1996 which they helped him win (in the deal that led to the infamous "loans for shares" trade) oligarchs, separately, controlled Yeltsin and practically most of the levers of state power. Since they also jockeyed for power amongst themselves with some being allied with the military, others controlling natural monopolies, and the third group having their own media, Russia at the end of the 1990s was a country on the verge of a civil war. It stood not so far from where Libya stands today. Under that "regime", life expectancy fell from 69 to 64.5 years, the largest decline in life expectancy ever recorded in peacetime. It was today's US opiate crisis multiplied by ten or more.
Russia was a county ruled, to borrow Mancur Olson's terminology, by roving bandits. What Putin accomplished through reining in of the roving bandit oligarchs was to create a system of stationary bandits whose wealth depends on proximity to the state and who, like every stationary bandit, have more of an interest in the strength of the state and the welfare of its population -- simply because such welfare is more closely intertwined with theirs.
It is in that sense that Putin's oligarchs represent an improvement. Since foreign commentators do not have to live in countries on whose democratic records they expatiate, they are often wont to confound the two types of oligarchs. But for people who have to live under the two alternative regimes (roving or stationary bandits) the choice is rather simple.
It is a choice of living in a state of incipient civil war where you do not know what might happen to your children in school, where you could be randomly beaten up in the street, abducted by different private militias, or evicted from your home by one mafia today and another tomorrow. Indeed, the same things can happen under the centralized kleptocratic regime (such as Putin's), but there these things happen with certain "logic" and "order". Differently put, punishment is exacted for political disobedience and the rules of conduct are well known. In the system of disorderly roving bandits, punishment can be meted out randomly, or can be done for entirely different actions or reasons -- some of which may displease one baron/bandit but not another. Under that chaotic system, violence can come from any direction, for any reason, and at any time.
To the outside observers, the system of random violence -- because foreign observers are exempt from it, as indeed foreigners were exempt during Russia's "decade of humiliation" -- might seem more democratic. There are indeed alternative centers of power in competition with each other, there is freedom of speech, each media empire owned by one baron attacks the media empire owned by another baron, and there thus appears to be a political life despite absence of a rule of law, rampant corruption, and physical insecurity. The system of stationary bandits is monochromatic by comparison but for people who live under it more predictable and much safer.
The truth is that large part of the world's population has only a choice between these two systems: between multi-original kleptocracy and anarchy, and more centrally controlled enrichment. There is no surprise that most ordinary people will select stability over chaos, predictable violence over random violence, and some administration of justice over none. "
Jen , Jun 4 2021 21:39 utc | 73Infighting, intrigue, and corruption have been a feature of emigre reactionary opposition groups since ... forever. See the royalists during the french revolution, the Russian whites, the Miami Cubans, Guaido crew and so on. The emigres themselves are economically unstable being removed from their previous 'holdings' but then also showered with money by supporters (ie Lith and Pole govt) on an ad hoc basis... leads naturally to corruption. They often end up fighting with each other over the money and love of their backers more than opposing their own country's govt.
That faced with a long prison term, Roman would make the calculation that the Belo-emigre community was sunk already and try to rescue the best outcome for himself. not surprising.
Also historically these emigre groups have always had people who got fed up with the emigre opposition life, and if they could, negotiate a safe return to their country.
Petri Krohn , Jun 4 2021 21:44 utc | 75James @ 21 and onwards:
Of course, now you know why so many Russian business magnates buy foreign football clubs and put so much of their money promoting elite sports and cultural and arts organisations overseas.😀
It's really neither here nor there that such individuals might be interested in music. Gutseriev is probably of a generation of Soviet children who were exposed to classical music education and music education generally to a much greater extent than Western children were over 30 years ago. Being of Jewish background in Soviet times would make this exposure even more likely.
You would be well aware of how the CIA promoted particular art and cultural movements like abstract art in the past, and how US and other Western govts, especially the British, still use artists, musicians and film-makers as their foot soldiers.
S , Jun 4 2021 23:03 utc | 81Posted by: jared | Jun 4 2021 20:19 utc | 63
It is likely that Protasevich would not know with certainty who trapped him.
So I think it unlikely that he would burn his bridges so willingly.
He would have to appear to be willingly divulging everything he knows, but even if he does it is likely it will be suspected that he is fabricating parts or witholding information.
A difficult situation.The analysis includes assumptions which lead to a goal-seeked conclusion.
A common tendency.It is OK for Protasevich to rat out his opposition colleagues, but he would be much more careful about exposing the CIA handlers, who are the real brain of the operation.
The full story may not be know yet. This is the way the narrative changes.
- MiG-29s intercepted the flight and Belarus thugs dragged the screaming Protasevich from the plane.
- Lukashenko and his KGB sent the hoax email to themselves, causing everything to happen.
- Belarus acted by the book. It must have been evil Putin who sent the hoax email.
- The whole thing was just a blunder caused by opposition infighting and incompetence. <- We are now here.
- The operation was a false-flag provocation planned and executed by Western intelligence services. The opposition figures are just puppets used and abused to give the operation a human face.
wp007 , Jun 5 2021 0:11 utc | 85I have transcribed the first 18 minutes of Protasevich's ONT interview and translated it to English.
Marat Markov: Hello, Roman!Roman Protasevich: Good afternoon!
M: As a person from the execution lists, it is quite difficult for me to abstract from your direct participation in the processes that we will talk about today. But I'll try. And, to be honest, this is not for my own sake, but rather, probably, for the sake of people learning to talk to each other -- since you and I could.
My journalist colleagues, I am sure, they would hardly refuse such an opportunity. But today I am the one who has this right. That's why I'm going split this conversation. I will ask the questions that the media dependent on the opposition and state media would probably like to ask, that is, in some cases I will differentiate between these questions. I hope at least you understand that there are no independent media?
P: Of course.
M: It is good that you understand, because then many things will not need to be explained. Then let's start with the basics. Opposition media would ask: "Did you agree to this interview voluntarily?"
P: Absolutely.
M: And how do you feel?
P: I feel great, the only thing is, well, I've got a slight cold, but that, again, is not a reason to, you know, postpone the conversation and so on.
M: And what do you think, how will your associates react to our conversation with you?
P: To be honest, it's hard for me to predict the reaction on their part. I'm just sure that a lot of people will start publicly condemning me. I'm just sure that any support actions that they were planning earlier will naturally come to naught. I would not be surprised if, well, many would call me an alleged "traitor" and so on. But I can honestly say that I absolutely don't care what they say. I am here and now, and I really I want to do everything in order to correct my mistakes, in order to
M: So you don't care about their reaction?
P: (over) try to do something
No. I followed a certain idea of mine and my convictions, and the more I tried not to pry my nose into others' business, the more I tried not to think about where money was coming from and what kind of money, which, you know, I don't know, which intelligence services were influencing what was going on, the less I just tried to think about it, the worse it all got.
M: And are they afraid of your appearance, what do you think?
P: I think so. I think that this will cause quite a stir.
M: Well, look, a media like Nasha Niva, it would have echoed, right, the previous question. Was makeup applied to you before this interview?
P: I wasn't touched at all.
M: Well, I mean, you know
P: All they did was put on a microphone -- that's all.
M: They like to say that bruises, beatings are being covered by makeup. But you have answered, okay.
I will not further develop the airplane issue today. I think that, in principle, everything is obvious to both you and me. But a question remains, as I would call it, "from the yellow media". Who knew that you were flying on this plane?
P: I'll probably say the preamble first. In principle, the only time I told anything to anyone during this unfortunate vacation, let's call it that way, was the moment before the plane took off. And I wrote
M: Before departure from where?
P: Already from Athens to Vilnius.
M: From Athens.
P: And this is the only time at all during my entire vacation when I wrote about my movements, and the thing is, I wrote it exclusively in the working chat. That is, there were, well, several journalists who are working on the project, plus, well, there were a few people from Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's HQ -- these are Franak Vechorko [Vyachorka in Belarusian spelling] and Daniil Bogdanovich.
M: You smiled somewhat while naming the last surname. Will you give a specific surname? Whom you are suspecting from this chat, who could keep such a serious grudge against you?
P: Well, as you understand, I smiled for a reason, because, again, I also had a personal conflict with the same Daniil Bogdanovich, that is, he held the position of director of the Infopoint network, my relationships weren't working lately [unclear whether he refers to relationship with Bogdanovich or with other members of the team], and I was both emotionally tired and did not want to do any political work, and in general, in principle, I just wanted to do photography, and plus, in parallel, even, you know, two days before my departure from Athens to Vilnius, that is, they were talking about dismissing me altogether, and even Franak Vechorko wrote a phrase that "upon arrival we will discuss the prospects of our further cooperation".
M: Whom were they discussing your dismissal with?
P: There was a call, which I did not get on, and I did not get on it for an absolutely stupid reason, the Wi-Fi worked very badly at the hotel, and I simply could not join the call, and there they essentially said, behind my back, that they were going to dismiss me, you know, for the fact that I missed an absolutely petty deadline.
M: Who specifically warned you that this discussion will take place, and it will be about your dismissal?
P: The journalist guys told me about this, and
M: So you think it was Bogdanovich, after all?
P: I am inclined to assume that yes. Well, I more than that, I'm just sure of it.
M: You made quite a, well, populist mockery of the appeal of the Belarusian authorities to Poland to extradite you and Putilo. Why did you have such confidence that you won't be handed over?
P: I never had such confidence. The way I can confirm this is by the fact that, be that as it may, I never engaged in direct insults of the authorities, you know, I did not try, you know, like some people, you know, to almost send dick pics to the prosecutor's office, and so on That is, I always understood that sooner or later I could still be held responsible for my activities.
M: Well, you did quite a lot through The Black Book of Belarus at the very least, and through Belarus Golovnogo Mozga [the name of this Telegram channel is a play on "Belarus" and "encephalitis", so it could be translated as "Belcephalitis"].
P: Well, these are still somewhat different projects, I had zero direct relation to the activities of The Black Book of Belarus project. Nekhta's Belarus Golovnogo Mozga - yes, but not The Black Book of Belarus. That is, my only contact with The Black Book of Belarus project was that once I just held a journalist workshop for them, where I simply explained why headings are important, what the structure of the text should be, and so on. Well, to also accuse me of involvement with The Black Book of Belarus is probably well, in this case, that is, this was, in fact, my only somewhat direct working contact with them.
M: Your companion Sofiya, right? She was an editor of the extremist Telegram channel The Black Book of Belarus.
P: (nods in agreement)
M: They were publishing personal information of well, even though she indicated that it was only about siloviki [law enforcement, military, intelligence] -- no, of course, it wasn't just about siloviki , and you know that.
P: (nods in agreement)
M: There was personal information of journalists, my employees, you know, teachers well, in general, everyone who is connected in one way or another with the state. We found about 80 posts prepared for publication on her phone, right? They have not been published yet. How did the information get to The Black Book? Was it paid for, or were there enough people who happily gave away their colleagues and neighbors?
P: Again, I can only say the part of the things that I know for sure, I had no direct relation to this project.
M: I am not suggesting that you fantasize
P: Based on what I know, well, a lot of information, it really was passed on, among others, you know, by ex- siloviki , or, you know, that is, in fact, in some workplaces there were some that they fittingly call "rats", which just easily betrayed their colleagues, former colleagues, and so on.
M: Among those who passed through you, there were our colleagues, state journalists, former ones, those who turned their coats. Did they dabble in this, did they leak information -- about us?
P: As far as I remember, there was -- and then, only on, it seems, on Motolko's Telegram channel -- information about STV employees, you know, there were some duty schedules, something like that.
M: Well, yes, this information was there.
P: So yeah, but otherwise, well, again
M: So you haven't come across something like that?
P: (over) that is, I, I had nothing to do with the activity concerning the publication of personal information.
M: Roman, and your personal attitude, well, towards those alleged "celebrities" who turned their coats -- well, you must have somehow characterized them among yourselves -- that fact that they started talking about the same thing en masse, posting the same posts, you know, did that cheer you up, made you laugh? What was the reaction?
P: Personally, it amused me, because, first of all, again, that is, if people have just decided, you know, to show some of their opposition views, then why only now? And, again, that is, if they had such views before, then how did this then, in general, actually intersect with their worldview?
M: As we called it, "changed shoes in the air".
P: Yes, yes.
M: (over) In the middle of a jump.
P: This is, it seems to me, the most accurate characterization.
I have exactly the same question. How? That is, even if you allegedly, you know, all your life had some, well, opposition views, you know, you did not support the government, how could you calmly walk around and, you know, for example, work at Belteleradiocompany or somewhere else.
M: Well, it's called
P: (over) That is, one receives, receives money from the state, but then, at the first opportunity, decides to give up everything.
M: We have this joke when a person then simply writes in his memoirs: "I worked in the system in order to destroy it from within". Right?
P: Well, that's funny.
M: Yes, I agree.
P: It's funny.
M: Roman, a question from the likes of Onliner or Dev.by. Why did you, well, a really progressive person, not stupid at all, a former recipient of a fellowship - you understood perfectly well what could happen, the phone has a lot of interesting things on it - why didn't you kill your phone while in the air, well, haven't erased the information? Or why didn't Sofiya erase it?
P: Actually, the reason there are two reasons, in principle. One of them is very banal -- and that is that at that moment we were both, in principle, in such a state of stress that our brains practically did not work. I mean, that is, we weren't in a state to think about such things. And the primary task was just to calm down.
M: Was there a panic?
P: Of course.
M: (over) Did you panic?
P: Of course. Later, I just thought about it, and, probably, it is comparable to the feeling when you ascend the scaffold -- only, in my case, I was landing on it. Well, because I understood that as soon as the plane landed, I would be held accountable for everything I did and for all the damage that I caused to the country.
M: And why did you say that a death penalty awaits you here?
P: It's simpler. Because the State Security Committee [KGB] at one time included me in the list of persons involved in terrorism, and terrorism may well be punished with a death penalty.
M: Well, you yourself indicate that you understood that you would be held accountable. And for what exactly do you think you should be held accountable? I am not a judge, and, well, really, you are not under interrogation, and I
P: Yes, I understand, of course.
M: (over) should not be emphasizing this, but it's very important for me to know how well do you understand where you were crossing this line of what was permitted or provided for by the law.
P: Again, well, first of all, it's important to understand, and, again, I openly admit that I was one of those people who posted calls to go out on the 9th. As soon as they presented me, you know, provided me with documents, presented charges against me, that is, all these things, I immediately admitted my guilt under Part 342 of the Criminal Code, it's organizing massive unauthorized actions -- well, I don't remember, you know, the details, but something like that. I really immediately and in full admitted my guilt under this part, and after that I just knew that the appeals that were published by me, among others, they were the result of, in fact, uncontrollable riots starting in the streets [he means to say the reverse, that the riots were the result of appeals]. And, in fact, Minsk lived in chaos for three days.
M: Well, the fact is that even in the very memorable interview with Dud' you clearly indicated that not only you were called for, you, in fact, were coordinating and controlling these processes. Well, that is, at least here, here, those who were in Belarus had an absolutely clear feeling that this extremist Telegram channel, in which you were directly involved, was acting as a protest coordinator. I'm a military person, I understand perfectly well that protests are not organized by appeals alone, and that they need At least, even by the amount of auxiliary literature, instructions, right, plans, schemes, schemes [explaining] how to organize terrorism on the railway, right, how to make, you know, a device to pierce tires -- well, that is, things that an ordinary person, he, without encountering this in life, he will never know this, that is, you need to instruct him -- in fact, there was a perfectly clear coordination.
I've heard the term Love Hata. What was that, an instrument of creating this protest picture? That is, to create events, on the basis of which the messages were then posted?
P: Let's just say that, in principle, it was the main chat of the administrators of the largest Telegram channels. It was there that the discussions of the upcoming actions really took place, there was, that is, planning, work on the agenda that should be in place, you know, for this or that week of protests. That is, one can say that this chat, Hata -- well, it, you know, was called by different names, that is, it was re-created several times, it had, you know, different names, well, it's not important, that is, the main thing was that keyword, "hata" -- that is, there were, well, administrators of the largest channels, bloggers, and so on, and what was really happening was, well it was this main coordination chat of street protests and information agenda.
M: Well, who was there, in this secret chat?
P: Hmmm
M: Well, apart from you?
P: Stepan Putilo, Jan Rudik, well, another representative of the Nekhta Telegram channels also joined, that is Tadeusz Gichan, Franak Vechorko also was there, who often could just come to this well, for example, come and write in the chat specific talking points on which we had to work, Anton Motolko, Daniil Bogdanovich, whom I already mentioned, earlier there were also such characters as [Artyom] Shraybman, [Eduard] Palchis ...
M: Quite well-known people.
P: Yes, Shraybman, Palchis, [Evgeniy] Yushkevich As far as I remember, there was also Anastasiya Rogatko, who is also related to the activities of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's HQ, then Victoriya Palchis, the wife of
M: Yes, Palchis's wife.
P: (over) Eduard Palchis, that is. Well, these are, right away, the people whom I can Oh, Dmitriy Navosha also was there. In principle, quite well-known media person.
M: (over) Well-known.
P: Yes, Evgeniy Malahovskiy, who worked mainly with courtyard chats and courtyard initiatives. There, basically, we made all the main decisions about where the next action would take place, what kind of information agenda we should push, you know, in the near future, all current events were discussed there, all incidents, everything, so, in fact, one chat, it played the role, you know, of the main coordination chat, in fact, of the entire information war and street protests.
M: So you're saying that a quite talented journalist, Shraybman, a cunning journalist, I won't hide it, he was also managing what was, in fact, the riots?
P: I can't say that he was managing directly, but quite often he would express, you know, his opinion, or was telling us that no, guys, this way it won't work, change at least, you know, for example, you know, such and such theme, or right here, perhaps draw more attention to this.
M: Well, they were as far as I understand, a secret chat, it's usually some kind of nicknames.
P: Well, again, many
M: (over) How did you know who is who?
P: many were present under their own names.
M: That is, in any case, you were sure that these people were present in this chat.
P: (over) Yes, yes, yes, yes. That is, some tried to hide, you know, under other nicknames. For example, Bogdanovich, he was always, you know, "John", or "Kastus", or "Curator", or someone else, that is. There was another person there, Miroslav, who had a surname Chigir, if my memory serves me, who worked, you know, in Belarus Golovnogo Mozga, and, well, later he you know, lately he was doing some kind of investigations, as I understand it, together with The Black Book of Belarus, well, he too, you know, was constantly changing nicknames. To be honest, I, well, can't even remember which ones now, because he, you know, was changing them literally, you know, every week. [Unclear] was also in Hata, that is, a well-known, in principle, Belarusian freelance journalist.
M: But, despite the fact that you are here, in fact, this chat still exists, as I understand it
P: (over) Yes, yes.
M: it's just named differently now.
P: Well, for sure now it's just it was re-created. Almost certainly there is still the word "hata" in it.
M: Well, I heard it is Safe Hata.
P: Well, that was the last name.
M: The last name.
P: It turned out to be not very safe.
M: Yes, they say, but there is nothing safe, unfortunately, in this age of technology.
S , Jun 5 2021 0:47 utc | 87"Protasevich admitted that he is afraid of some kind of extradition (to which country, it is not clear) "
It is clear. It is Donbass resp. Lugansk, the separatists in Ukrainia.
- BTW: the complete interview is translated in 3 german translated parts, which maybe is better to translate:
https://www.anti-spiegel.ru/
(I recommend https://www.deepl.com/translator which is better than Google.)Petri Krohn , Jun 5 2021 0:53 utc | 88@wp007 #85:
- BTW: the complete interview is translated in 3 german translated parts, which maybe is better to translateIt's not a complete interview, but a detailed summary of the interview. Here are the links to machine translations of all three parts:
the pessimist , Jun 5 2021 0:58 utc | 89Posted by: JB | Jun 4 2021 17:44 utc | 42
I find this intreview on public television of a person who has been arrested deeply disturbing. Anyone under arrest can be considered to be in circumstances of coercion, pressure, not free. It is highly unethical to broadcast a confession of a person under arrest.Regardless of whether Protashevich was telling the truth, and what his motives may have been,
this interview should not have been broadcast.Chilling!Would it be ethical for BBC to broadcast a 1.5 hour interview with Julian Assange?
Would Julian Assange be willing to give an interview to BBC?Would BBC be willing to do such an interview?
My personal experience with bomb threats and airplanes FWIW:Josh , Jun 5 2021 1:02 utc | 90In 2005 I was booked on a flight from JFK (NYC) to Europe. After typical hanging out at the gate I boarded the jet normally along with the other passengers and had stowed my hand luggage and taken my seat when an announcement was made for all passengers to exit the aircraft and return to the gate area. No explanation was offered. Upon returning to the gate area I found that all the passengers for that flight were sequestered in the gate area and could not leave. No explanation was offered. The jet was backed away from the terminal and taken to some other area away from the gates. I think we waited between 1.5 and 2hrs before a rumor spread that there had been a bomb threat to the aircraft. We waited longer, with people getting restive. Eventually we were told we were going to re-board the aircraft - we were to proceed down the jetway after a document check and take a bus out to the aircraft. In the jetway were armed security personnel with dogs. We had to pass single file past the dogs who smelled us for explosives and then board the bus. We unloaded near the jet where all the luggage had been arranged in a long line. Each passenger identified their bags and they were reloaded onto the jet. Only those which passengers had identified were loaded. Then we boarded again via a stair and eventually took off. I recall the delay being 7hrs total. We were told that a book had been found at a payphone booth in the gate area and amongst the pages had been a note making threats against the aircraft. Had we been airborne when the note had been found I have no doubt that we would have been asked to return, perhaps to a military airport.
Well, yeah, more or less.Josh , Jun 5 2021 1:06 utc | 91
Detained blogger Protasevich's actions in Ukraine deemed as crimes against Donbass -- LPRBelarus opposition financed by Lithuanian taxpayers and business, says Protasevich
Detained blogger Protasevich says afraid of extradition to LPR
Blogger Protasevich says he had nothing to do with BlackBookBelarus Telegram channel
Opposition blogger Protasevich says he respects Lukashenko
LPR says Belarusian blogger Protasevich was sniper in Ukrainian Azov nationalist battalion
robin , Jun 5 2021 9:55 utc | 98Those are Russian headlines from today, and not all of them.
The authorities in Lugansk want him extridited to stand trial,
Not only for participating in hostilities against the people of Lugansk, but also for organising for others to participate in the firing of numerous weapons against the population on the front lines (as something like a 'hunting trip' to customers who would pay).Donbass Lives Matter , Jun 5 2021 11:41 utc | 103Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jun 4 2021 21:44 utc | 75
The full story may not be know yet. This is the way the narrative changes.Your suggestion that "we are now here" at point number 4 may reflect the level of awareness of this blog and its readership, but it certainly doesn't describe the main narrative as presented - and accepted, by the general Western audience.
The media treatment of the May 31 Dublin - Krakow Ryanair flight and the June 3 Ndjamena - Paris Air France flight is a good indication of where the narrative presently stands. Despite the glaring similarity of the incidents, such as the diversion of the Ryanair flight to a third country and the military jet escort for the Air France flight, I haven't come across any commentary referring to the Minsk incident. For a story which was only a few days old and which centred around the notion of the illegitimacy of the bomb threat excuse, this really shows the bad faith of the media and the wilful passivity of its audience.
This point alone suggests that this particular narrative battle was fought and won by the West.
Counter battery fire isn't effective when it comes a week late. People have already moved on and the damage is done. The specifics of the incident don't matter anyway, as most folks have little awareness and zero curiosity of these matters. What counts is the lasting sentiment imprinted in their mind, keywords to be added to a subfile of 'Russia and stuff'.
Stonebird , Jun 5 2021 12:45 utc | 109How strange: a bunch of posters who have never posted here before, all with names in a specific format (U2, I2, etc.) suddenly appear to spew MSM talking points...
Skiffer , Jun 5 2021 15:17 utc | 116willie | Jun 5 2021 11:57 utc | 105
From Christelle Nèant, Post/link.
À 14 h 48, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa publie un post sur sa chaîne Telegram sur l'arrestation de Protassevitch. Or à cet instant précis, Protassevitch est encore dans la file d'attente et personne dans l'aéroport de Minsk ne sait qu'il est là !
À 14 h 53 , Roman Protassevitch passe calmement ses bagages aux rayons X. Mais en 18 minutes, les employés de la direction biélorusse de la lutte contre le crime organisé ont eu le temps de lire les messages des chaînes Telegram de l'opposition annonçant que Protassevitch a été arrêté à l'aéroport de Minsk, et décident de vérifier l'information.
I hadn't realised that Svetlana was part of the group that wanted Protasevitch used as "bait". Suggests that in Roman's version that accuses Bogdanovich of being the originator, he is NOT the culprit, but it is much more a higher level or external operation. If there is one channel that the Belarusian Anti-crime employees would be looking at full-time it is that of Svetlena. Deliberate publicity to use her!!
She was posting before he was apprehended., Which seems to show that the order for the deliberate publication came from Poland, not from someone who Ramon had left behind in Athens.
Don Bacon , Jun 5 2021 15:45 utc | 118Big props to S@81 for translating the first 18 minutes of the interview. I tried my hand at continuing where you left off, but it goes so deep into Belarussian opp-dynamics that it becomes meaningless without context, and not much better with context. So, here's 4 more minutes, stopping at 22.
Roman Protasevich: Ян Авсеюшкин was also in Hata, that is, a well-known, in principle, Belarusian freelance journalist.Marat Markov: But, despite the fact that you are here, in fact, this chat still exists, as I understand it
P: (over) Yes, yes.
M: it's just named differently now.
P: Well, for sure now it's just it was re-created. Almost certainly there is still the word "hata" in it.
M: Well, I heard it is Safe Hata.
P: Well, that was the last name.
M: The last name.
P: It turned out to be not very safe.
M: Yes, they say, but there is nothing safe, unfortunately, in this age of technology.
Alright, so. While you're here, in this sort of informational vacuum, there's talk that the staffs of the "incredibles" (Ed: presumably, regime-change groups) have united, joined forces. Do you, personally, believe that Putila won't betray Vechorko, at some point? That Latushka and Tikhanovskaya can get along? Or that Strizhak wouldn't sell them all out, if he thought he could profit from it? Are you confident in this sort of alliance?P: (over) Let me just step in here and take the question one step further. In reality, and I expect everyone understands this already – there were always major friction between different working groups and projects. One simple example would be Latushka, and his NAU initiative.
This might surprise you, but NAU was meant to be Tikhanovskaya's project, and it was supposed to be, fundamentally, her cabinet of ministers. But days before the project dropped as intended, Latushka somehow got access to the site and all the information, and he announced NAU as his own personal initiative. Despite the fact that, earlier to this, he was bartering for the position of Prime Minister from Tikhanovskaya, and so on. He essentially just stole the project for himself days before launch.
This is the clearest example I can think of, to demonstrate how much internal friction there is within the organization. (Ed: to put it mildly. "Gnawing" like a rabid animal was the literal expression used.)M: (over) That's unthinkable/scandalous.
P: Vechorko almost beat up Erohovets (Ed: Алексей Ероховец), and he's supposed to be a representative of Страна Для Жизни. (Ed: Translation along the lines of 'Country you can live in' – I'm too far removed to explain what it is. Looks like a cross-platform movement that, perhaps, grew out of Sergei Tikhanovskiy's Youtube channel?) And so on. There are constant internal conflicts, and that's what the staff fear the most – that these internal conflicts, of which there are enormous amounts, become known to the public.
And from all this, it becomes very clear, that everyone is in it for their own personal interests.M: Which are? What are they fighting for?
P: Let me give another simple example, concerning the highly public Olga Karach . In every public appearance, she tries very hard to out-shout the rest of the opposition, building herself up as a central figure. Every week there's a new attempt to pull the mantle off of Tikhanovskaya, for head of the opposition – that's all her work amounts to. To get financial access to the Belarusian diaspora, primarily, since she isn't really interested in wielding executive power. She's only interested in money.
Having lived in Lithuania for 10 years, she lives in a house that's 600 square meters, in an elite quarter of Vilnius.M: (over) Wonderful woman.
P: You tell me, where that money comes from. In the same way, everyone else is competing to get a piece of that pie. For that same reason, you get tons of internal strife. There are even frictions with BYSOL , even though I'm personally well acquainted/on good terms with Andrej Strizhak I perfectly understand that there's something amiss: one moment there's money, and then suddenly they run out. We've obviously had this discussion, internally of course, away from the public.
M: Did you voice these concerns to him directly?
P: This was only discussed internally. One of the key things, well... Like in the example with Latushka – he never openly went against Tikhanovskaya, but he did steal her project from right under her nose, to accomplish his own goals.
M: She just accepted this?
P: The key take-away is this: that the organizations keep all internal conflicts under wraps, and try to the very end – even at times when I considered silence on the issue harmful – they try their hardest to keep things quiet and 'keep it in-house' (Ed: Russian proverb) so as not to disillusion their supporters among the public. In terms of finances, in terms of political ambitions, in terms of zones of influence – there are tons of examples. Everything is fought over.
My key take-away is that this interview is full of redundancies and needs creative editing for those outside of the Belarus-regime-change-keyboard-warrior demographic.
The impression I get of Roman in the select clips I've seen of the interview (I haven't seen it in its entirety) isn't one of remorse or fear, but relief. With security guarantees for cooperation, he's more than happy to throw everyone he was in contact with under the bus, and the picture is pretty much of a criminal organization with tons of money on the line, which should be a terrifying prospect for any front-line peon involved. Jail-time with a commuted sentence may not be a bad way to get yourself out, considering the alternatives.
On the other hand, his mannerisms remind me a bit of Lukashenko. Can we be sure this isn't the dictator himself with advanced Belorussian deep-fake technology, coached on hip internet lingo by the KGB, giving the interview? ;)
Jackrabbit , Jun 5 2021 16:00 utc | 120WaPo "journalism" -- State Dept provided -- nails it..../s
Detained Belarus dissident breaks down in state TV interview, renewing fears of coercion and torture
Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich, detained last month after his flight was forced to land in Minsk, Belarus, sobs during an interview with Belarusian state television. Footage of detained journalist Roman Protasevich that aired on Belarusian state television Thursday has raised renewed concerns that he is being coerced to take part in political propaganda under duress.
...Protasevich's father, Dzmitry, told the AFP that the interview was painful to watch because his son was clearly repeating statements that he does not believe. "They broke him and forced him to say what was needed," Dzmitry Protasevich said. [with all those details??]
Exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya told reporters Friday that such videos are routinely filmed after torture and should not be believed. "The task of political prisoners is to survive," she said, according to the AFP.
Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth tweeted that the video "should be Exhibit A in a prosecution for torture and ill treatment under President Lukashenko." . .Jun 4, 2021 herejames , Jun 5 2021 16:17 utc | 123Roman's story: a little too convenient?
- Roman says he was about to be ousted from the anti-Belarus organization that he was associated with over some "petty deadline".
Is this believable? Can this be verified? If they were going to oust him, it seems it would have been over something more serious than a "petty deadline".
If truthful, we could ask if Roman was identified as a suspiciously unenthusiastic participant by the Belarus opposition (a double-agent?). If not truthful, then it may be part of a cover story for Minsk's diversion of the Ryanair flight.
- Roman says that he himself was the source of info about his travel to Vilinus.
This hints at how Minsk knew of his presence on the Ryanair flight (i.e. not via Protonmail email).
- The 'blackbook' that identifies State security personnel seems to be a real source of irritation to Lukashenko/Belarus. Is such identification a standard aspect of 'color revolution'? Was there a similar effort to identify Ukrainian security personnel in the lead-up to Ukraine's Maidan?
The loyalty of security services is requisite for a 'strongman' like Lukashenko.
<> <> <> <> <>
Roman says that he didn't really help with the 'black book' and wasn't really part of 'Asov' in Ukraine. His quick conversion indicates that this may be true. This 'leader of the rebellion' doesn't appear to have a strong pro-Western affiliation (compare to Assange! who risked and lost everything for his principles).
Others at moa have noted Roman's weak allegiance.
AFAICT Sofia is not ratting out her colleagues like Roman. She and her family are saying it was all a set-up.
Was Roman a double-agent? Was Sofia (leader of the 'blackbook' project) and discrediting the opposition (as petty and mercenary) the real target?
!!
jayc , Jun 5 2021 17:41 utc | 130@ 119 jackrabbit... just for fun here... how do you think the usa gov't would react to a list given out of the police personal info who oversaw occupy wall st protests?? do you think the people who gave out the list would be charged with terrorism or some such law in the usa??
regarding your comment about romans story being a little too convenient.. lets look at the facts as they stand on the ground.. has belarus benefited from this, or has the west?? some would argue belarus-russia has benefited because a hole was been blown in the regime change operation... others would say the west has won because the narrative to isolate belarus and russia has been successful... so, i am not so sure about his story being too convenient... in fact, i can see it as a possibility a plan was in place to do exactly this with the bomb threat being phoned in from the west.. however, my gut tells me it is russia that instigated the e mail, not the west .. hard to know either way, but using protonmail it suggests the west is behind it... i think protonmail would be a lot more forthright if russia was behind it... so my gut is wrong or not very accurate!
Paco , Jun 5 2021 17:54 utc | 131Western press continues to describe the incident as a "hijacking". Ukraine releases statement by Rada:
"By committing this compulsory act of landing a passenger plane, the Belarusian authorities endangered the safety of passengers and crew. These actions are a violation of international civil aviation rules and pose a threat to international security, including the safety of air transport"
https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/748084.htmlNATO CEO predictably refers to a "state hijacking" which must produce "consequences" for Belarus and also Russia.
"Russia has not condemned it," Stoltenberg said during a Brookings Institution event. "Russia has actually tried to do the opposite to excuse and explain that outrageous action."
The international incident has raised the stakes for an upcoming summit between President Biden and Putin, with the two leaders to meet on June 16 in Switzerland."
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/556892-nato-chief-belarus-actions-must-have-consequencesThat's the narrative and they are going to stick with it.
robin , Jun 5 2021 20:38 utc | 133Finally, a full transcript of the interview by the channel that broadcasted the interview:
Transcript in Russian by ONT.by
There is so much material that there is no way the western MSM is going to get away with the typical excuses, no lawyer, torture, etc. To start with there is the Dud interview in which a couple of young fellows with huge egos, especially the front man Putilo, reveal in retrospect much more than what they would like to, then there is the first news investigation item by ONT.by , with airport cameras, pilot and control tower communications, in that first program about the incident quite a few fakes are discredited, like Roman being detained right by the airplane when the cameras show that he takes a long walk from the airplane to the bus by himself, then we have the interview with Markov and then not to be forgotten, the interview is one hour an a half but four and a half hours were taped, so probably somebody is waiting for more denials and fakes to be published and then confront them with recorded facts.
It is so obvious that the MSM and whoever is behind are masters of denial and manipulation but this saga is far from over. After watching all the material available if someone insists that Roman was tortured then the Belarusian KGB operatives are truly masters of their trade and should be hired by the CIA to show them that water boarding, sleep deprivation, electroshock and all the tricks employed so far by the agency are primitive and ineffective.
Mark , Jun 6 2021 0:52 utc | 136Posted by: james | Jun 5 2021 16:08 utc | 121
@ 98 robin... so what do you think is more important? narrative control, or facts on the ground?? one is playing with people's minds, and the other is what is.. one could say the propaganda war is being won by those who want to control the narrative, but if we step outside the world of propaganda for a moment, who is actually winning?
Are you asking what is my personal stand on the matter or what I believe is more important to the belligerents? I'll assume it's the latter and answer that, to the main aggressor, controlling the narrative for its domestic audience is absolutely crucial.As the perpetrator of wars of choice, the empire cannot afford to have its citizenry see its foreign policy for what it is. It cannot come out and say : "So, look, we're going to squeeze these different places until there's nothing left. You see, our models tell us that down the road, that Eastern block is going to significantly cut into our bottom line. That's why we need to crush them all while we're still ahead."
As I said earlier, most folks are not very curious about geopolitics. However, they would certainly resent being told they are on Team Asshole. They would seek to distance themselves from those politics and this would ultimately impede the Empire in its adventurism.
This is where the narrative management comes in. Thanks to the incessant artillery barrage, unsolicited membership to Team Asshole is duly hidden from sight. Better yet, we get to be partners in making this world a better, freedomer place for all and make a stand against tyranny and terror.
It is perfectly believable that Protasevich was sold out by someone on Tikhanovskaya's team, likely with her knowledge; she would need to act quickly to capitalize on it with calls for European sanctions against Belarus. Her opposition movement is floundering and moribund, and she desperately needs relevance and attention.
|
|
|
May 29, 2021 | turcopolier.com
Seamus Padraig says: May 28, 2021 at 5:23 am
If anybody here still doubts that Roman Protasevich served with the Azov Battalion, Anatoly Karlin's got the good on him: https://www.unz.com/akarlin/protasevich-served-in-azov/ English Outsider says: May 28, 2021 at 6:28 am
Battle of narratives. "Despite their potentially grave impact on public health, official and state-backed sources from various governments, including Russia and – to a lesser extent – China, have continued to widely target conspiracy narratives and disinformation both at public audiences in the EU and the wider neighbourhood."
And on the Belarus incident –
https://euvsdisinfo.eu/lies-damned-lies-and-lukashenkas-lies/
On Pratasevich – " The second claim – on dissident Raman Pratasevich being an "Extremist" – is both unfounded and irrelevant to the case. It does not justify Lukashenka's decision to use military threat against a civilian aircraft."
https://euvsdisinfo.eu/deny-deceive-defame-and-deflect/
Having been a citizen of the European Union for so long I suppose I should know about the EEAS. I didn't so I looked it up. It's the embryonic equivalent, according to Wiki, of the US State Department. The old stamping ground of Lady Catherine Ashton of Ukrainian coup fame. Not much of a budget to do a lot of things, so I imagine the articles above are cut and paste from Bellingcat or some such source.
All very down market and a little depressing, Mr Armstrong. I had thought the EU and particularly the French would provide a counterweight to our own mini-neocons of Westminster, at least as far as the Russophobic stuff went. Not so it seems. Reply
Patrick Armstrong says: May 28, 2021 at 8:43 am
I seem to remember that one of the selling points of the EU years ago was that it would become an independent foreign policy actor -- a sort of fourth world to use the expressions of the time. Didn't happen, did it?
|
|
|
May 29, 2021 | turcopolier.com
The story gets fishier by the minute . First the simulated and hypocritical outrage when Minsk is accused of following the example of the keeper and guardian of the Rules-Based International Order (suspiciously rapid and uniform). Calling this coup specialist a "journalist" is pretty creative: yes he did fight with the nazis ; more on Protasevich and more still . There has been a sustained – and unsuccessful – anti-Lukashenka operation for some time, is this the next try? The real key to the story is the fake bomb threat: who did it and when? If it did come, as Lukashenka says, from some source in Switzerland (don't be fooled by the time stamp – they are in different time zones), then everything took place as it should have and the rules required the pilot to land in Minsk ; and the threat did say the bomb would be set off in Vilnius. Incidentally, this is the third time (!) a Ryanair plane has been forced to land by armed fighters after a bomb hoax: 2017 and 2020 . Fighter interception is normal behaviour. The people who stayed in Minsk were not sinister operatives but people headed there anyway . Did the Belarusan authorities only know he was on board because of this tweet as Petri Krohn wonders (see comment 6 )? Maybe we'll read about it years later in the WaPo – remember Ukraine's Joan of Arc ? So, the question that they should be asking is: who originated the bomb threat? Answer that and you'll know whether it was another anti-Lukashenka provocation (vide Vovan and Lexus ) or something Lukashenka did to get Protasevich. But, anyway, it's time for Lukashenka to get closer to Moscow; maybe he will.
MACRON says sanctions against Russia aren't working and " I think that we are at a moment of truth in our relationship with Russia, which should lead us to rethink the terms of the tension that we decide to put in place ." Every now and again he says the unsayable, but nothing happens afterwards .
FAKE NEWS. Don't toss your NYT subscription! Eventually the news will fit. Steele dossier is junk!
|
|
|
May 29, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Lurk , May 29 2021 15:07 utc | 1
The narrative of the incident (scroll down for the English version) by the Belorussian authorities starts with this:
On May 23, 2021, a written message with the following content in English was sent to the e-mail of the National Airport Minsk from the e-mail address protonmail.com:A translation of the Russian language version of that paragraph is a bit more specific:
On May 23, 2021, a written message with the following content was sent to the e-mail of the National Airport Minsk [email protected] from the e-mail address protonmail.com in English:The radio talk between ATC and the pilot of flight RYR 1TZ has additional information about the email:
ATC: RYR 1TZ
Pilot: The bomb....direct message, where did it come from? Where did you have information about it from?
ATC: RYR 1TZ standby please.
ATC: 09:33:42: RYR 1TZ
Pilot: Go ahead.
ATC: RYR 1TZ airport security stuff informed they received e-mail.
Pilot: Roger, Vilnius airport security stuff or from Greece?
ATC: RYR 1TZ this e-mail was shared to several airports .At 9:33 utc the Belorussian ATC knew that the email had been received by several airports in the region. This must have been the first email in question and the recipient field must have show several airport related email addresses.
We know that one of the other recipients of the email received by Minsk airport was an airport organization in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The Dossier Center , a rather shady anti-Russian outfit in London financed by the exiled billionaire and company raider Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has published this misleading narrative about the Ryanair incident (machine translation, emph. added):
Swiss Hamas - Inconsistencies in the "terrorist" version of the Belarusian authoritiesOn May 26, during a speech in parliament, Alexander Lukashenko commented on the emergency landing in Minsk of a Ryanair airline, on board which was the former editor-in-chief of the Nexta Telegram channel Roman Protasevich. Lukashenka said that the message about the mining of the side was received by "Athens, Minsk and Vilnius at the same time". After the Belarusian air traffic controllers passed the information about the bomb allegedly received from the special services to the Ryanair pilots, it was decided to land the plane in Minsk. To escort the board, a MiG-29 fighter of the Belarusian Air Force was raised.
The Dossier Center, together with The Daily Beast and Der Spiegel, managed to obtain and analyze a copy of an email sent by a "Hamas representative" to the Minsk airport. It follows from it that the Belarusian air traffic controllers informed the Ryanair pilots about the mining of the plane 27 minutes earlier than they themselves received the message about the bomb.
On May 23, at 12:25 pm Belarusian time, the administration of "Lithuanian Airports" received a letter with a threat of a bomb explosion on board the flight FR4978, sent from the address [email protected] .
The highlighted sentence says that a threat email arrived in Lithuania at 12:25 pm (9:25 utc). This must have been the same email which the Belorussian ATC mentioned at 9:33 utc:
ATC: RYR 1TZ this e-mail was shared to several airports.Then however the Dossier Center claim in the second paragraph above, that "the Belarusian air traffic controllers informed the Ryanair pilots about the mining of the plane 27 minutes earlier than they themselves received the message about the bomb", makes no sense.
But the Dossier Center does show an email with a bomb threat that was received at 12:56 (9:56 utc) after the pilot had already made the decision to land in Minsk.
biggerThe explanation that resolves the seemingly contradicting evidence is simple. There were two emails sent to the airports.
In fact on May 28 the Investigative Committee of Belarus, the country's prosecution service, published a note about the case (machine translation, emph. added):
It has already been established, to which we draw special attention, that there were several messages about the "mining" of the aircraft received through the Swiss anonymous mail service ProtonMail - at 12:25 and at 12:56 . At the moment, the records of conversations with the pilots of the aircraft are being studied and analyzed in detail, and numerous other investigative actions are being carried out.The Dossier Center however claims, without providing any evidence, that Minsk did not receive the first email (machine translation, emph. added):
At 12:30 the plane entered the airspace of Belarus. As follows from the transcript of the dispatchers' negotiations with the Ryanair pilots, at the same moment the Belarusian side informed the crew about the alleged explosion threat. At 12:33 pm, the controller informed the pilot that a letter with a message about the bomb had been sent to several airports at once. However, as the Dossier Center found out, at that time only Lithuanian Airports received a letter from the "terrorists" . The Greek Civil Aviation Authority said it had not received a bomb threat letter at the Athens airport.At 12:47 the plane changed course and flew towards Minsk. The official statement of the Aviation Directorate of the Ministry of Transport of Belarus did not disclose details about the time of receipt of the email, but Dossier found out that a copy of the letter from user Ahmed Yurlanov came to the email of the National Airport of Minsk ([email protected]) at 12:57 pm Belarusian time - that is, almost half an hour after the transmission of the message about the possible mining of the side.
How the anti-Russian Dossier Center in London would even know when and what emails arrived or didn't arrive at Minsk airport is inexplicable.
The Daily Beast has cooperated with the Dossier Center in reporting the issue. Its piece, authored by Michael Weiss, a former research director of the neo-conservative Henry Jackson Society in London, does not resolve the issue:
The email was sent to Minsk's National Airport's general information account at 12:57 p.m. on May 23, 27 minutes after the plane first entered Belarusian airspace and 24 minutes after air traffic control in Minsk first informed the Ryanair pilot that an emailed bomb threat was "shared with several airports."But the Greek Civil Aviation Authority, which is responsible for the plane that took off from Athens, has publicly stated that it received no such warning at any point during FR4978's journey. Lithuania did receive the email, but not Vilnius Airport, the intended destination; rather, the recipient was State Enterprise Lithuanian Airports, the state-run company that handles three different Lithuanian airports (Vilnius, Kaunas, and Palanga).
That someone in Greece did not receive the bomb threat email and who in Lithuania received the email or not does not tell us anything about the reception of the first email in Minsk. The whole writeup is a diversion from that critical point.
Here is where ProtonMail comes in.
ProtonMail was asked about the second email published by the Daily Beast and the Dossier Center. It responded with a statement to Reuters which then misleading headlined:
Bomb threat cited by Belarus was sent after plane was diverted - Swiss email provider
A bomb threat cited by Belarusian authorities as the reason for forcing a Ryanair jetliner carrying a dissident journalist to land in Minsk was sent after the plane was diverted, privacy-focused email provider Proton Technologies AG said on Thursday.
...
Proton declined to comment on specifics of the message but confirmed it was sent after the plane was diverted."We haven't seen credible evidence that the Belarusian claims are true," the Swiss company said in a statement. "We will support European authorities in their investigations upon receiving a legal request."
ProtonMail seems to have confirmed to Reuters that the second email, received in Minsk at 12:56 (9:56 utc), had been sent through its service.
ProtonMail however seems to not have been asked about the first email received in Minsk and Lithuania on May 23 at 12:25 (9:25 utc). Still Reuters attributes the false claim, that the bomb threat cited by Belarus was sent after the plane was diverted, directly to ProtonMail. Belarus cited the first email sent. ProtonMail only confirmed that the second email was sent. It should be in the interest of ProtonMail to clear up that issue.
Yesterday evening I asked ProtonMail to explicitly confirm that the first email was also sent to and received in Minsk. As it confirmed that the second email was sent it should have no problem with confirming the first one too. This unless it has left its claimed neutrality and is an active participant in the information war against Belarus.
Here is the full exchange:
Chahuapa @Chahuapa - 22:22 utc · May 26, 2021Email can be easily spoofed (appear to come from some adres when it's not). I suggest anyone to stop using protonmail. It has been compromised.
ProtonMail @ProtonMail - 18:10 utc · May 27, 2021
Replying to @ChahuapaThe email leaked to the press was not obtained from us. Due to our encryption, we can't access/verify the message contents. However, we can see the sent time and can confirm it was after the plane was redirected.
Moon of Alabama @MoonofA - 19:12 utc · May 28, 2021
Replying to @ProtonMail and @ChahuapaThe Belarus prosecutor states that it received two ProtonMails - at 12:25 and at 12:56 (UTC+3). sk.gov.by/ru/news-usk-gm...
Dossier Center claims that Lithuanian airports received threat email at 12:25.
Can you please confirm that the first email at 12:25 was also sent to Minsk.ProtonMail @ProtonMail - 19:54 utc · May 28, 2021
Replying to @MoonofA and @ChahuapaUnfortunately we can't comment on this as the first email is not public information yet. Only the Swiss authorities can make additional disclosures at this time.
Moon of Alabama @MoonofA - 20:07 utc · May 28, 2021
Replying to @ProtonMail and @ChahuapaI contacted you because I learned of the first email from:
a. Dossier Center
b. General Prosecutor of Belarus
Their claims of reception of the 9:25 utc email in Vilnius and Minsk are already public information.
You are only asked to confirm that both were sent at that time.There was no further response from ProtonMail.
While ProtonMail seems to confirm the existence of the first email it is not willing to confirm that the first email was also received in Minsk.
This is not helpful. ProtonMail's confirmation to Reuters that the second email was received in Minsk has led to widely misleading headlines and numerous reports which, attributed to ProtonMail, falsely claim that Belarus recommended the plane to land in Minsk without having received a bomb threat to that plane.
ProtonMail could easily clean up the false reports by confirming in a public statement that there were two emails and that the first email at at 12:25 (9:25 utc) was also sent to and received in Minsk.
That ProtonMail rejects to do so demonstrates that it is a party in the information war against Belarus. Swiss Neutrality this is not.
But ProtonMail claims neutrality. It also claims that its encrypted email service is secure.
In light of the above ProtonMail's neutrality seems to be quite questionable. That lets me doubt that its service and products are as secure as it claims.
There have been other Swiss providers of encryption technology and services who had made false claims about their neutrality. Their claims about the security of the encryption services they provided turned out to be false.
Last year this led to headlines like these:
- CIA and German intelligence agency secretly owned Swiss encryption company used by 120 governments - Telegraph
- Swiss report reveals new details on CIA spying operation - MSN / Washington Post
- Report Claims CIA Controlled Second Swiss Encryption Firm - AFP / Barrons
It is easy for ProtonMail to reclaim Neutrality by publicly providing information that an email from the account shown in the above screenshot or any other ProtonMail account was sent to the [email protected] address in Minsk on May 23 at 9:25 utc. As ProtonMail confirmed that the second email was sent and received it must have the metadata that allows it to issue a similar confirmation about the first mail.
An additional public explanation of the fact that there were two emails in question and that its previous statement to Reuters was only with regard to the second email would be very helpful.
We should also keep in mind that this is not a question of good versus bad but true or false. One may dislike the leadership of Belarus. But one also has to acknowledge, as even The Atlantic does, that the government of Belarus acted in full accordance with the relevant laws :
Ryanair's CEO called the incident "state-sponsored hijacking." It was not. Technically, you have to be on a plane to hijack it. But the Ryanair incident was nevertheless diabolical -- and what makes it particularly diabolical is that Belarus may have managed to pull it off without violating its agreements under international law.One should also consider that the only casualty in this incident is an openly neo-nazi regime change activist who is financed by 'western' governments .
If ProtonMail wants to take that side it is free to do so. But it can not claim neutrality, and a secure service, while doing so.
Should ProtonMail change its mind and issue a clarifying statement on the issue I will update this post accordingly.
---
Previous Moon of Alabama post on the Ryanair incident in Belarus:
- Lukashenko's Revenge (Served Cold) - May 24 2021
- Roman Protasevich - Arrested In Belarus - Is A Western Government Financed Neo-Nazi - May 26 2021
- By The Book - What Really Happened With The Ryanair Flight In Belarus - May 27 2021
- Ryanair Incident - Email Warning Received Before Plane Entered Belorussian Airspace - May 28 2021
Posted by b on May 29, 2021 at 14:46 UTC | Permalink
ust read this, mkay?
psychohistorian , May 29 2021 15:15 utc | 2
GO B!!!!Christian J. Chuba , May 29 2021 15:17 utc | 3I love your attack of this geo-political propaganda pig and can only suggest that when one thinks of network security they should think of Swiss cheese.
GO B!!!!
regarding the first email ...b , May 29 2021 15:23 utc | 4
"a threat email arrived in Lithuania at 12:25 pm (9:25 utc)."
Since ProtoMail refuses to verify that Belarus received this email. Have any of the other recipients, such as Lithuania, showed the first email to anyone? This would at least confirm that Belarus was included on the recipient list. I am taking it as a given that no one will believe Belarus."Have any of the other recipients, such as Lithuania, showed the first email to anyone? This would at least confirm that Belarus was included on the recipient list. I am taking it as a given that no one will believe Belarus."Christian J. Chuba , May 29 2021 16:01 utc | 5Lithuania is hostile to Belarus. It would not reveal such information.
Thanks b.Perhaps naive , May 29 2021 16:02 utc | 6When you have an alliance of countries committed to lying about Russia, China, Iran (and friends), and get their own citizens to hate, and I mean really hate, their victims, I don't see how this ends well.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On CNN I saw yet another story on the Wuhan Lab leak and their latest take on it was to apologize for dismissing the lab leak theory last year. So their one regret was doubting our CIA because Trump and Pompeo overplayed their hand. They regret shunning their friends in the CIA because it would have helped Trump and now they have learned their lesson to forever be loyal to their government caretakers.
If ProtonMail's position is "Unfortunately we can't comment on this as the first email is not public information yet." , perhaps Belarus should release a screenshot - showing showing time, sender, recipient, message - equivalent to the screenshost of the second email. The first email would then be just as public as the second one. ProtonMail, having lost its excuse, could then either deny or confirm the first email.Petri Krohn , May 29 2021 16:06 utc | 7Thank you for bringing up the issue. I still believe what I said yesterday:Ms. Cat , May 29 2021 16:14 utc | 8I think Protonmail was criminally negligent in their tweets . Someone just shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand and they helped him pull the trigger.
Unfortunately a lie is half way around the world while truth is still tying its shoelaces.
ProtinMail stood with the 'protesters' in both Belarus and Hong Kong:james , May 29 2021 16:14 utc | 9b - i agree with your conclusions here... as you note, if they change, you can change your conclusion, but at present, it is the only conclusion to make as i see it... did Mikhail Khodorkovsky pay protonmail to keep silent? is protonmail run by an intel agency? etc. etc.. they may not want to say, but in this example not saying anything about the first e mail seals their duplicitous role here.. they agree to the one but when asked are silent on the other... until they change this stance, it is clear they are an asset in the western system of regime change in belarus..james , May 29 2021 16:17 utc | 10@ 8 ms. cat... someone ought to send a note to Ben Wolford, the guy who wrote that article asking him a question on the 2nd e mail that he can take to his superiors... otherwise he is working propaganda for a company that looks bad on him..james , May 29 2021 16:23 utc | 11ps - i replied to that article in the comment section... see if they respond..vk , May 29 2021 16:26 utc | 12Yeah, it's a myth Switzerland is a neutral country. Not only it isn't, but, since the creation of the Euro Zone, it's de facto a EU member state (its monetary policy is directly tied to the Euro, it adheres and adjust to most European law and regulations etc. etc.).
|
|
|
May 28, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Ryanair Incident - Email Warning Received Before Plane Entered Belorussian Airspace Jan , May 28 2021 18:54 utc | 5
This is an update to yesterday's post By The Book - What Really Happened With The Ryanair Flight In Belarus . That piece analyzed the timeline of the Ryanair bomb threat incident in Belarus and the response from Belorussian officials.
As part of that post I discussed the possible manipulation of a screenshot of the bomb threat email by the editor of the western financed opposition media Nexta:
Protonmail, from where the email was received, is a encrypted web-email service hosted in Switzerland which allows more or less anonymous traffic.
An alleged screenshot of the email currently gets peddled around by the Editor-in-Chief of NEXTA:
Tadeusz Giczan @TadeuszGiczan - 11:59 PM · May 26, 2021Not that anyone had any doubts but "˜Hamas email' was sent to Minsk airport 24 minutes after Belarusian air controllers warned Ryanair pilots there's a bomb onboard.
biggerGiczan is right in that the time shown in the screenshot is inconsistent with the timing of the Ryanair flight in the Belorussian airspace.
That however proves nothing. Time stamps in emails are notoriously unreliable as they depend on various computer timezone settings and several other variables.
Clocks, computers and phones in Switzerland are currently set to UTC(GMT)+2 hours. Clocks, computers and phones in Belarus to UTC+3. A email sent at 10:57 Geneva time would likely show up as sent at 11:57 in Minsk time. However, if the timezone of the computer/phone that is used to look at the email is set to UTC+4 the email time would be shown as 12:57.
Nice trick Mr. Nexta but that screenshot is unconvincing.
It turns out that my timezone manipulation speculation, while technically correct, might not have been an issue.
Today the Investigative Committee of Belarus, the country's proscecution service, published a note about the case (machine translation, emph. added):
Investigation of a criminal case on a deliberately false report about the "mining" of the Athens-Vilnius flight continuesAt the moment, the criminal case initiated on the fact of the "mining" of the plane, which carried out the flight "Athens-Vilnius", is being processed by the USC in the city of Minsk.
These days, through destructive and extremist channels, as well as various Internet resources and Western media, incomplete and unverified information is being disseminated aimed at manipulating public opinion in their own interests. For our part, we urge the public not to popularize innuendo and cynical speculation. We consider it unacceptable to assume that someone has a monopoly on the truth until the preliminary investigation is completed.
...
It has already been established, to which we draw special attention, that there were several messages about the "mining" of the aircraft received through the Swiss anonymous mail service ProtonMail - at 12:25 and at 12:56. At the moment, the records of conversations with the pilots of the aircraft are being studied and analyzed in detail, and numerous other investigative actions are being carried out. ...So there have been, if the officials are to be believed, two bomb threat emails. The first one at 12:25 local time (9:25 UTC) arrived five minutes before the Ryanair flight at 12:30 (9:30 UTC) entered Belorussian airspace. That would have left enough time to contact the air traffic controller who then warned the plane. The email in the screenshot received at would have been the second one.
The Ryanair pilot was warned of the bomb threat at 9:30 utc but declared Mayday only at 9:47 utc. It took him several more minutes to change the course. The sender of the emails might have watched the plane's course on Flight Aware and prepared and sent the second email when the plane seemed not to react to the first one.
Cont. reading: Ryanair Incident - Email Warning Received Before Plane Entered Belorussian Airspace
Posted by b at 18:20 UTC | Comments (28) I believe that Dossier Center actually confirms the timing of the first email with "at 12:25 pm Belarusian time, the administration of "Lithuanian Airports" received a letter with the threat of a bomb explosion on board the flight FR4978 by e-mail". This is by Google translation from the site https://dossier.center/bel-hamas/It means that Vilnius received the email at the same time is Minsk says they received. It is unthinkable that Vilnius would have done nothing after receiving the bomb threat. It must have contacted Minsk about the email unless Vilnius new that Minsk got the same threat as well.
According to the time line, that Minsk has published, Minsk air traffic control contacted the pilot after about 3 minutes from receiving the email threat.
Petri Krohn , May 28 2021 19:02 utc | 6
I think Protonmail was criminally negligent in their tweets . Someone just shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand and they helped him pull the trigger.b , May 28 2021 19:06 utc | 7Thank you Jan.Down South , May 28 2021 19:48 utc | 8It it very likely that Minsk airport received the email at the same time as Vilnius airport. The Belorussian prosecutor statement is then correct. There were two emails.
Dossier Center misleads by saying that the threat email arrived in Belarus only at 12:26 local time. But that was the second email. The alarm was triggered by the first one.
According to the Convention of International Civil Aviation Belarus has done nothing illegal.Petri Krohn , May 28 2021 19:48 utc | 9Article 9b) Each contracting State reserves also the right, in exceptional circumstances or during a period of emergency, or in the interest of public safety, and with immediate effect, temporarily to restrict or prohibit flying over the whole or any part of its territory, on condition that such restriction or prohib- ition shall be applicable without distinction of nationality to aircraft of all other States.
C ) Each contracting State, under such regulations as it may prescribe, may require any aircraft entering the areas contem- plated in subparagraphs a ) or b) above to effect a landing as soon as practicable thereafter at some designated airport within its territory.
I commented about the earlier email in the last thread:foxenburg , May 28 2021 19:56 utc | 10When was the email sent?Mikhail Khodorkovsky is the source of this fake story. Read carefully and you will see that Lithuanian ATC received a copy of the email 6 minutes before Ryanair entered Belorussian airspace. Today's fake news is about a screenshot of another copy of the email sent half an hour later (assuming it is real).
I also included this translation from the Dossier Center:
Inconsistencies in the "terrorist" version of the Belarusian authorities - Dossier Center, May 27, 2021On May 23, at 12:25 pm Belarusian time , the administration of "Lithuanian Airports" received a letter with the threat of a bomb explosion on board the flight FR4978 by e-mail, sent from the address [email protected] . It reported the following: "We, the Hamas soldiers, demand that Israel cease fire in the Gaza Strip. We demand that the EU renounce its support for Israel in this war. It is known that the participants of the Delphic Economic Forum are returning home on May 23 on flight FR4978. This plane has a bomb. If you do not fulfill our demands, the bomb will explode on May 23 over Vilnius. Allahu Akbar ".
Dossier Center offers no reason to believe the 12:25 pm email was not sent to Minsk too. The Reuters hoax, repeated in every Western media, adds two and two together (12:25 and 12:57 emails) and concludes that Minsk received no email at 12:57.
At 12:30 Ryanair was still in Ukrainian airspace and only approaching the SOMAT waypoint at the border. We do not know when exactly the flight crossed the border.
***
The legal difference between a hoax and a fabrication is that leaders and politicians are free to endorse and promote fabrications but promoting hoaxes makes them criminally liable under international criminal law. Capital crimes like this one "" I believe "" deserve the capital punishment.
My instincts tell me that some clever people have successfully led some idiots a long way up a garden path and that they will now be made fools of. The icing on the cake is the capture of the smug little terrorist....a face that invites a punch.Petri Krohn , May 28 2021 20:05 utc | 11In April 2015 Mikhail Khodorkovsky visited Finland to meet Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb. I saw this as a very worrisome development and wrote about it on my Facebook page. Sometime in the last two years Facebook censored and removed the post (possibly on Khodorkovsky's orders). Luckily I had posted a copy on The Duran as part of my article: Is There a Plot to Expel Russia from UN Security Council?Rêver , May 28 2021 20:08 utc | 12KHODORKOVSKY MEETS FINNISH PM TO DISCUSS GOVERNMENT-IN-EXILENATO has chosen Mikhail Khodorkovsky to set up government-in-exile, take over Russia's UN seat and foreign assets.
The NATO plan is now obvious: Mikhail Khodorkovsky will set up puppet government-in-exile and claim to be the legitimate president of Russia. He will then ask Western governments for diplomatic recognition.
This palace coup d'état will take place not in Moscow but at the UN headquarters in New York. US security guards will remove the Russian ambassador and replace him with Khodorkovsky or his stooge.
This same scenario has been already been demonstrated before. In February 2011 the Libyan Chargé d'Affaires Ibrahim Dabbashi "" after first resigning "" took up the position of the Libyan ambassador and requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council. In less than a week the Security Council passed UNSC Resolution 1970 in effect confiscating all $100 billion dollars worth of Libya's foreign assets.
The first step of the UN Security Council in its new configuration will be to ask NATO for military assistance in removing the "pretender Putin" from the Kremlin and "liberating the Russian people from his tyranny." The US and its captive nations have a qualified majority in the Security Council so the vote will pass. (The Chinese ambassador will be prevented from casting a veto.)
A crucial part of the plan is the continuing information war against Russia. The demonization of President Putin. The Western public has already been taught the inevitability of the war against Russia.
Khodorkovsky's usurpation of power will not happen today, not yet. The NATO plan will only be put to motion once the first Russian troops overtly enter Ukrainian territory.
IN THE NEWS: Mikhail Khodorkovsky met Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb at the official summer residence Kultaranta yesterday. The meeting was held on Khodorkovsky's request.
Looks like Belarus is now going through this treatment.
The pieces of the puzzle start to fit together, or the dominoes start to fall, depending on how you look at it.K_C_ , May 28 2021 20:30 utc | 13
But unfortunately, this is no longer important to the masses fed with false narratives.
Everything will now be ridiculed as necessarily clumsy attempts by Putin and Luka to clear their names...and therefore "clues" to a "highly likely" responsibility.
Even an ICAO investigation will be reconstructed and oriented (those who do not remember the investigation on Sullenberger's January 2009 emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, in which all 155 passengers and crew survived must watch the movie). This investigation will involve Lithuania, Poland, USA (passengers and Boeing...), Greece, France, Ireland and so on (and perhaps one seat for Belarus and Russia if not denied... for security reasons)I posted on other thread
"the captain of the aircraft who "made the decision [to change course to Minsk] after consulting Ryanair's management", according to Kiskis."and
Petri Krohn | May 28 2021 16:30 utc | 90 found a really interesting link. Normal behavior of trained pilot is Checklist.
When an emergency is declared, air traffic control (ATC) gives the flight "priority." Saying the magic words "declare an emergency" (or "Mayday") makes an aircraft the most important thing in the sky. If need be, ATC will move other traffic out of the way so the emergency aircraft can get to the runway as quickly as possible. ATC provides the crew with current weather, vectors (guidance) to the runway, navigation frequencies, they will contact emergency services (an ambulance if it's a medical emergency), they can even notify airline management personnel to alert them of the problem if the crew doesn't have time. For pilots, air traffic control is our "one-stop-shopping" link to services on the ground. They are awesome.
One nice perk of declaring an emergency is that the pilot-in-command of the aircraft can do whatever he/she deems necessary to keep the aircraft safe. That includes breaking Federal Aviation Regulations. Speed limits and airspace rules all go out the window once you declare an emergency. This rule encourages crews to declare an emergency even if the issue seems minor. It's a good way for the crew to cover themselves in case they accidentally break a rule while trying to deal with a problem.
I'm just not agree with maintain Flight level for "Bomb Scare". Normally is flight to minimal flight level https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Bomb_Warning:_Guidance_for_Controllers
Now, the question remains Why the pilot don't divert immediately (20 mn is too much).
And if you read the link from Petri Krohn (thanks Petri, excellent job for those 3 days!), it's not credible that the pilot can't contact Ryanair and Vilnius (he is asking Minsk ATC for frequencies???
The pilot can't be a rookie. Here are the minimal requisite to become Captain at Ryannair. https://careers.ryanair.com/pilots-requirements/Who did he talk to ?
and how the decision to maintain the flight level and wait (in my opinion to make things worse and make air traffic control say certain things) was made.Normally, the base of any investigation. If we don't know any more about, it's an answer.
Posted by: Rêver | May 28, 2021 at 20:00
"There had been speculation that the other three persons were KGB agents. However the people were found and interviewed. All three, one Greek and two Belorussian citizen, say that they had originally planned to fly from Greece via Vilnius to Minsk. They thus had no reason to reenter the plane."karlof1 , May 28 2021 20:34 utc | 14Interesting. Back when I lived in the USSA, the wife and I were on a plane that was made to divert and land at an airport that would have been our ultimate destination on the trip, but which we were only going to get to after making a stop at a further location. We were not allowed to deboard the plane and were threatened with arrest if we tried. This was about 10 years post-9/11. Mind you both destinations were within the continental United States. We were forced to land in Denver and then wait for our connecting flight to Albuquerque despite the unplanned landing was in ABQ. The same thing has happened to a couple different former co-workers. I hope the other 3 people got some of their money back and I'm glad that European airlines and airport security is different than in the USSA.
Given Protasevich's earlier travels without incidents, as speculated earlier, he may have been targeted specifically because he was returning from the Delphi Conference. The rapidly authorized and blanket application of restrictions on the Belarus state airline without any evidence of wrongdoing as decried by Lukashenko seem to indicate an attempt to further attack Belarus. Belarus clearly adhered to the legal protocols for this event, and thus all the attacks on its airline have zero basis.Paco , May 28 2021 20:46 utc | 15Recall what happening in Ukraine after the failed first coup attempt in 2004--it was further destabilized to make the next attempt succeed. The same modus is now being applied to Belarus.
The Kremlin has posted a partial transcript of the meeting between Putin and Lukashenko, where IMO it's made clear that Russia is doing quite a lot to stabilize Belarus's economy with Putin remarking "in the first quarter of this year, our trade grew by a considerable 18.4 percent;" but, their discussion about the "outburst of emotions" has yet to be made public.
The fools are on overdrive with the MSM as their megaphone. They still call Protasevich and his doxxer lady "journalists" in spite of the toxic trail of pictures, sites and videos showing who these characters really are, but to no avail.Petri Krohn , May 28 2021 21:23 utc | 16As a side scandal and desperation symptom some hockey tournament that at first was supposed to take place in Minsk moved to Riga, and after the plane affair the official flag of Belarus was replaced in the central city square with the "bacon" flag, the white red and white used during occupation and for a brief period after the fall of the USSR. Well, now it is known that some US Embassy official hoisted it personally, what a lack of taste to say the least.
MSM is a HOAX wrapped in a FABRICATION "‹inside a FALSE narrativeLaguerre , May 28 2021 21:24 utc | 17A friend on Facebook read my post about this Ryanair hoax and posted this.
Everything in the Western media is a hoax by default. Change my mind.I commented:
First you take it at face value.
After 1 day you notice a gigantic narrative management operation.
On day 2 you discover it was all a fabrication.
Only on day 3 do you realize that it was a hoax: anyone with access to the raw data would immediately see through the fabrication.I made a grave mistake on Sunday. Something happened and I went to Google to look for "reliable" sources. I ended out with the Sidney Morning Herald. I then went on to congratulate Lukashenko on his well-executed revenge. But I did notice the narrative management operation and the fact that everything in the media originated from RFE/RL fraudsters.
Moon of Alabama picked up my comment into a post, but left out the part where I cast doubt on the sources and later questioned the whole narrative. It later turned out the story was a RFE/RL fabrication. No Belarusian MiG fighter ever forced the Ryanair plane to do anything.
The correct thing to do is to unsubscribe from all MSM. I found this out 10 years ago, when researching Libya. MSM propaganda invades your brain in so many levels from the factual to the emotional. Even if you filter out most levels something will still seep through.
I only read filtered news. Social media is usually quite good in filtering out BS. Another good news stream is the comment section on Moon of Alabama. If something important happens, you will find a critical comment on it within a few hours.
My plan for Belarus - Rod Liddle, The SpectatorA MiG fighter from Belarus intercepted a civilian Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius and threatened to shoot it down unless it diverted to Minsk airport. The MiG pilot informed the Ryanair pilot that he had been given permission to open fire, i.e. this was not a rogue act but one sanctioned by the Belarus President, Alexander Lukashenko. After the plane landed in Minsk, Belarus thugs boarded it and dragged off the young journalist Roman Protasevich, who apparently informed a fellow passenger that he expected to receive the death penalty.
None of this ever happened. Except for the part where Protasevich believes that he would receive the death penalty if convicted in a court of law. I do not know how severe his political crimes are, but even there I would not take his word as a fact.
On the same site I find this piece of hate speech:
Britain is right to punish Belarus for its plane hijacking - James Forsyth, The SpectatorBelarus forcing down a civilian airliner flying between two EU, and Nato, capitals is a grave threat to the international order. If any flight crossing the airspace of an autocratic regime is vulnerable to such an attack, the world begins to look a very different Â"" and more dangerous "" place. The challenge to the free world now is to hit Minsk with such a set of punishments that it doesn't dare repeat its action and that no other autocratic country tries to pull the same trick.
All this reminds me of a quote by George Orwell:
Early in life I have noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper, but in Spain, for the first time, I saw newspaper reports which did not bear any relation to the facts, not even the relationship which is implied in an ordinary lie. I saw great battles reported where there had been no fighting, and complete silence where hundreds of men had been killed. I saw troops who had fought bravely denounced as cowards and traitors, and others who had never seen a shot fired hailed as heroes of imaginary victories; and I saw newspapers in London retailing these lies and eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that never happened. I saw, in fact, history being written not in terms of what happened but of what ought to have happened according to various "party lines."Frankly who cares? The West has frequently downed airplanes in this fashion, starting with the Israeli downing of a Syrian DC3. There's nothing to say; everyone does it. If the west wants to make an issue out of it, no-one can stop them.karlof1 , May 28 2021 21:27 utc | 18Here's Stephen Karganovic's recap of Protasevich where he praises b's initial efforts:Wolle , May 28 2021 21:52 utc | 19"These facts are featured in an extensive expose posted on the German analytical website 'Moon of Alabama.' The hagiographical account in the 'all the news that's fit to print' 'New York Times', the German analyst says, is noteworthy primarily for the key facts that it omits. It turns out that, far from being an innocent young democracy activist and precocious lyceum student who could not stomach the restrictions imposed by President Lukashenko's government, as misrepresented by the Western media, Protasevich is in fact an experienced agitator with long-standing ties to the neo-Nazi fringe in the neighboring Ukraine."
Karganovic sees this event as an op by Belarus forces but provides no evidence for that assertion. He's pleased at its success but also knows there're many more where Protasevich came from.
Along with the Chinese government and its mouthpiece Global Times , IMO we should look more closely at the very many links the Outlaw US Empire has had since WW2 with Nazi and NeoNazi organizations and personages, while also examining the changing nature of its political economy to that of Parasitical Neoliberalism. There's also the Neoliberal Davos Reset to be included. IMO, there're many parallels between Fascism, Feudalism and Neoliberalism in that ownership is completely held by the small elite circle while the masses essentially have nothing of importance. The use of Terror by all three also binds them together.
In case you missed it, here's the Global Times discussing the Outlaw US Empire's use of Nazi methods and great willingness to do so as often as needed:
"No matter what Biden has in mind, the US government is generally up to something big against China. US executive bodies, Congress, intelligence departments, and public opinion are forming a crazy spiral. Their ultimate goal is to create and hold China accountable for the pandemic outbreak, making a new tool to severely thwart China's national interests.
"This is a big lie. German Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels once said: 'Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.' The US' radical political elites are engaged in a fever of intense competition with China. In a bid to achieve the goal, they are increasingly Nazi-like in their belief and can do whatever it takes."
Here at MoA, we've used that adage numerous times, but this is the first time I've seen it employed by a major news publication--and this publication reflects the views of China's government. IMO, the editor's use of it was okayed. The Forces of Reaction are always Dark, and this time is no different. Protasevich worked for the Dark Forces, knew it and enjoyed serving. A pawn certainly, but clearly a dangerous one.
News from bellingcrap: The problem was not the extra three passengers left in Minsk, but the pilots:Mar man , May 28 2021 23:12 utc | 20
https://twitter.com/i_korotchenko/status/1396492018533212163/photo/1
SCNR! ;-)Something most people have missed: Today, Lukashenko personally delivered a briefcase directly to Putin containing documents related to the arrest of Roman Protasevich. What could possibly be so sensitive that any type of electronic communication would be too risky and required hard copies to be delivered personally?snake , May 28 2021 23:31 utc | 21Why would the documents be so important to Russia? Very interesting if Protasevich's laptop or phone had some extremely incriminating evidence of a plot against Belarus and Russia.
Ryanair-gate would not be important if governments were denied the privilege of conducting its affairs in secret from those it governs and if governments were denied the privilege of sovereign immunity, which keeps the rest of the world in the dark. The private oligarch uses state secrecy and sovereign immunity to command its economic aggressions and conduct for private profit is foreign wars.CovertCalifornia , May 28 2021 23:34 utc | 22So few changes in barricade type privileges associated to nation state power would make such a big difference to global humanity.
Protasevich could be a double agent who was found out and risked getting killed or imprisoned at the end of his trip. In that case, hastily inventing a bomb threat from "Hamas agent" and exfiltrating him by downing the plane would make sense.
|
|
|
May 20, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Max , May 19 2021 19:25 utc | 12
The key characteristics of the SOCIOECONOMIC system of a suzerainty are hierarchy, polarization and exploitation. This enables the Global Financial Syndicate to drive PRIVATE CONTROL by privatization, extracting profits and increasing its power. Without this system it can't survive, capture new entities and increase its power.
In analyzing any situation one need to understand the POWER DYNAMICS. This enables one to understand the hierarchy of religions, nations, corporations, elites,...There seems to be a well defined playbook that is being followed to expand the global power. However, now it seems to be failing?
Is this a good chart of the POWER PLAYERS driving U$A's and international developments?
(Solid lines refer to funding and dashed lines refer to mostly ideological connections)
Does this Global Power Pyramid provide a good overview of the global entities?
Are there better charts and overview of the power players?
If one were to view Israel from an imperialist lens then it is a beachhead in the Middle East of the Financial Empire like the Colony of Virginia (1606). The IMPERIALIST goal is to create a Middle East Union (MEU), similar to the United States and the EU. Israel will be the financial, technological, military and trading hub of the ME? It will drive decimation of states to steal the region's land, oil gas and natural resources, so they can be priced in the Empire's currency.
What were the strategies and tactics used by the Imperialist settlers to steal land from the Native Americans? Wasn't (freedom of) religion one of the dimensions? How was the LAND stolen from natives of America? Weren't treaties made in bad faith? "In 1830, US Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, forcing many indigenous peoples east of the Mississippi from their lands." Ayn Rand framed it as ... to the graduating Class Of U$A's military academy at West Point
Which of the past patterns of stealing land and getting rid of the natives are being repeated by Israel? We're watching a tragedy and living through an epoch in the history of humanity.
Max , May 19 2021 20:35 utc | 20
One more thing... MECHANISM of power & control expansions to capture resources and control points...
Is this a good overview of what happened in Ukraine? It discusses various power players, plans and ploys.
"Anyone who does not understand contemporary history as a chain of decisions and events and instead always takes only the end link of a long chain into account – will not understand anything at all."
"We must cultivate among the Ukrainians a people whose consciousness is altered to such an extent, that they begin to hate everything Russian". -- Who said this & why?
The Dollar Empire is working towards neutralizing Russia through short term concessions. Russia has defined redlines and demanded no interferences with Nord Stream 2, Belarus, Syria & Ukraine (implementation of the Minsk agreement). Also, no NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia. Russia wants to develop Iran and Turkey as regional powers, and be the third power to that of the U$A and China. It will be interesting to see what happens next.
|
|
|
May 09, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
play_arrowCheapBastard 39 minutes ago (Edited) remove link(Coward) Attorney General Bill Barr threatened to quit last year over Trump's attempts to fire FBI Director Chris Wray
Should never have appointed these swamp creatures to begin with.
|
|
|
May 24, 2021 | www.realclearinvestigations.com
By Aaron Maté , RealClearInvestigations
May 19, 2021The man cast as a linchpin of debunked Trump-Russia collusion theories is breaking his silence to vigorously dispute the U.S. government's effort to brand him a Russian spy and put him behind bars.
In an exclusive interview with RealClearInvestigations, Konstantin Kilimnik stated, "I have no relationship whatsoever to any intelligence services, be they Russian or Ukrainian or American, or anyone else."
Konstantin Kilimnik: Decries the U.S. government's "senseless and false accusations." AP PhotoKilimnik, a longtime employee of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, spoke out in response to an explosive Treasury Department statement declaring that he had "provided the Russian Intelligence Services with sensitive information on polling and campaign strategy" during the 2016 election. That press release, which announced an array of sanctions on Russian nationals last month, also alleged that Kilimnik is a "known Russian Intelligence Services agent implementing influence operations on their behalf."
Treasury 's claim came shortly after two other accusatory U.S. government statements about the dual Ukrainian-Russian national. In March, a U.S. Intelligence Community Assessment accused Kilimnik of being a "Russian influence agent" who meddled in the 2020 campaign to assist Trump's reelection. A month earlier, an FBI alert offered $250,000 for information leading to his arrest over a 2018 witness tampering charge in Manafort's shuttered Ukraine lobbying case, which was unrelated to Russia, collusion, or any elections.
Treasury provided no evidence for its claims, which go beyond the findings of the two most extensive Russiagate investigations: the 448-page report issued in 2019 by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the 966-page report issued in August 2020 by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Treasury has declined all media requests for elaboration on how it reached conclusions that those probes did not. Two unidentified officials told NBC News that U.S. intelligence "has developed new information" about Kilimnik "that leads them to believe " (emphasis added) that he passed on the polling data to Russia. But these sources "did not identify the source or type of intelligence that had been developed," nor "when or how" it was received.
"Nobody has seen any evidence to support these claims about Kilimnik," a congressional source familiar with the House and Senate's multiple Russia-related investigations told RCI.
Adam Schiff: Treated the Treasury claim about Kilimnik as the Trump-Russia smoking gun. "That's what most people would call collusion," he said. (Al Drago/Pool via AP)Despite the absence of evidence, the Treasury press release's one-sentence claim about Kilimnik has been widely greeted as the Trump-Russia smoking gun. Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who heads the House Intelligence Committee, told MSNBC that Treasury's assertion about Kilimnik proved that Russian intelligence was "involved in trying to help Trump win in that [2016] election. That's what most people would call collusion."
Speaking to RCI in fluent English from his home in Moscow, Kilimnik, 51, described these U.S. government assertions as "senseless and false accusations."
His comments are backed up by documents, some previously unreported, as well as by Rick Gates, a longtime Manafort associate and key Mueller probe cooperating witness. (Gates pleaded guilty to making a false statement and to failing to register as a foreign agent in connection to his lobbying work in Ukraine.) The evidence raises doubts about new efforts to revive the Trump-Kremlin collusion narrative by casting Kilimnik as a central Russian figure.
"They needed a Russian to investigate 'Russia collusion,' and I happened to be that Russian," Kilimnik said.
Highlights from the interview and RCI's related reporting:
Reviving the Polling Data Conspiracy Theory
- Kilimnik denies passing 2016 polling data to Russian intelligence, or any Russian for that matter. Instead, Kilimnik says he shared publicly available, general information about the 2016 American presidential race to Ukrainian clients of Manafort's in a bid to recover old debts and drum up new business. Gates told RCI that the Mueller team "cherry-picked" his testimony about Kilimnik to spread a misleading, collusion-favorable narrative. The U.S. government has never publicly produced the polling data at issue, nor any evidence that it was shared with Russia.
- Despite his centrality to the Trump-Russia saga, Kilimnik says no U.S. government official has ever tried get in touch with him. "I never had a single contact with [the] FBI or any government official," Kilimnik says.
- Kilimnik shared documents that contradict the Special Counsel's effort to prove that he has Russian intelligence "ties." Photos and video of his Russian passport and a U.S. visa in his name, shared with RCI , undermine the Mueller report's claim that Kilimnik visited the United States on a Russian "diplomatic passport" in 1997. To judge from the images, he travelled on a civilian passport and obtained a regular U.S. visa. The Mueller team has never produced the "diplomatic passport."
- Kilimnik denies traveling to Spain to meet Manafort in 2017. If true, this would undercut the Mueller team's claim that Manafort lied in denying such a meeting. That denial was used to help secure a 2019 court ruling that Manafort breached a cooperation agreement. The Special Counsel never furnished evidence for the alleged Madrid encounter.
- While the Treasury Department and Senate Intelligence Committee claim that Kilimnik is a Russian intelligence officer, no U.S. security or intelligence agency has adopted this characterization.
- Kilimnik has never been charged with anything related to espionage, Russia, collusion, or the 2016 election. Instead, the Mueller team indicted Kilimnik on witness-tampering charges in a case pertaining to Manafort's lobbying work in Ukraine.
- Meanwhile, t he FBI's $250,000 bounty for Kilimnik is larger than most rewards it offers for the capture of violent fugitives, including those accused of child murder .
Kilminik has provided an inviting target for proponents of Trump-Russia conspiracy theories. He was born in 1970 in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union, and later worked for Paul Manafort as a translator and aide there. This background makes him one of the few people in the broad Trump 2016 campaign orbit to possess a Russian passport.
To this Mueller and others have added a series of ambiguous and disputed allegations to say that the FBI "assesses" him to "have ties to Russian intelligence." This characterization, first made in a 2017 court filing, quickly transmogrified into a presumed fact of the collusion narrative.
Rather than prosecute Manafort for any crime related to Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, the Mueller team instead pursued him on financial and lobbying charges involving his pre-Trump stint as a political consultant in Ukraine. In 2018, it accused Kilimnik of seeking to pressure two "potential witnesses" by sending them text messages about Manafort's Ukraine lobbying work.
As the Russia probe came to a close without a single indictment related to a Trump-Kremlin conspiracy, the Mueller team used Kilimnik to suggest collusion without formally alleging it.
In January 2019, the Mueller team accused Manafort of breaching their cooperation agreement by lying about his interactions with his Russian employee. Topping the list were alleged false statements about sharing election polling data with Kilimnik in 2016.
Andrew Weissmann: Despite this lead Mueller prosecutor's suggestion otherwise, the Mueller report "did not identify evidence of a connection between Manafort's sharing polling data and Russia's interference in the election," as the report itself stated. NYU Law"This goes to the larger view of what we think is going on, and what we think is the motive here," lead prosecutor Andrew Weissmann told Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC. "This goes, I think, very much to the heart of what the special counsel's office is investigating."
Weissmann's musings became collusion fodder. Media pundits and influential Democrats, namely Congressional intelligence leaders Schiff and Mark Warner, speculated that Kilimnik shared Trump campaign polling data with Russian intelligence officers as they allegedly worked to turn the election in Trump's favor. "This appears as the closest we've seen yet to real, live, actual collusion," Warner told CNN . "Clearly, Manafort was trying to collude with Russian agents."
But soon after, the Mueller team quietly undercut Weissmann's "larger view" and the conspiratorial innuendo that it had fueled. One month after igniting the frenzy about the polling data, Weissmann submitted a heavily redacted court filing that walked back some of his claims. The following month, the Special Counsel's final report acknowledged that its musings and speculations about Kilimnik could not be corroborated. The Mueller team not only "did not identify evidence of a connection between Manafort's sharing polling data and Russia's interference in the election," as the report stated, but also "could not assess what Kilimnik (or others he may have given it to) did with it."
Rick Gates: Ex-Manafort aide says the Mueller team "cherry-picked" his testimony about Kilimnik to spread a misleading, collusion-favorable narrative. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana"I have no idea who made up the lies about 'detailed' or 'sensitive' polling data, or why they did it," Kilimnik says. "They were mostly quotes of the polls from the media, such as LA Times and others. They would be 'Clinton "" 43, Trump "" 42.' Never anything more detailed. I never got even a page printed out with either polling data or any other info."
This public data was shared, Kilimnik says, with Ukrainian clients of Manafort's as part of both regular political chatter and an effort to encourage future business. "I shared this info with a lot of our clients in Ukraine, who were closely following the race and who were excited about Paul working for [Trump]," Kilimnik says.
If any government official did receive his polling data, Kilimnik adds, they were not Russian but rather from Ukraine or even the United States. "I would share it with our political contacts in Ukraine, basically to keep their interest to Paul and our Ukrainian business alive. Also I shared it with the U.S. and other embassies, basically offering the opinion that the election is not over."
Kilimnik's account is corroborated by Gates, the ex-Manafort associate and Trump campaign official whose testimony was used by the Mueller team "" deceptively, he says "" to suggest a connection between the polling data and possible Trump-Russia collusion. The Special Counsel's office "relied heavily on Mr. Gates for evidence" about the polling data, the New York Times noted in February 2019.
According to Gates, that reliance entailed significant creative license by Mueller's prosecutors, particularly Weissmann. Gates says he told the Special Counsel's Office that the polling data was not sensitive information, but rather publicly available figures taken from media outlets.
"I explained to them, over the course of many interviews, what the polling data was about, and why it was being shared," Gates told RCI. "All that was exchanged was old, topline data from public polls and from some internal polls, but all dated, nothing in real time. So for example, Trump 48, Clinton 46. It was not massive binders full of demographics or deep research. No documents were ever shared or disclosed. And this is part of what Mueller left out of the report. They cherry-picked and built a narrative that really was not true, because they had pre-determined the conclusion."
Happier times: Manafort and colleagues, with Kilimnik far left and the boss seated in white shirt, red tie. AP PhotoAsked why Manafort shared any polling data with clients in Ukraine, Kilimnik and Gates stressed the same reason: money. "The were some outstanding debts, which we were working to get repaid, which never happened," Kilimnik says. "And there was also Paul's reputation. He was very well known to a lot of people in Kiev, and he hoped [he] could generate some new business" by showcasing his work for Trump's campaign.
"This was a way that Paul was using to let people in Ukraine know that he was doing very well in the United States running the election of Donald Trump, and that he was trying to collect the remaining fees that he was owed," for prior work in Ukraine, Gates says. "He was trying to position himself. This is not unlike any other political operative, Republican or Democrat, in politics. They all do it."
The Mueller report itself quietly bolsters Gates' and Kilimnik's converging recollections. "Gates' account about polling data is consistent [redacted]," it states, ""¦ with multiple emails that Kilimnik sent to U.S. associates and press contacts" in the summer of 2016. "Those emails referenced 'internal polling,' described the status of the Trump Campaign and Manafort's role in it, and assessed Trump' s prospects for victory." The corresponding footnote cites eight emails from Kilimnik to these "U.S. associates and press contacts." This indicates that the Mueller team obtained direct evidence of the polling data that was shared; how it was discussed; and with whom it was shared.
Rather than highlight the Kilimnik emails that it obtained, and Gates' account that the polling data was shared for financial reasons, the Mueller report mentioned this information only in passing and ultimately concluded that it "could not reliably determine Manafort's purpose in sharing" the information.
Weissmann did not respond to a request for comment.
The Kilimnik Passport Kilimnik's passport from the time in question "" to judge from photos and a video he shared with RCI "" was issued in the standard red ... Konstantin Kilimnik via RealClearInvestigations ... not in the green of the diplomatic corps. Mueller cited a Kilimnik "diplomatic passport" as evidence of "ties to Russian intelligence." Government of Russia/WikimediaAlthough the Mueller report walked back Weissman's innuendo regarding polling data, its assertion that Kilimnik has "ties to Russian intelligence" remains a foundation of the Russia collusion narrative.
Putting aside the fact that the government has never produced any evidence that Kilimnik communicated with Russian intelligence or the Kremlin, RCI has obtained documents that undercut the government's basis for assuming those unspecified "ties."
In Mueller's own telling, Kilimnik's only direct link to the Russian government was his enrollment in a Soviet military academy from 1987 to 1992, where he trained as a linguist. "It's a language school, similar to what you guys have in Fort Monterey," Kilimnik said, referring to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, in Monterey, California. "It's a university that trains military translators, mostly for the army, not for the intelligence services. Basically it was a military training, for five years, focusing on English and Swedish. In normal circumstances, I would actually go and serve in the army, but because Soviet Union was falling apart, I was able to get a job as the instructor of Swedish at the university. I never served in the real army. If teaching Swedish counts as spying "" that will be very surprising."
To substantiate Kilimnik's alleged Russian intelligence "ties," the Mueller team wrote that Kilimnik "obtained a visa to travel to the United States with a Russian diplomatic passport in 1997." (Intelligence operatives often travel to foreign countries under diplomatic cover.)
Kilimnik's U.S. visa shows an "R" for "regular." (The typo in his last name was corrected on a later visa.) Konstantin Kilimnik via RealClearInvestigationsBut Kilimnik's passport from that period "" to judge from the images he shared with RCI via a messaging app "" was issued in the standard red color, not in the green color of the diplomatic corps. The document also contains a regular U.S. visa issued on October 28, 1997 "" the same date the Mueller report claims he traveled to the U.S. "with a Russian diplomatic passport." The U.S. visa to Kilimnik is issued under the category of "R" "" which stands for Regular "" and "B1/B2," the designation for a temporary visa for business and tourism.
The Mueller team's claim that he possessed and travelled on a diplomatic passport is "a blatant lie," Kilimnik told RCI. "I never had a diplomatic passport in my life. It's one of many very sloppy things in the Muller report, which don't make sense."
The Mueller report cites Kilimnik's "travel to the United States with a Russian diplomatic passport." Mueller report, Page 133Told of the Mueller report's apparent error concerning Kilimnik's passport, a Justice Department spokesperson declined comment. Former Special Counsel Mueller and former lead prosecutor Weissmann did not respond to emailed queries.
Ironically, at the time when Mueller team claims that he visited the U.S. on behalf of the Russian government, Kilimnik was in fact working for the U.S. government at the U.S. Congress-funded International Republican Institute (IRI) in Moscow. As RealClearInvestigations has previously reported , Kilimnik's 10-year IRI tenure is among several substantial Western government connections that have been ignored in amid efforts to accuse him of ties to the Russian government. "I gave IRI my CV which clearly said which school I graduated from, and gave my detailed background," Kilimnik recalls. "I never concealed anything."
Kilimnik: No Madrid Meeting With ManafortWhen it comes to his travel history, Kilimnik says that the Special Counsel's Office made another significant error: falsely claiming that he and Manafort held a meeting in Spain .
"I have never been to Madrid in my life," Kilimnik says. WikimediaWhen Manafort denied that he and Kilimnik met in Madrid in 2017, the Mueller team accused him of lying and cited this as one of several alleged breaches of their cooperation agreement. The Mueller report claims that the two met in the Spanish capital on Feb. 26, 2017, "where Kilimnik had flown from Moscow."
It also states that Manafort initially denied the Madrid meeting in his first two interviews with the Special Counsel's office, but then relented "after being confronted with documentary evidence that Kilimnik was in Madrid at the same time as him."
But Kilimnik tells RCI that no such meeting occurred, and that he believes that Manafort was coerced into changing his story.
"I have never been to Madrid in my life," Kilimnik says. The "documentary evidence" referenced in the Mueller report was, he speculates, a flight booking that was ultimately cancelled. "I was thinking about going to Madrid, and I discussed it with Paul," he says. "But it made no sense. And ultimately, it was too expensive. So I didn't go."
Had he actually visited Madrid, Kilimnik says, the Mueller team would have "easily found proof "" tickets, boarding passes, border crossings "" all that stuff. It's not rocket science to get it. The European Union is a pretty disciplined place. There would be at least be a record of me crossing the border somewhere in the EU."
Kilimnik told RCI that the last time he saw Manafort was one month before the alleged Madrid trip, around the time of Trump's inauguration in Janaury 2017. "I did not attend any of the inauguration events myself," he recalls. "But I spent some time to meet with Paul, and to catch up. That was our last meeting in-person, in Alexandria [Virginia]."
Asked why Manafort would have admitted to a Madrid meeting that did not in fact take place, Kilimnik said that his former boss faced heavy pressure while locked up by the Mueller team, which included a long stint in solitary confinement. "I don't know why he said that. I have difficulties to imagine Paul's psychological state when he was jailed. A guy who [had] a very high-level life. Jail is a tough place. I still get the shudders to think what he had to go through."
The allegation that Manafort lied to the Mueller team proved consequential. In February 2019, U.S. District Judge Jackson sided with the Special Counsel and voided Manafort's plea deal. No longer bound to give him a reduced sentence for cooperating, Jackson nearly doubled Manafort's prison term on top of his earlier conviction and excoriated him for telling "lies." President Trump pardoned in Manafort in December 2020.
Told that Kilimnik denies ever visiting Madrid, and asked whether the Special Counsel's office collected concrete evidence to the contrary, both former Special Counsel Mueller and lead prosecutor Weissmann did not respond. A Justice Department spokesperson declined comment.
FBI Alert Contradicts Senate-Treasury Spy ClaimOver one year after Mueller closed up shop, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) unilaterally upgraded Kilimnik's alleged Russian intelligence status. The panel's August 2020 report declared that Kilimnik, far from merely having "ties" to the GRU as Mueller had claimed, is in fact a full-fledged "Russian intelligence officer."
The Senate made the leap despite offering no new public evidence to support its explosive "assessment", and even acknowledging that its "power to investigate" "" as well as "its staffing, resources, and technical capabilities" -- ultimately "falls short of the FBI's."
Richard Burr and Mark Warner, Republican chair and Democratic co-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The FBI and Justice Department do not endorse their panel's judgment that Kilimnik is a "Russian intelligence officer." AP Photo/J. Scott ApplewhiteThe Senate also labelled Kilimnik a Russian spy despite simultaneously presenting new evidence that he was, in the Committee's own words, a "valuable resource" for officials at the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, with whom he was "in regular contact."
In September 2020, RCI asked the FBI and Justice Department whether it shares the SSCI's judgment that Kilimnik is a "Russian intelligence officer." A DOJ spokesperson replied that "the Mueller report speaks for itself," and advised that the public "defer" to how Kilimnik was characterized in the Mueller report and the Special Counsel Office's indictments. This strongly suggested, RCI reported, that the FBI has not adopted the SSCI's view that Kilimnik is a Russian spy.
The FBI's February "alert" offering $250,000 for information leading to Kilimnik's arrest bolsters this reporting. It once again states that Kilimnik is "assessed by the FBI to have ties to Russian intelligence" "" shunning the SSCI's spy language and reverting to Mueller's original, ambiguous characterization.
The wording of the FBI alert underscores that while the Senate Intelligence Committee and Treasury Department have declared that Kilimnik is a Russian spy, the nation's top law enforcement agency has never adopted that assessment. When Manafort's legal team asked the Special Counsel's Office for any communication between Manafort and "Russian intelligence officials," they were told that "there are no materials responsive to [those] requests." In unsealed notes from early 2017, Peter Strzok "" the top FBI counterintelligence agent who opened the Trump-Russia investigation "" wrote : "We are unaware of ANY Trump advisers engaging in conversations with Russian intelligence officials."
Asked whether the FBI has altered its characterization of Kilimnik in light of Treasury's claim that he is a "known Russian Intelligence Services agent", an FBI spokesperson declined comment.
The FBI's alert was also remarkable for the size of the Kilimnik bounty, which is more than double the amount of most members of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List. While the bureau is offering $100,000 each for information regarding six alleged murderers, and $200,000 for another, the FBI is offering $250,000 for help nabbing Kilimnik on a lone witness tampering charge in Manafort's Ukraine lobbying case.
The Mueller team accused Kilimnik of sending text messages to two individuals with whom Manafort had worked during his Ukraine lobbying days. Kilimnik's aim, the Special Counsel's Office alleged, was to pressure the pair to attest that their prior work was focused on lobbying officials in Europe, not in the United States. These individuals "" identified in court documents as "Person D1" and "Person D2" "" were not active witnesses for the Mueller probe, but instead, according to the Special Counsel's Office, "potential witnesses."
The 13 Kilimnik messages to these "potential witnesses" cited by Mueller include the following:
Kilimnik says that he was not trying to tamper with anyone. "I do not understand how two messages to our old partners who helped us get out the message about Ukraine's integration aspirations in EU, and asking them to get in touch with Paul, can be interpreted as 'intimidation' or 'obstruction of justice,'" he says.
Whether or not Kilimnik sought to tamper with "potential witnesses" in Manafort's Ukraine lobbying case, the alleged 2018 infraction has nothing to do with 2016 Trump-Russia collusion.
The FBI alert from February raises questions about the bombshell Treasury Department claims released two months later. If the U.S. government stands by Treasury's claims about Kilimnik, why is he wanted only on a minor, non-Russia related witness-tampering charge, and not for taking part in alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election? If Kilimnik indeed passed on "sensitive information on polling and campaign strategy" to Russian intelligence while working as a spy, why has he not been indicted alongside the Russian social media company charged by Mueller in February 2018, or the Russian intelligence officers charged by Mueller in July 2018?
To Kilimnik, the answer is found on that same Russian passport that Mueller mischaracterized. "It is clear to me that the indictment of 2018 was pulled out of the thin air, simply to have a Russian face in the mix," he says. "I understand that they needed a Russian to investigate 'Russia collusion,' and I happened to be that Russian," he says.
"The funny thing is that I'm not hiding. And I would have explained the same thing to the FBI or anyone who never reached out to me. They don't because they don't want the truth."
From Russian Spy to "Influence Agent"In Kilimnik's eyes, his utility as a Russian national for the Trump-Russia collusion narrative also explains his prominent inclusion in the recent U.S. Intelligence Community Assessment , released in March one month after the FBI alert for his arrest.
In yet another new iteration of how Kilimnik is described by the U.S. government, the ICA does not call him a Russian intelligence officer, but instead a "Russian influence agent."
The ICA does not define the term "Russian influence agent," or explain how it reached that new assessment about Kilimnik. Nor does it put forth any evidence for the alleged Russian influence activities ascribed to him .
The report alleges that Kilimnik was part of a "network of Ukraine-linked individuals "¦ connected to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)" who "took steps throughout the [2020] election cycle to damage U.S. ties to Ukraine, denigrate President Biden and his candidacy, and benefit former President Trump's prospects for reelection."
Andriy Derkach: "I have never met him in my life," Kilimnik says of this Ukrainian lawmaker with reputed Kremlin ties. Petro Zhuravel/WikimediaAs part of this alleged meddling network, the ICA asserts that Kilimnik tried to influence U.S. officials; helped produce a documentary that aired on U.S. television in January 2020; and worked with Andriy Derkach, a Ukrainian lawmaker alleged to have Kremlin ties. "Derkach, Kilimnik, and their associates sought to use prominent U.S. persons and media conduits to launder their narratives to U.S. officials and audiences," the ICA states.
Kilimnik says the U.S. intelligence officials who wrote those words are using their anonymity and power to launder their false narratives about him.
"I have no idea what they're talking about," he says. "I would really love to see at least one confirmation of the things they allege. Pulling me into this report with zero evidence really shows that [U.S. intelligence] people high up do not give a damn about the truth, facts, or anything."
As for Derkach, "I have never met him in my life," Kilimnik says. "I don't know why, or on what basis, they're making claims that he has any relationship to me."
"I had zero meetings with anybody related to the Trump campaign. In fact, I have tried to do my best "" understanding how I've gotten into this mess "" to stay as far as possible from any U.S. politics." If he had held such meetings, Kilimnik adds, "this should be easy to prove."
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not respond to requests for comment.
No Effort to Contact Russiagate's Top RussianEven though Kilimnik's name fills dozens of pages of the Mueller and Senate Intelligence reports after years of federal scrutiny and he is the target of a $250,000 FBI reward, this seemingly critical Russiagate figure has never been contacted by a single U.S. government official, to judge from the public record as well as Kilimnik's account.
The lack of contact is similar to the way FBI, Mueller, and Senate investigators treated other supposedly central Russiagate figures. When Joseph Mifsud, whose conversations with George Papadopoulos triggered the FBI's Trump-Russia probe, visited the U.S. in early 2017, the FBI subjected him to a light round of questioning and then let him leave the country. The Mueller team later claimed in its final report that Mifsud had lied to FBI agents, yet inexplicably did not indict him. Despite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's central role in publishing the stolen Democratic Party emails supposedly hacked and supplied by Russia, the Mueller team never contacted him and the Senate Intelligence Committee shunned an offer to interview him .
Kilimnik believes that this avoidance is deliberate. "The FBI and others could have had the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv or Moscow, or have any of my numerous contacts in the U.S., reach out and start a conversation, if they wanted info," he says. "But they do not really need it. All they is need is a scarecrow. And as one of the few people within reach of the Trump campaign who has a Russian passport, they picked me."
"They never reached out to me," he adds. "I never had a single contact with FBI or any government official, basically since charges were brought [on] Paul. Nobody ever tried to talk to me because they know the truth. They understood damn well that I will tell them what I'm telling you."
Kilimnik says that he has had only minimal contact with Manafort since the former Trump campaign chairman was released to home confinement in March 2020 and subsequently pardoned by Trump in late December. "We had one short contact after he got out of jail, basically catching up about family and kids and everything," Kilimnik recalls. "I want to give him time to just basically get his life back to normal. We have not spoken on the telephone."
After years in Ukraine working with Manafort, Kilimnik now lives full-time in Moscow with his wife and two children. "I have been pretty open all my life, and have not been hiding from anyone," Kilimnik says. "I would have been happy to answer any questions from the FBI, or whoever. But I refuse to be a toy in bizarre political games and have my life ruined more than it has been because of the senseless and false accusations."
Despite being labeled a Russian spy who meddled in the 2016 election, Kilimnik has no plans to return to the U.S. and try to clear his name. "I am not going to the U.S. on my own dime, with no visa in COVID times only to be crucified by the media, having zero chance of justice," he says. "This is a sad continuation of a deeply wrong story. I thought it would be over with Trump gone and the need to create lies about his 'ties to Russia.' But obviously, I was wrong."
This and all other original articles created by RealClearInvestigations may be republished for free with attribution. (These terms do not apply to outside articles linked on the site.)
We provide our stories for free but they are expensive to produce. Help us continue to publish distinctive journalism by making a contribution today to RealClearInvestigations.
- roc993 19 May, 2021 Did the Democrats and the media ever apologize for spending 2 years claiming the election was stolen by Trump? The drumbeat was continuous - ratcheting up day by day - "Walls closing in" - right up to the point Mueller threw cold water on the entire thing. Then they slinked away without another word. And no censorship of those entities and individuals by FaceBook and Twitter? Fascinating. Reply 40 11 2 reply
- N notenough 19 May, 2021 What are the odds that the FBI/Treasury Dept, CIA, etc are lying to the public about this whole mess THEY created....100%. These are all political organizations, tasked with protecting the status quo, the status quo being the protection of Empire. Reply 30 7 1 reply
- A AJMG 19 May, 2021 "In his speech before a joint session of Congress last week, President Biden complained about "Russia's interference in our elections," even though his intelligence czar had released a report the previous month formally dismissing the idea Moscow had interfered in the 2020 election or the 2016 election." Reply 23 7 1 reply
- D daniel155 19 May, 2021 No one, even those on the other side, believes there was Russian collusion though they will never admit it. Hillary still says the Russia stole the election from her. I guess she uses that to cope with the fact that she blew a very winnable election. Reply 28 7
- A AJMG 19 May, 2021 Trump opposed Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, & today we learn that Biden has accepted it. If Putin favored Trump, it was a bad miscalculation since Trump was way more tough on Russia than any Democrat. Reply 36 6 1 reply
- DH Derrick Hand 19 May, 2021 Hate to tell you guys but the Russia collusion discussion is over, no matter who is right. The Media has succeeded in mudding the water and destroying any trust in finding the truth with respect to anything political, including any election and that includes the coming one in 2022. This is like an argument at a table for four in a raucous high school cafeteria. You should be more concerned where this total loss of trust is going to lead us and that is not a good place. Reply 16 6 3 reply
- W Wisewerds 19 May, 2021 A wholly partisan, politically biased prosecutor lied and cherry-picked information to support a pre-determined conclusion in an effort to savage an opponent and jail his supporters? I would put on my shocked face, but its currently at the cleaners. Instead, I will just suggest that this is now standard operating procedure for our left-fascist oppressors. Reply 21 4 1 reply
- C Crutch 19 May, 2021 I can't wait for 2022 House win by Republicans. The first thing they should do is haul Adam Schiff in under oath to discuss his every utterance, then expel him from the House. Reply 40 9 5 reply
- A archon27 19 May, 2021 It not sedition if the democrats try to oust a legally elected president on a falsified premise... because THEIR "evidence" was believable... This is literally the mantra of the left. Reply 27 6 3 reply
- Mark H 19 May, 2021 If the wider media do not pick this up then the matter of Trump campaign's collusion with Russia can never be cleared up, and will continue to serve the intention of the establishment. VAPOR 19 May, 2021 The media portrayed both Obama and Biden as uninvolved. But now we know they both actively followed the investigation. According to former acting attorney general Sally Yates, she was surprised that Obama knew about the investigation and knew more than she did at the time. Obama called upon former FBI director James Comey to stay after a meeting to discuss the investigation. Comey had mentioned using the Logan Act to charge Flynn, even though the unconstitutional law has never been used successfully in a prosecution since the country was founded. Biden has repeatedly denied knowledge of the investigation. Just a day before the latest disclosure, George Stephanopoulos asked Biden in an interview what he knew of the Flynn investigation. Biden was adamant that he knew nothing about "those moves" and he called it a diversion. But that is not true if he took the relatively uncommon action for a vice president of demanding the unmasking of Flynn information.
Justis 20 May, 2021 Thank you for your continued work. This is all hidden from Americans in this age of media coverage. But more importantly it is devastating information about the dishonesty of our government. What have we come to? What recourse is available?futbolfan 19 May, 2021 I respect all the dogged investigators who root out the truth of the crimes and corruption of our "justice department", and FBI. I hope they keep up the good work. Personally I have no more faith in anything which was soaked in the hate and insanity of the Obama thug regime...
- VAPOR 19 May, 2021 Carter Page Sues FBI, Comey, McCabe for Millions Nov 28, 2020" Former Trump campaign aide Carter Page filed a $75 million lawsuit against the FBI and several former high-ranking bureau officials ... Reply 6 1 1 reply
- V VAPOR 19 May, 2021 Just a reminder that Obama and his minions committed the greatest political crime in US history when they weaponized government agencies to influence and discredit a presidential election and frame Trump. Reply 7 3 1 reply
- V VAPOR 19 May, 2021 Obama needs to answer questions about his involvement with the Fake Russian Dossier and the weaponization of government agencies to get Trump. He basically planted evidence and then said prosecute Trump by the book.
- Jerubbesheth xx 19 May, 2021 Give it up already. The Russia Trump Collusion was already disapproved by Mueller. Americans are tired of the disinformation and propaganda. Bolshevik Schiff is a pathological liar. If anyone colluded with Russia it was certainly Liberal Commie Democrat Clinton. The reason Bolshevik Schiff doesn't investigate Clinton? Schiff and Clinton are part of the swamp. Clinton bought and paid for colluded with an ex-British Spy on a false dossier on Trump. Clinton was already in Putin's pocket. Clinton approved the sale of Uranium one to the Russians, and then Clinton receives $145 Million from Russian Oligarchs for her Corrupt Clinton Foundation. Mueller was FBI director at the time. So now who is colluding with the Russians. I guess Clinton's colluding with the Russians is the good kind for the liberal commie Democrats, while the Liberal commie Democrats deflect the bad colluding onto to Trump. Colluding is colluding anyway you cut it. Hillary's colluding wasn't disapproved. Reply 10 3 3 reply
- C chuckstephens06 19 May, 2021 While the Special prosecutor office was capable of any transgression or corruption, one needs to realize that it wouldn't have been possible without the assistance of corrupt lefty operative Judge, Amy Berman Jackson... Jackson's non legal, political approach to decision making, has been the example that all corrupt lefty judges follow... Plus her questionable relationship with Weissman outside of the Courtroom... Reply 6 2
- K kochcomics 20 May, 2021 Lets see what we have here: 1)Kilimnik says he has no ties to the Russian government. OK. Do you really believe that no one in the Putin's government has directly or indirectly debriefed him. Really? Do you think he would have a choice in the matter? Do you know anything about Putin at all? Does he believe in democracy,. You clearly know little about Trump. We've had Trump here for 40 years - from the NY Post page six to Howard Stern. Its a joke. Hey, he was proposing running with Oprah as his VP in 2002. Then he tricked into the birther stuff. Lets check out the apologies from the Donald and the push back from Republicans (apart from McCain) 2) There were enough sympathetic Russians around (Putin included) to raise concerns. As the Donald himself made clear, he would have no problem with outside foreign help. The investigation took place. It was damning, but not pretty clear that no . The collusion was possible but speculative, but as Jared himself said, the campaign was too chaotic for any collusion to really get off the ground (though you are still stuck with Manafort as a conflicted party). But in Donald world, everything is a bout big pronouncements... See more Reply 2 2
- F futbolfan 19 May, 2021 For years, we on the right knew who had done what, and who should be arrested, Comey, Rosenstein, Strzok, Mueller, etc. But I am not a lawyer, and I am not sure what crimes, exactly, these evil and sick creeps would be charged with, if they ever were arrested. For me, the key question now is, if they WERE charged with whatever the appropriate offence would be, what is the statute of limitations on those types of crimes? There is NO statue on treason, as far as I know. But what about conspiracy? Obstruction of justice? Betrayal of oath of office? Sedition? The reason these questions are still alive is, obviously there are people still patiently digging into the twisting trails of the conspirators, and eventually they may reel in some live prospects for prosecution. Maybe even including "the big guy with black skin" Obama himself. Nothing would make me happier than to see that African nightmare in handcuffs. Reply 4 4 2 reply
- DC dana crow 20 May, 2021 Can't blame them for running with lies, innuendo and conspiracy theories when all Trump and Republicans could ever muster in response was nuh-uh or let-mueller-finish-his-work. "Ties to [insert boogeyman]" is always a tell. It literally means NOT the boogeyman. And since the "ties" are conveniently redacted, he probably ordered borscht from someone whose second cousin gave a talk at a charity event hosted by a retired russian intel gofer. The election interference/russia collusion business was always a cynical ploy to isolate Trump from his friends and bog down his administration. And it was wildly successful.
will.ganness 20 May, 2021 Who is calling the January 6th Protests the biggest threat the the country since the Civil war? The Democratic Party, the MSM, The FBI.... Who produced and directed Russiagate? The same three!! If progressives think they should get on board with Insurrectiongate, they should have more sense! VAPOR 19 May, 2021 The Fake Russian Dossier do it by the book Crossfire Hurricane insurance policy to overturn a presidential election and frame Trump. Where is Professor Misfud and why won't Steele talk to Durham? Call in Mary Jacoby and ask her what she discussed with Obama at the white house.
- spinbag48 1 day ago Adam Schiff is a fool who told us he had the goods on Trump, but it turns out he is a liar. I do have a question... The FBI spent 2 years and $35 million dollars investigating Trump only to find out they didn't have a case. But when the pipeline got hacked Biden said the FBI told him that the Kremlin wasn't involved within a day of two. How is it they got that good so quick? Same with the election within a couple of days they knew that the election was fair and square. Even though I saw many people of TV say they saw corruption right in front of them. But the shooting of Andrew Brown took a month when they had numerous videos that they couldn't release until the investigation was complete. I have lost all faith in the FBI, and the press. They don't even pretend they are fair or truthful. Reply 1 1
- CA Clear 4 All 19 May, 2021 The USIC and media has destroyed their own name. Nothing that the Russia collusion purveyors say now has value on any topic. Russia didn't do that.
Justis 20 May, 2021 Why did Horowitz not discover this in his investigation? Was that investigation another coverup, finding just enough to look authentic? Is he too, untrustworthy?
|
|
|
May 19, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Truth be told , May 19 2021 20:36 utc | 21
"Our race is the Master Race. We are divine gods on this planet. We are as different from the inferior races as they are from insects. In fact, compared to our race, other races are beasts and animals, cattle at best. Other races are considered as human excrement. Our destiny is to rule over the inferior races. Our earthly kingdom will be ruled by our leader with a rod of iron. The masses will lick our feet and serve us as our slaves." -- Menachem Begin (Israeli Prime Minister, 1977-1983)
|
|
|
May 17, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Max , May 16 2021 15:56 utc | 21
One need to understand the STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT correctly, clearly, and comprehensively to live & light our world. What is your strategic construct of the national and international control system?
The Global Financial Syndicate will use all kind of distractions to mask the MONETARY power and divide the populace to continue its control & dominance through monetary imperialism. The world is a playground for "evil spirits."
How does the Financial Empire increase its control & POWER over a region? It likes turning each region into its suzerainty and an Animal Farm (Top-Down Control Structure - Democracy/Republic/...) internally by controlling its money supply through the central-private banking system.
Global Financial Empire's strategy:
- – Capture LANDS
- – Constitutionalize to control the suzerainty & LIVES
- – Create LOANS through private creation of money by the private banking system (Credit/Debt) & give preferential access-terms to kleptocrats (Kleptocrats/Finance -- > Business/Media -- > Politicians/Bureaucrats -- > people)
- – Conserve control & power through Consumerism - lifestyles (Labor & Leisure)
Monetary Power = Lands x Lives x Loans. The key CONTROL elements of the Financial Empire within a suzerainty are:
- – credit/debt - LOANS
- – consumerism/desires - LIFESTYLE
- – circuses/distractions. - LOST & trivial
When it comes to the international realm it seeks following freedoms:
- – freedom of capital movement,
- – freedom of trade,
- – freedom to provide services, particularly financial
- – freedom for warfare
The Global Financial Syndicate controls, finances and corrupts policies such as those in the U$A administration by its financing the substitution of national leaders with employees of the Financial Syndicate, such as Biden, Draghi, Yellen, Juncker, Macron,... Globalization is meant to establish the global financial syndicate's rule everywhere, hierarchically from top to bottom, in contrast to the democratic right of citizens to self-determination and the responsibility of governments towards their citizens.
Who wants to make us all, whether we be nations or individuals, slaves to debt?
|
|
|
May 24, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
uncle tungsten , May 24 2021 3:19 utc | 111
Strange news of the fatherland... knowing what is going on in Germany right now is helpful to understanding the strange goings on in the USAi and its dreams of eternal empire. It ain't clear sailing yet for NS2!
Here is the story from Wolfgang Streeck in New Let Review.
An excerpt to tease your attention:
If your country is part of an international empire, the domestic politics of the country that rules yours are your domestic politics too. Whoever speaks of the Europe of the EU must therefore also speak of Germany. Currently it is widely believed that after the German federal elections of 24 September this year, Europe will enter a post-Merkel era. The truth is not so simple.In October 2018, following two devastating defeats in state elections in Hesse and Bavaria, Angela Merkel resigned as president of her party, the CDU, and announced that she would not seek re-election as Chancellor in 2021. She would, however, serve out her fourth term, to which she had been officially appointed only seven months earlier.
Putting together a coalition government had taken no less than six months following the September 2017 federal election, in which the CDU and its Bavarian sidekick, the CSU, had scored the worst result in their history, at 32.9 percent (2013: 41.5 percent). (Merkel's record as party leader is nothing short of dismal, having lost votes each time she ran. How she could nevertheless remain Chancellor for 16 years will have to be explained elsewhere.) In the subsequent contest for the CDU presidency, the party's general secretary, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, appointed by Merkel only in February 2018, narrowly prevailed over two competitors.
After little more than a year, however, when Merkel publicly dressed her down for a lack of leadership, Kramp-Karrenbauer resigned and declared that she would not run for Chancellor in 2021 either. A few months later, when von der Leyen went to Brussels, Kramp-Karrenbauer got Merkel to appoint her minister of defense. The next contest for the party presidency, the second in Merkel's fourth term, had to take place under Corona restrictions; it took a long time and was won in January 2021 by Armin Laschet, Prime Minister of the largest federal state, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). To prevent the comeback of an old foe of hers, Friedrich Merz, Merkel allegedly supported Laschet behind the scenes.
While Laschet – a less-than-charismatic Christian-Democratic middle-of-the-roader and lifelong Merkel loyalist – considered the party presidency to be a ticket to the CDU/CSU candidacy for Chancellor, it took three months for this to be settled. As CDU/CSU politics go, the joint candidate is picked by the two party presidents when they feel the time has come, under four eyes; no formal procedure provided.
Thus Laschet needed the agreement of Markus Söder, Prime Minister of Bavaria, who didn't keep it a secret that he believed himself the far better choice. In the background, again, there was Merkel, in the unprecedented position of a sitting Chancellor watching the presidents of her two parties pick her would-be successor in something like a semi-public cock-fight. After some dramatic toing-and-froing, Laschet prevailed, once more supported by Merkel, apparently in exchange for his state's backing for the federal government imposing a 'hard' Covid-19 lockdown on the entire country...
...There will also be differences on the Eastern flank of the EU, where Baerbock, following the United States, will support Ukrainian accession to NATO and the EU, and finance EU extension in the West Balkans. That she will also cancel North Stream 2 will be a point of contention in a Baerbock/Scholz government.
Laschet will be more inclined towards France and seek some accommodation with Russia, on trade as well as security; he will also hesitate to be too strongly identified with the US on Eastern Europe and Ukraine. But then, he will be reminded by his Foreign Minister, Baerbock, as well as his own party that Germany's national security depends on the American nuclear umbrella, which the French cannot and in any case will not replace. (my emphasis)
|
|
|
May 24, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Paco , May 24 2021 8:20 utc | 128
If you lie down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas does not apply in this case since I'm talking about very young guys whose apparent success goes up high, very high into their psyche, just to find out that the higher you fly the harder you fall. A 22 year old kid, comfortably living in Warsaw and traveling all around following the ersatz president Juanita Guaidikha Tikhanovskaya, all expenses paid, trained in Kiev during the Maidan, and in Donbass during the civil war consequence of the Maidan, and now we have all of the virtue signaling bureaucrats in Europe and the US, lead by the incombustible VonDerLeyen, excuse me while I wipe my mouth, shamelessly exposing their amnesia and solid faith in their right to do as they please while the rest of the world has to do as they demand. Talk decadence, not a better face for it than that poor lady that nobody voted for.
Rêver , May 24 2021 8:58 utc | 129
Petri Krohn , May 24 2021 9:33 utc | 131The hypocrites... "il faut rendre à César"...
All these guys are amateurs.
Or just plain old copycats.
We, the French, have invented the whole concept, with legal justification . Another great success of the National School of Administration
October 22, 1956, during which the French army captured a plane of the company Air Atlas-Air Maroc in which five leaders of the National Liberation Front (FLN) were. The five leaders of the Algerian National Liberation Front were supposed to travel from Morocco to Tunisia on the personal plane of the Sultan of Morocco.
"unfortunately", at the last moment, they had to change planes" . "Coincidentally", this plane of the Moroccan company was registered in France and therefore "legally" the French authorities forced it to land in Algeria (a French department at the time). On the ground, as "wanted terrorist", they were arrested.
more in
https://www.calameo.com/read/0007815969f106c3072ebChance or/and necessity? Ten years after, Mehdi Ben Barka, disappear in Paris (a joint operation of Moroccan and French secret service). Was tortured to death and corpse supposed dissolved with acid (a Jamal Khashoggi's precurssor)
Are Belarus the organizers or the victims?
if report correct: the bomb threat was given at the right time. And the pilot took the decision to land in Minsk. The accompaniment by the Belarusian fighter is purely technical, it is not the hijacking itself.If organizers: "Chapeau bas!"
Bemildred , May 24 2021 11:32 utc | 139Posted by: Rêver | May 24 2021 8:58 utc | 129
French army captured a plane...One must not forget the case of Itavia Flight 870 , that was shot down in 1980 because of a suspicion that Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi was traveling in the same airspace at the time.
A 22 year old kid, comfortably living in Warsaw and traveling all around following the ersatz president Juanita Guaidikha Tikhanovskaya, all expenses paid, trained in Kiev during the Maidan, and in Donbass during the civil war consequence of the Maidan, and now we have all of the virtue signaling bureaucrats in Europe and the US, lead by the incombustible VonDerLeyen, excuse me while I wipe my mouth, shamelessly exposing their amnesia and solid faith in their right to do as they please while the rest of the world has to do as they demand.
Posted by: Paco | May 24 2021 8:20 utc | 128
Yes, nothing is more dangerous than great un-earned success. People lose their minds.
The habit of trifling with people to get your way will get you in the end too. The habit of lying will take over your life. Just look at the US government. Just look at Trump. This is one of Putin's great strengths, he is not bullshitting anybody. Most of all, he is not bullshitting himself.
I too have sympathy for young people who get involved with politics and have no idea what is really going on. The young are at the mercy of the old, and the old are often hard masters.
|
|
|
May 20, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
Authored by J. Peder Zane via RealClearPolitics.com,
The Biden administration is vigorously pursuing key figures from the phony Trump/Russia collusion scandal that roiled the nation for four years. But instead of trying to punish the liars who perpetrated that fraud, it is targeting the truth-tellers who challenged and exposed the conspiracy to negate the 2016 election.
Working from the same playbook used to smear dozens of Trump associates, the administration and its allies are planting stories based on blind quotes in friendly media outlets to seek revenge.
On April 16, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported that the Justice Department is investigating Kash Patel – who had worked with Rep. Devin Nunes and later the Trump administration to reveal the Russiagate hoax – for the "possible improper disclosure of classified information." Ignatius said he received the tip from "two knowledgeable sources" who "wouldn't provide additional details."
Violating the bedrock principles of American justice and journalism, this article is an exercise in thuggery as the government uses a powerful media outlet to intimidate and besmirch a citizen without evidence. With nothing to respond to, how can Patel defend himself? If Patel is lucky, the federal government has only placed a sharp sword over his head that may not fall. If not, he might be dragged into a lengthy court battle that could drain his finances and also cost him his freedom.
We don't know if Patel broke the law, but note that the administration has shown no interest in pursuing former FBI leaders such as James Comey and Andrew McCabe , who improperly disclosed information regarding Russiagate.
Trump's former lawyer Rudolph Giuliani is also in the "cross hairs of a federal criminal investigation," according to an April 29 article in New York Times that relied on "people with knowledge of the matter."
At issue, those anonymous sources say, is whether Giuliani was serving two masters when he counseled Trump to remove Marie L. Yovanovitch as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in 2019. "Did Mr. Giuliani go after Ms. Yovanovitch solely on behalf of Mr. Trump, who was his client at the time?" the Times reports. "Or was he also doing so on behalf of the Ukrainian officials, who wanted her removed for their own reasons?"
I'll leave it to the lawyers to determine the wisdom of bringing a case based on the parsing of tangled motives. What is clear is that the FBI is taking a thumb-screws page from the playbook of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who deployed the little-used Foreign Agents Registration Act to pursue the white whale of collusion. As Lee Smith reported for RealClearInvestigations , just three people had pleaded guilty to FARA violations in the half-century before Mueller deployed it to pressure and punish Trump allies.
And note, the FBI's zeal to crack down on unregistered foreign agents does not extend to the president's son Hunter Biden, who, Paul Sperry reported for RCI, "failed to register as a foreign agent while promoting the interests of foreign business partners in Washington, including brokering meetings with his father and other government officials." It appears that we have two tiers of justice: one for Biden administration enemies, another for its family and friends.
The targeting of Giuliani looks especially suspect and politically motivated after three main news outlets that have driven much of the false Russiagate coverage – the New York Times, Washington Post and NBC News – were forced to correct a recent story , once again based on anonymous sources, claiming the FBI had warned Giuliani in 2019 "that he was a target of a Russian disinformation campaign during his efforts to dig up unflattering information about then-candidate Joe Biden in 2019." Giuliani was never given such a briefing.
Considering the numerous instances in which the press published bogus information from "informed sources" during Russiagate, one has to ask why they continue to serve as vehicles for falsehoods. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me a dozen times and you're not fooling me – we're acting in concert. As RCI editor Tom Kuntz has argued, journalistic integrity demands, at the very least, that these organizations tell their audience who exactly had misled them. Confidentiality agreements should not protect liars.
A third example of the Biden administration's effort to punish Russiagate figures is its renewed effort to put former Manafort associate Konstantin V. Kilimnik behind bars. In an extensive new article for RCI, Aaron Maté reports that the Treasury Department provided no evidence to support its recent claim that Kilimnik is a "known Russian Intelligence Services agent implementing influence operations on their behalf." It also refuses to explain how it was able to discover the truth of Kilimnik's identity, which the two most extensive Russiagate investigations – the 448-page Muller report and the 966-page Senate Intelligence report – failed to uncover.
This absence of evidence has not stopped the peddlers of the Trump/Russia conspiracy theory from claiming vindication. Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff casts Treasury's unsubstantiated claim as smoking-gun evidence of collusion. The New York Times reports that the claim demonstrates that "there had been numerous interactions between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence during the year before the [2016] election."
Who needs proof when the government says it's so?
The FBI is also putting the screws to Kilimnik, offering $250,000 for information leading to his arrest on witness-tampering charges involving text messages he sent in 2018 to two people who have only been identified as "potential witnesses" involving Manafort's lobbying work for Ukraine, not Russiagate.
In an exclusive interview, Kilimnik told Maté, "I don't understand how two messages to our old partners who helped us get out the message about Ukraine's integration aspirations in [the] EU, and asking them to get in touch with Paul, can be interpreted as 'intimidation' or 'obstruction of justice.'"
Maté also reports that the $250,000 bounty on Kilimnik is more than double the amount the FBI is offering for information leading to the arrest of murder suspects.
The Biden administration's campaigns against Patel, Giuliani and Kilimnik suggest how the winners of the 2020 election are attempting to rewrite the history of Russiagate. Having been debunked and rebuked by their own investigators, the conspiracists are taking a second bite at the poisoned apple. Using anonymous sources to make unsubstantiated charges in the nation's most influential news outlets, they are seeking to punish people for the crime of exposing their malfeasance.
|
|
|
May 14, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
Perhaps Maddow is just sad that there's no longer official justification to intimidate and harass those who choose not to wear masks, something that leftists have enjoyed doing for the best part of a year.
The notion that people who don't wear masks are a "threat" is of course completely ludicrous since the COVID-19 virus particle is 1,000 times smaller than the holes in the mask anyway.
After Texas ended its mask mandate, COVID cases dropped to a record low and a similar pattern was observed in Florida and South Dakota.
Lordflin 46 minutes ago (Edited)
takeaction 36 minutes ago (Edited)She would need to rewire her brain to have a thought that was not programmed into her...
What a mindless shill... first that singer... what's her name... and now this creature...
What is the effect ZH is going for here exactly...?
takeaction 18 minutes ago (Edited) remove linkRachel...Pelosi...Schumer...Swalwell.....Cuomo (Both of them) Lemon, Anderson, Fauci, AOC, Maxine, etc.
With or without a mask...
Hamilcar 28 minutes ago remove linkAll calm....Gorgeous weather.....78 today.
Lordflin 24 minutes agoBranch Covidians like Madcow "Love F$#%ing Science".
And by "science" they mean believing whatever braindead politicians or left-wing corporate media make up as they go along without any critical analysis and hysterically denouncing any evidence that contradicts the narrative as heresy.
It's going to be fun when all these people become the object of universal mockery they deserve. In a JUST world they would be severely punished though.
signer1 9 minutes agoI have always been impressed by the willingness of those who know virtually nothing of the sciences to believe almost anything if it is told to them in the name of science...
Citxmech 18 seconds agoTo quote Mark Twain, "It's easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled".
toiler4fiat 26 minutes agoApparently, it's also easier to get people to believe illogical arguments by telling them it's "science" than it is to get them to actually think critically about the stupid shlt they're being asked to believe.
Madcow, like [neo]liberalism, is a disease. You can't repair a damaged brain like you can't turn a pickle into a cucumber.
|
|
|
May 12, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Canadian Cents , May 13 2021 0:38 utc | 76
An interesting read from Pepe Escobar at Saker's site, related to the comments by Max @24 and JB @25:
https://thesaker.is/insider-view-the-tragedy-of-the-us-deep-state/No doubt the US/UK deep state, now more than ever, are busy trying to sow conflict and division in Eurasia, to divide-and-rule Mackinder's "World Island" and hence the world.
|
|
|
May 07, 2021 | www.unz.com
In the recent plot against Belarus President Lukashenko, there is a curious detail totally missing in press reports. The trump evidence of the plot is a tape purporting to be a recording of a conversation between a Belarusian general and the chief plotter, lawyer Yuri Zenkovich, who has Belarusian and American citizenships. In Belarus, Zenkovich was an opposition activist, a well-known member of the Belarusian Popular Front. He left for the US in the mid-2000's, where he began to build his career as a lawyer, said the US Embassy. The general apparently was used to trap the lawyer, who actively looked for potential accomplices in the Belarus Army. In the tape (5:05), the lawyer tries to convince the general to join the plotters by saying: "I am supported by US Jewish capital. I have excellent relations with the American Jewish Committee. This is an NGO headed by three hundred of the wealthiest Jewish families of America. It is the Jewish Lobby of America".
https://www.unz.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-03-at-23.02.43.png
|
|
|
Apr 27, 2021 | www.strategic-culture.org
While the released documents portray the U.S. as having knowledge of the coup as opposed to intervening overtly or covertly, the aftermath shows U.S. involvement was considerable.
Last March, on the 45 th anniversary of Argentina’s descent into dictatorship, the National Security Archive posted a selection of declassified documents revealing the U.S. knowledge of the military coup in the country in 1976. A month before the government of Isabel Peron was toppled by the military, the U.S. had already informed the coup plotters that it would recognise the new government. Indications of a possible coup in Argentina had reached the U.S. as early as 1975.
A declassified CIA document from February 1976 describes the imminence of the coup, to the extent of mentioning military officers which would later become synonymous with torture, killings and disappearances of coup opponents. Notably, the coup plotters, among them General Jorge Rafael Videla, were already drawing up a list of individuals who would be subject to arrest in the immediate aftermath of the coup.
One concern for the U.S. was its standing in international diplomacy with regard to the Argentinian military dictatorship’s violence, which it pre-empted as a U.S. State Department briefing to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger shows. “An Argentine military government would be almost certain to engage in human rights violations such as to engender international criticism.â€
After the experience of Chile and U.S. involvement in the coup which heralded dictator Augusto Pinochet’s rise to power, human rights violations became a key factor. Kissinger had brushed off the U.S. Congress’s concerns, declaring a policy that would turn a blind eye to the dictatorship’s atrocities. “I think we should understand our policy-that however unpleasant they act, this government is better for us than Allende was,†Kissinger had declared .
Months after expressing concern regarding the forthcoming human rights abuses as a result of the dictatorship in Argentina, the U.S. warned Pinochet about its dilemma in terms of justifying aid to a leadership which was becoming notorious for its violence and disappearances of opponents. “We have a practical problem to take into account, without bringing about pressures incompatible with your dignity, and at the same time which does not lead to U.S. laws which will undermine our relationship.â€
In the same declassified document from the Chile archives of 1976, Pinochet expresses his concern over Orlando Letelier, a diplomat and ambassador to the U.S. during the era of Salvador Allende and an influential figure among members of the U.S. Congress, stating that Letelier is disseminating false information about Chile. Letelier was murdered by car bomb in Washington that same year, by a CIA and National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) agent Michael Townley.
However, the Argentinian coup plotters deepened their dialogue with the U.S. over how human rights violations would be committed. Aware of perceptions regarding Pinochet’s record, military officials approached the U.S. seeking ways to minimise the attention which Pinochet was garnering in Chile, while at the same time making it clear to U.S. officials to “some executions would probably be necessary.â€
Assuming a non-involvement position was also deemed crucial by the U.S. To mellow any possible fallout, the coup plotters were especially keen to point out that the military coup would not follow in the steps of Pinochet. One declassified cable document detailing U.S. concern over involvement spells out how the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Robert Hill planned to depart the country prior to the coup, rather than cancel plans to see how the events pan out. “The fact that I would be out of the country when the blow actually falls would be, I believe, a fact in our favor indicating non- involvement of Embassy and USG.†The main aim was to conceal evidence that the U.S. had prior knowledge of the forthcoming coup in Argentina.
While the released documents portray the U.S. as having knowledge of the coup as opposed to intervening overtly or covertly, the aftermath shows U.S. involvement was considerable. The Chile experience, including the murder of a diplomat on U.S. soil, were clearly not deterrents for U.S. policy in Latin America, as it extended further support for Videla’s rule. The Videla dictatorship would eventually kill and disappear over 30,000 Argentinians in seven years, aided by the U.S. which provided the aircraft necessary for the death flights in the extermination operation known as Plan Condor.
|
|
|
Apr 19, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
alaff , Apr 19 2021 19:37 utc | 27
Unfortunately the constant demonization of Russia's president by the 'Putin-whisperers' has already led to some tragic consequencesIn one of the recent MoA topics about the murder of a group of Asian citizens in the United States, I already commented on this, saying that we will see more of such tragic cases when certain inadequate individuals will do terrible things as a result of the total brainwashing by Western anti-Russian propaganda (as well as anti-Chinese, anti-Iranian, etc.).
What happened (like the murder of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, as well as the murder of Asians in the United States, etc.) is the direct fault of Western MSM, who deliberately spread propaganda of lies and slander, denigrating and demonizing both individuals and entire countries. People are pumped up with hatred, and one day someone's brain explodes. The result is murder, assault, sabotage, etc.
The blood of the victims is on the hands of all these "journalists" and "experts" from CNN, BBC, Guardian, NYT and other propaganda machines.
Russia exposed a plot to assassinate the President of Belarus, Alexander LukashenkoThe incident clearly indicates that the United States is in a critical situation. The transition to open terrorist methods is caused by the inability of the United States to continue to use traditional, standard, civilized methods of competition and political struggle. The United States is no longer able to compete with Russia and China in the legal, civilized field. Falsifications, slander, choreographed staging of incidents, false flag operations are used. An attempt to eliminate the head(!) of a foreign state is already the next, even more radical stage of terror.
On the one hand, this is unprecedented, on the other hand, it is not new at all. One has only to recall dozens of attempts by the American leadership to kill Fidel Castro, a successful attempt to assassinate Gaddafi, an assassination attempt on Maduro, an attempt to liquidate Yanukovych in 2014, an intention to overthrow Assad (the prospect of his physical elimination is beyond doubt). Lukashenko is just another on the list.
The United States (and a number of its allies in Europe) act by the methods of a terrorist state, in fact it is. The situation is aggravated by the complete inadequacy of the US leadership, their presence in a distant alternative reality, which has little in common with the existing reality.
I am not sure that an ordinary western inhabitant understands the seriousness of what is happening. The attempt to liquidate Lukashenko is essentially another casus belli, which the United States and its allies have already accumulated so much that it is time to talk about an overdose.
Residents of American and European cities wake up, go to work, or to the store, or take their children to kindergarten, do not even suspect that at any second a real war can start, and missiles will fall on them from above. For a number of reasons, Russia considered that the Nazi coup d'etat in Ukraine in 2014 was not worth the start of the world war, although what happened was a casus belli. In 2018, Russia considered that the unprecedented expulsion of Russian diplomats from the United States and Europe due to the "Skripal poisoning" was not worth the start of the war, although it was a casus belli. Not so long ago, Putin chose not to start a war and portrayed Biden as a crazy idiot, wishing him good health when he called the Russian president a "killer", which was a casus belli. An attempt to assassinate the President of Belarus has now been prevented, in which the United States (and a number of its European allies) are undoubtedly involved. Belarus is part of a union state with the Russian Federation, and the liquidation of Lukashenko is without a doubt a casus belli. Russia's patience and understanding of responsibility is great, but not unlimited.
As a cornered beast, the United States (and its closest allies) pose a particular danger, being ready to use any (I emphasize, any) means to alleviate its situation. These people can commit a series of terrorist attacks in the heart of Europe, they can kill one (or several) high-ranking European politicians, they can carry out a large-scale cyberattack against European nuclear power plants, they can commit sabotage and poison drinking water in one of the cities of Europe, then blaming Russia for everything. By the way, recently China made an unexpected statement regarding the danger of American biological laboratories in Ukraine. Russia has been talking about this for a long time. The use of biological weapons by the US authorities is very likely. Using deep fake technology, they can stage a terrible crime committed by "Russian special services." They can falsify the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine by placing poison in ampoules, causing hundreds, possibly thousands of people to die. They can arrange a terrorist attack and blow up a gas pipeline - in Europe, or in Ukraine, or on some section of the Nord Stream-2 - recently we have already seen an attempt by the Poles to carry out a trial sabotage. Next time it may not be "accidentally lost fishermen", but a boat with explosives.
I have listed just a few options, and do not let them seem ridiculous fantasy to you. The events of a number of recent years show that Russia's "Western partners" are capable of anything . Anything, i mean it. Remember the downed Boeing MH-17, or the wiretapping of European leaders, or the attempt to poison the Skripals (theatrical show, but who said that it cannot be turned into a real chemical attack?).
I repeat, it is unlikely that an ordinary Western citizen understands the seriousness of what is going on. Power in the United States has been seized and held by an insane totalitarian sect that lives and thinks purely in its distant alternative reality. Rest assured that these fanatics will be ready to start a war to satisfy their obsessive hatred of Russia, as well as try to fix their ever-worsening situation in the world.
The first priority of civil society in American and European cities is to force their own governments to be prudent. At least out of a sense of self-preservation.
Norwegian , Apr 19 2021 20:17 utc | 33
@William Gruff | Apr 19 2021 20:14 utc | 32
America just tried to assassinate Lukashenko. America has assassinated a number of national leaders, and attempted to assassinate many others. Anyone who interjects "But America would never stoop to trying to kill Putin!" is not using reason or working from America's established history.It is a safe bet that the CIA is maintaining multiple active plots to assassinate Putin. Fortunately the CIA is incompetent.
They obviously assassinated Prime Minister Olof Palme in Sweden in 1986.
|
|
|
Apr 19, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Kapusta , Apr 19 2021 19:01 utc | 21
The assassination plot is so incredibly important here. Think about the implications. Not only did the FSB and the Belarus KGB sniff out the entire thing, but they publicly released the video evidence. They all but confirmed US involvement. Lukashenka, in his typical verbal grandiosity, claims that Putin had confronted Biden about the plot during their phone call and Biden's response, allegedly, was "Gurgling - and not a single answer." And, the Kremlin confirmed it:
The presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, discussed the attempted coup d'état in Belarus by phone, said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian leader.Russia is not playing around. The US just tried to assassinate the president of an ally on the eve of possible unification. And when it gets exposed, this nonsense from Czechia was released almost immediately, clearly as a response. And it's a total joke of a response. This is what maximum pressure looks like in 2021. The US is lashing out and have few other avenues to engage. The Kremlin is winning, and if the Biden admin doesn't accept that...then we're all doomed because it means the US will do more crazy things like these.
|
|
|
Apr 19, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Keith McClary , Apr 17 2021 20:37 utc | 30
Lukashenko says Putin-Biden talked about alleged US-led assassination plot
MINSK, April 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin focused on the issue of an assassination attempt on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko prepared by US intelligence agencies in a call with US President Joe Biden, Lukashenko said aired by the ONT television channel on Saturday."Another thing that surprises me is why Americans behave like this. Remember that no one except the top political leadership can set the task of getting rid of a president. Only them, not the special services," Lukashenko said.
"I'll tell you more. I am grateful to Putin. When he was talking with Biden, he asked him this question. Gurgling and no answer. Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] called me and told me about this when I arrived from Azerbaijan," he added.
(Entire article.)
Mao Cheng Ji , Apr 17 2021 19:17 utc | 15
Paco , Apr 17 2021 20:30 utc | 28It's interesting what's happening right now (in the past hour or so).
First: Russian and Belorussian news about the arrest of leaders (or key participants) of an attempted military coup in Belarus, planned by the US security services.
Then, 30 minutes later: the Czechs expel 18 Russian diplomats, accusing them of spying and of connection to some explosion back in 2014.
I could've been skeptical about the details of the first story, but the second one seems to confirm it. The second story appears to be an obvious attempt to squeeze the first one out of the news. And who else could order the Czech government to do this with a 30 minute notice?
Paco , Apr 17 2021 19:24 utc | 17Posted by: james | Apr 17 2021 20:18 utc | 23
Petroff&Boshiroff is a registered trademark, for some line of cleaning chemicals.
Here is a meme, it reads "no rookies in our business", plus the double ff ending gives it a taste or white guard Paris émigré.
james , Apr 17 2021 20:18 utc | 23@Mao Cheng Ji | Apr 17 2021 19:17 utc | 15
Machine translation of FSB announcement:
"The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, together with the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (RB), as a result of a special operation, suppressed the illegal activities of Yuri Leonidovich Zyankovich, who has dual citizenship of the United States and the Republic of Belarus, and Alexander Iosifovich Feduta, a citizen of the Republic of Belarus, who planned to carry out a military coup in Belarus according to the worked-out scenario of "color revolutions" with the involvement of local and Ukrainian nationalists, as well as the physical elimination of President Alexander Lukashenko. Zyankovich arrived in Moscow after consultations in the United States and Poland. In the Russian capital, he planned a meeting with representatives of the Belarusian Armed Forces to convince them to participate in a coup involving local and Ukrainian nationalists. The coup was planned in Minsk on May 9 during the Victory Day parade.Currently, the detainees have been transferred to Belarus. (C) FSB DSP
Lozion , Apr 17 2021 20:25 utc | 26@ Mao Cheng Ji | Apr 17 2021 19:17 utc | 15.. thanks agreed! and as funny as funny would have it, the 2 guys accused are the same 2 the uk accused of in regards the skripal poisoning... apparently there are only so many fsb agents to go around and these guys are always especially busy.... it is a 7 hour drive from Vrbetice to Lviv, or about 700 kilometers...
"Also on Saturday, the Czech police placed two Russian citizens, who had allegedly visited Vrbetice at the time of the explosions, on the wanted list over "serious crime." They were identified as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov – the same persons that Britain accused of being the Russian spies in the UK responsible for using the infamous 'Novichok' chemical agent on double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in March 2018."
class="posted">Official TASS links:
https://tass.com/world/1279447
https://tass.com/world/1279437
WTF?
MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained two individuals who plotted a military coup in Belarus and an assassination attack on President Alexander Lukashenko, the FSB Public Relations Center said on Saturday. READ ALSO
- Lukashenko reveals group that plotted to assassinate him taken in custody
- Putin discussed assassination attempt on Lukashenko prepared by US with Biden
MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained two individuals who plotted a military coup in Belarus and an assassination attack on President Alexander Lukashenko, the FSB Public Relations Center said on Saturday. READ ALSO
- Lukashenko reveals group that plotted to assassinate him taken in custody
- Putin discussed assassination attempt on Lukashenko prepared by US with Biden
"In a special operation conducted by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation alongside the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (KGB), the illegal activities of Yuri Leonidovich Zyankovich, a dual citizen of the United States and the Republic of Belarus, and Belarusian citizen Alexander Feduta were prevented, as those had been scheming to stage a military coup in Belarus in accordance with the tried and tested 'color revolution' scenario with the involvement of local and Ukrainian nationalists, as well as the physical removal of President Alexander Lukashenko," the FSB said.
The FSB said, "according to proactive information received from the Belarusian partners, in private chats of an internet messenger the ideologists of radical opposition Zyankovich and Feduta organized discussion of a plan of armed uprising in Belarus and decided to hold an in-person meeting in Moscow, using available measures of secrecy, with the opposition-minded generals of the republic's Armed Forces."
The FSB Public Relations Center continued that upon Zyankovich's arrival in Moscow after his consultations in the US and Poland, such a meeting took place in a private room of a restaurant in Moscow.
10 САМЫХ НЕОБЫЧНЫХ ДОМОВ В МИРЕ 00:00 Previous Pause Next 00:22 / 09:40 Unmute Fullscreen Copy video url Play / Pause Mute / Unmute Report a problem Language Mox Player
"At the meeting, the conspirators told the 'Belarusian generals' that to succeed in implementing their plan, it was necessary to physically remove nearly all the top figures of the republic. They described in detail the plan of a military coup, including the seizure of radio and television centers to broadcast their address to the nation and the blocking of internal troops and OMON (riot police) loyal to the authorities in the capital," it noted.
"They were preparing a blackout of the Belarusian power grid to hamper the actions of the army and law enforcement agencies. Some armed groups (guerillas) located at hidden bases were supposed to launch an active phase," the FSB reported adding that the ultimate goal was the upheaval of Belarus' constitutional system, to eliminate the position of presidency and to vest political power in the National Reconciliation Committee.
The coup was scheduled for May 9 during the Victory Day Parade in Minsk, the FSB said.
"After the above mentioned meeting had been recorded, the conspirators were apprehended by the Russian security services and handed over to the Belarusian counterparts," the FSB said. /div
|
|
|
Apr 07, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
Yen Cross 2 hours ago (Edited)
South China Sea 58 minutes agoi want to know when the Durham probe is going to recommend indictments of the fake Russia probes, Biden laptops, IRS scandal ect...?
I demand ******* justice as a USA Citizen taxpayer!
Those scumbag assholes should be incarcerated.
Biden comes first in the Alphabet.
Durham retired. Did you miss that bit of news?
|
|
|
Mar 21, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
karlof1 , Mar 20 2021 0:11 utc | 68
emersonreturn @64--
I'm in the middle of Armstrong's essay and am at the first reference to Kagan's vision:
"What should that role be? Benevolent global hegemony. Having defeated the 'evil empire,' the United States enjoys strategic and ideological predominance. The first objective of U.S. foreign policy should be to preserve and enhance that predominance by strengthening America's security, supporting its friends, advancing its interests, and standing up for its principles around the world .'
It's absolutely clear that Kagan has no clue as to the reality of what is actually the objective of the Neoliberal Parasites running the Outlaw US Empire; for aside from "advancing its interests," the Parasites have zero motivation to do any of that as their sole ambition/goal is to vacuum up all the wealth they can and leave a shell just as they planned and failed with Russia, but have succeeded elsewhere. And as for principles, the reality is it has none, nor does it have any friends, just vassals and victims. This analogy by Armstrong's excellent:
"The U.S. is sitting on a dragon and it daren't get off or the dragon will kill it. But because it can't kill the dragon, it must sit on it forever: no escape. And dragon's eggs are hatching out all around: think how much bigger the Russian, Chinese and Iranian dragons are today than they were a quarter-century ago when Kagan & Co so confidently started PNAC; think how bigger they'll be in another....
"But the more sanctions, the stronger Russia gets: as an analogy, think of sanctions on Russia as similar to the over-use of antibiotics – Russia is becoming immune."
And tying it all up is this excellent summation:
"Has there ever been a subject on which people have been so wrong for so long as Russia? How many times have they said Putin's finished? Remember when cheese was going to bring him down? Always a terminal economic crisis. A year ago they were sure COVID would do it. A U.S. general is in Ukraine and Kiev's heavy weapons are moving east but, no, it's Putin who, for ego reasons – and his "failing" economy – wants the war. Why do they keep doing it? Well, it's easy money – Putin (did we tell you he was in the KGB?) wants to expand Russia and rule forever; therefore, he's about to invade somebody. He doesn't, no problem, our timely warning scared him off; we'll change the date and regurgitate it next year. In the meantime his despotic rule trembles because of some-triviality-of-the-moment. These pieces write themselves: the anti-Russia business is the easiest scam ever. And there's the difficulty of admitting you're wrong: how can somebody like Kagan, such a triumphantasiser back then, admit that it's all turned to dust and worse, turned to dust because they took his advice? Much better to press on – it's not as if anybody in the lügenpresse will call him out or deny him space. Finally, these people are locked in psychological projection: because they can only envisage military expansion, they assume the other guy is equally obsessed and so they must expand to counter his expansion. They suspect everybody of suspecting them. Their hostility sees hostility everywhere. Their belligerence finds belligerence. The hyperpower is forever compelled to respond to lesser powers. They look outside, see themselves and fear; in their mental universe the USA is arrogantly strong and fearfully weak at the same time."
The Walking Dead is finally becoming a metaphor for the Outlaw US Empire, its policies, and what it terms values--which aren't values but vices. But TWD was fiction and was thus capable of reforming itself. The Empire's goals and polices are essentially the same as in 1940 and even further back to 1913, and haven't changed very much, being just as illegal and immoral then as now. What's different are the "Dragons" which didn't exist in 1918 or 1944, and the Parasites have almost total control that's finally seeing domestic pushback.
Jackrabbit , Mar 20 2021 2:17 utc | 87
karlof1 @Mar20 0:11 #67
It's absolutely clear that Kagan has no clue as to the reality of what is actually the objective of the Neoliberal Parasites running the Outlaw US Empire.
Why do you give him the benefit of the doubt?Are we really to believe that Kagan, and others like him, talk of these things for DECADES and yet aren't aware of the ramifications?
IMO it is absolutely clear that he knows the neoliberal reality as well as the neocon and neocolonial realities.
But we are supposed to avoid cynicism and be polite so as to not be thought a malcontent?
=
@karlof1 The need for more cynicism is a theme of mine (which I've written about at moa many times) so please don't respond in a knee-jerk way.
!!
|
|
|
Mar 09, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
_K_C_ , Mar 9 2021 23:35 utc | 32
Posted by: Bobby | Mar 9 2021 18:40 utc | 10
Because the $31Bn (which is probably understated) would primarily have gone to the lower classes in which the U.S. caused humanitarian disaster is most prevalent. Rich, formerly colonial Venezuelan families don't give a shit. The and their ex-pat kids live most of the year in Miami or Vancouver or Madrid. The white upper class in Venezuela is the exact group from which Mr. Random Guy-do emanates and who he represent. They live in gated communities including in the hills around Caracas and their stores are likely fully stocked (as reported by Max Blumenthal last year). However, they are a small minority compared to the indigenous peoples who these sanctions are DESIGNED to hurt. The bank accounts of the colonials are safe while a small number, relatively speaking, of pro-Chavista/Maduro operatives are completely cut off by the Empire.
Same thing in ANY country that the USA is sanctioning. Have a look at Biden's Iran envoy's statements about everyday Iranian people.
https://thegrayzone.com/2021/03/08/biden-iran-envoy-starving-civilians-pain-sanctions/
In response to online criticism, Nephew has claimed that "the main target" of the sanctions regime he designed was "the oligarchs." But his book on "The Art of Sanctions" tells another story.Nephew fondly recalls how he structured sanctions to sabotage Iranian economic reforms that would have improved the purchasing power of average people. The Obama administration destroyed the economic prospects of Iran's working-class majority while ensuring that "only the wealthy or those in positions of power could take advantage of Iran's continued connectedness," he wrote. As "stories began to emerge from Iran of intensified income inequality and inflation," Nephew pronounced another success.
As he made clear, the rising inequality "was a choice" that Washington "made on the basis of helping to drive up the pressure on the Iranian economy from internal sources." Nephew went on to claim credit for October 2012 protests brought on by the devaluation of Iran's currency.
So these sanctions and the loss in $31Bn for Venezuela was designed to and in fact did hurt the poorest of the poor and the working 'middle' class in that country.
michaelj72 , Mar 10 2021 0:44 utc | 38
thanks to profk at #13 for the link .
here's a snippet, about Venezuela and the US supported/directed economic terrorism, which has obviously caused much economic mayhem and dislocation, humanitarian disaster, and a large number of deaths (I have seen figures up to hundred thousand or more, from the food and medicine sanctions etc. Not to mention England stealing Venezuela's gold. I would imagine the real death toll is quite a bit larger)
https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/smarter-empire
"......Subversion in Venezuela, by contrast, might not require as much 'engagement'. In Cuba the government is stable and the opposition isolated. In Venezuela, by contrast, the Maduro government faces a deep economic crisis (dramatically and intentionally exacerbated by US sanctions) and major public discontent. Betting on Maduro's vulnerability, Biden continues to recognize the self-appointed 'president' Juan Guaidó. Under Obama, Biden courted Guaidó ally Leopoldo López – a so-called political prisoner arrested for inciting violent protests that killed dozens of people – who is now calling for Biden to lead a renewed international effort to topple Maduro. US support for the far-right forces of Guaidó and López is intended to prevent a deal between Maduro and the more pragmatic elements of the opposition. Such a deal might alleviate Venezuela's economic crisis, but it could leave Maduro in power and thus derail the US's regime change agenda.
In late 2018 Biden complained that Trump's 'intensified sanctions on Venezuela have been clouded by sabre-rattling' and 'clunky sloganeering'. At that time, those intensified sanctions had already killed an estimated 40,000 civilians, with an unknown number of additional deaths after Trump imposed harsher measures in 2019. But the goal of regime change had not succeeded. Trump's crime in Venezuela was not his lethal denial of food and medicine to the population, but rather his 'faulty execution' of the policy. This critique informs Biden's current roadmap for Venezuela, which hinges on refining the sanctions to inflict maximum political damage. Secretary Blinken argues that sanctions must be honed 'so that regime enablers really feel the pain', while González favours a 'smart' use of 'multilateral sanctions' over Trump's go-it-alone programme...."
|
|
|
Feb 27, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
gm , Feb 26 2021 22:54 utc | 24Special Counsel John Durham Resigns as US Attorney – Effective February 28th -- Before Biden AG Merrick Takes Office
Durham was investigating the Mueller Russia-Collusion coup against President Trump and his administration.
He was appointed as Special Counsel in October.He resigned as US Attorney in Connecticut.
There will likely be no indictments after the Deep State spied on Trump and attempted to throw him from office.
[...]
Update 3:59 pm EST via Twitter/Chad Pergram:
"John Durham steps down as US Atty in CT. But stays on board as special counsel probing origins of Trump/Russia investigation. Biden Admin asked US attys to resign by end of February"
Probably means whatever Durham was investigating will receive a quiet burial.
|
|
|
Feb 25, 2021 | www.unz.com
No Friend Of The Devil , says: February 23, 2021 at 3:45 am GMT • 2.8 days ago
Sirius , says: February 23, 2021 at 9:25 am GMT • 2.5 days agoMost Americans consider Kissinger a war criminal too, and informed Americans know that Zbignue Brzenski has lost all credibility. He was a cold war era Anti-Russian. He has said little if anything relevant since the collapse of the USSR.
Informed Americans would prefer a doplomatic relationship with their neighbors south of the border. It would be much more economically and environmentally sustainable to have a cooperative agreement with Venezuela, rather than the KXL advocates north of the border, that Biden thankfully banned. It may be the only thing tbat he ends up doing correctly. I hope not. I did not vote for him, Trump, or anyone else. Biden, Blinken, and Austin speak about wanting to go back to the JCPOA and START, but whether they are willing to give up their policy errors of force through sanctions, and falsely blaming Iran for the attack on the Irbil Iraq airport will probably determine whether they can do this successfully or not. Everyone is sick of the bullshit from the American government, including American citizens! The government does what they Globzi investors demand from them. They really do not give a damn about anyone else. Everyone is just a means to an end to them, and unkess someone is exceptionally wealthy, they are an irrelevant pain in the ass to the government, unless they are willing to sell out their own interest in order to elevate the corrupt government.
Andrea Iravani
@SpankyThat's true. As a barometer of establishment thinking, Foreign Affairs is indeed useful. I would just make a distinction of using it to understand establishment thinking versus using it as a source for good policy, which is evidently questionable if its editors still think Robert Kagan has anything useful to propose.
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Mao , Feb 18 2021 19:09 utc | 147
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-evolution-of-alexey-navalnys-nationalism
uncle tungsten , Feb 18 2021 22:00 utc | 174
jayc , Feb 18 2021 22:20 utc | 177thomas #140
The greatest problem confronting the ECHR in the Navalny pantomime is that of being presented with evidence that is determined by people with a high potential of bias and even malice. Any prosecution or hearing that is based on evidence from people with mala fide (in bad faith) is fraught with erroneous judgement UNLESS the procedure is doubly cautious in testing every presentation. One can't know for certain unless one reads the entire transcript.
So far (from the snippets in press) I can see that there might be good reason to doubt anything from the German Military labs, from the lady with the drink bottles, from Navalny the peripatetic pharmaceutical carrier/consumer.
Considering the entire story is premised on a less than 2%er political figure directly funded by foreign sources to seek power in a nation under propaganda and economic siege (and failing miserably at that) THEN the court will need to demonstrate some credible evidence as to how the Novichok failed to infect every passenger and crew in a closed circulation plane cabin.
Or are we to believe that Navalny has the balls within his underwear to absorb it all?
The ECHR court is being asked to give legitimacy to state propaganda and black ops. This is a very sad downfall from ethics and common sense. But it certainly won't bother the EU in perpetrating its pernicious game.
karlof1 , Feb 18 2021 23:49 utc | 182The ECHR also made recent decisions directed against Russia regarding alleged "ethnic cleansing" in Georgia 2008, and alleged "illegal annexation" in Crimea 2014.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/02/02/russia-confronts-international-law-nyet-nyet/
Paco @181--
The pathetic attempts to confirm Sainthood onto Navalny when he's clearly one of the Devil's men is just beyond--outré, is more precise. What does that then make those who make such attempts? It shows they are further Devil's men and not at all in control of themselves. Tools are used; they don't use/operate themselves. Trolls are also tools. There are many of those here that are made to look like they control themselves but ultimately they remain tools. Too many are treated as humans. I once fought them as Don Quixote fought the Windmill, but no more; and I very seldom engage them unless the attempt to distort is too deceptive and must be addressed.
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
karlof1 , Feb 17 2021 22:43 utc | 39
psychohistorian @27--
Thanks for the FYI. That's not at all an unexpected assault on a method for the people to redress grievances, not that it was actually acted upon since the Executive has a very nasty habit of not obeying the law.
I'm curious as to how Russia will regulate Western Big Tech platforms licensed to operate within Russia if they violate the terms of the agreement outside its borders, as Twitter did recently to a Russian group outside of Russia. Perhaps Russia will make an extraterritorial law such that if Twitter, for example, unjustifiably freezes an account as it does daily it will lose its rights to operate within Russia. As for the individual user, IMO its dumb to sign onto a service that you know practices censorship and shares private data with governments and other entities--either you value your own privacy or it will be stolen from you. With luck, quantum computing and its encryption algorithms will destroy all efforts at data collection; but those days are a ways off and will likely first become available on Chinese devices which the West will ban.
karlof1 , Feb 17 2021 23:24 utc | 46
Debsisdead , Feb 17 2021 23:41 utc | 47I wonder what our Aussie barflies have to say about this :
"Facebook to ban Australian users from reading and sharing news in response to government's Big Tech bill."
That's right! FB Australia is going to ban its users from discussing a legislative proposal by the Australian government that would regulate Aussie FB.
If that's how they choose to operate, more nations will ban them. And again I ask why have anything to do with an organization that censors basic content.
karlof1 , Feb 17 2021 23:58 utc | 48re karlof1 #46
Google promised the same about two weeks ago as the Murdoch controlled Oz legislature is pushing to ensure that if big tech carries links to articles in news sites such as Murdoch's Daily Telegraph or Fairfax's Sydney Morning Herald they, big tech, will have to kick back a proportion of the advertising revenue they make.
Despite it being murdochian the claim has some merit, but no monopoly is going to acquiesce to such a small population as Australia's so Google, FB, Twitter etc, will just ban all news links to Oz sources.The Oz conservatives are likely to do their usual "damn the voters, full speed ahead" as long as nothing else crops up to make this too on the nose.
This if it happens will be a win win for the Oz population as they will revert back to sourcing their own news and sharing it with others free of big tech's control & censorship. It will be an interesting time, although the monopolies will be pushing shock horror tales about it outside Oz. There is no chance of it happening in amerika as BidenCorp is a big tech puppet, but it could happen eventually as the fishwraps still retain considerable power over the amerikan political structure.Debsisdead @47--
Thanks for your reply! I recall one of the Cold War talking points was that the Free Flow of Information was Vital to democratic governance and was a major reason why the USSR and Warsaw Pact was so backwards as they stifled all information flows through censorship and other means. VoA Trumpeted that constantly. Such hubris is going to encourage the world's nations to come together to control what are clearly becoming outlaw organizations.
|
|
|
Feb 05, 2021 | www.csmonitor.com
By Daria Litvinova and Vladimir Isachenkov Associated Press
Moscow court on Tuesday ordered Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to prison for more than 2 1/2 years, finding that he violated the terms of his probation while recuperating in Germany from nerve-agent poisoning. The ruling ignited protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Mr. Navalny, who is the most prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, had denounced the proceedings as a vain attempt by the Kremlin to scare millions of Russians into submission.
After the verdict that was announced around 8 p.m., protesters converged on areas of central Moscow and gathered on St. Petersburg's main avenue, Nevsky Prospekt.
About these adsHelmeted riot police grabbed demonstrators without obvious provocation and put them in police vehicles. The Meduza website showed video of police roughly pulling a passenger and driver out of a taxi.
The ruling came despite massive protests across Russia over the past two weekends and Western calls to free the anti-corruption campaigner.
Was Jan. 6 the end of an era – or start of a dangerous new one?
"We reiterate our call for the Russian government to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navalny, as well as the hundreds of other Russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly," United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after the ruling.
The protests lasted until about 1 a.m. Around 650 people were arrested, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors political arrests.
The prison sentence stems from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that Mr. Navalny has rejected as fabricated and politically motivated.
Mr. Navalny was arrested Jan. 17 upon returning from his five-month convalescence in Germany from the attack, which he has blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities deny any involvement. Despite tests by several European labs, Russian authorities said they have no proof he was poisoned.
As the order was read, Mr. Navalny smiled and pointed to his wife Yulia in the courtroom and traced the outline of a heart on the glass cage where he was being held. "Everything will be fine," he told her as guards led him away.
Earlier in the proceedings, Mr. Navalny attributed his arrest to Mr. Putin's "fear and hatred," saying the Russian leader will go down in history as a "poisoner."
"I have deeply offended him simply by surviving the assassination attempt that he ordered," he said.
https://86ccf4fd41c191d9b4cc608af0e915d0.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html About these ads
"The aim of this hearing is to scare a great number of people," Mr. Navalny added. "You can't jail the entire country."
Russia's penitentiary service said Mr. Navalny violated the probation conditions of his suspended sentence from the 2014 conviction. It asked the court to turn his 3 1/2-year suspended sentence into one that he must serve in prison, although about a year he spent under house arrest will be counted as time served.
Mr. Navalny emphasized that the European Court of Human Rights ruled that his 2014 conviction was unlawful and Russia paid him compensation in line with the ruling.
Mr. Navalny and his lawyers have argued that while he was recovering in Germany from the poisoning, he couldn't register with Russian authorities in person as required by his probation. He also insisted that his due process rights were crudely violated during his arrest and described his jailing as a travesty of justice.
"I came back to Moscow after I completed the course of treatment," Mr. Navalny said during Tuesday's hearing. "What else could I have done?"
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets the past two weekends to demand Mr. Navalny's release and chant slogans against Mr. Putin. On Sunday , police detained more than 5,750 people nationwide, which was the biggest one-day total in Russia since Soviet times. Most were released after being handed a court summons, and they face fines or jail terms of seven to 15 days, although several face criminal charges of violence against police.
"I am fighting and will keep doing it even though I am now in the hands of people who love to put chemical weapons everywhere and no one would give three kopecks for my life," Mr. Navalny said.
Mr. Navalny's team called for a demonstration Tuesday outside the Moscow courthouse, but police were out in force, cordoning off nearby streets and making random arrests. More than 320 people were detained, according to OVD-Info.
Some Navalny supporters still managed to approach the building. A young woman climbed a pile of snow across the street and held up a poster saying "Freedom to Navalny." Less than a minute later, a police officer took her away.
About these adsBefore the ruling, authorities also cordoned off Red Square and other parts of central Moscow, as well as Palace Square in St. Petersburg, anticipating protests. Police flooded the centers of both cities.
In court, Mr. Navalny thanked protesters for their courage and urged other Russians not to fear repression.
"Millions can't be jailed," he said. "You have stolen people's future and you are now trying to scare them. I'm urging all not to be afraid."
Observers noted that authorities want Mr. Navalny in prison, fearing he could run an efficient campaign against the main Kremlin party, United Russia, in September's parliamentary election. "If Navalny remains free, he is absolutely capable of burying the Kremlin's plans regarding the outcome of the Duma election," said political analyst Abbas Gallyamov.
After his arrest, Mr. Navalny's team released a two-hour YouTube video about an opulent Black Sea residence allegedly built for Putin. It has been viewed over 100 million times, fueling discontent as ordinary Russians struggle with an economic downturn, the coronavirus, and widespread corruption during Mr. Putin's years in office.
Mr. Putin insisted that neither he nor his relatives own any of the properties mentioned in the video, and his longtime confidant, construction magnate Arkady Rotenberg, claimed that he owns it.
About these adsAs part of efforts to squelch the protests, authorities have targeted Mr. Navalny's associates and activists across the country. His brother Oleg, top ally Lyubov Sobol, and several others were put under house arrest for two months and face criminal charges of violating coronavirus restrictions.
The jailing of Mr. Navalny and the crackdown on protests have stoked international outrage.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the "perverse ruling, targeting the victim of a poisoning rather than those responsible, shows Russia is failing to meet the most basic commitments expected of any responsible member of the international community."
Russia has dismissed the criticism as meddling in its domestic affairs and said Mr. Navalny's current situation is a procedural matter for the court, not an issue for the government.
"A Russian citizen sentenced by Russian court in accordance with Russian laws. Who gave US the right to judge if it was wrongful or not? Wouldn't you mind your own business, gentlemen? Recent events show that there are a lot of things for you to mend!," Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, said on Twitter.
More than a dozen Western diplomats attended the hearing. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said their presence was part of efforts by the West to contain Russia, adding that it could be an attempt to exert "psychological pressure" on the judge.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is ready for dialogue about Mr. Navalny, but sternly warned it wouldn't take Western criticism into account.
|
|
|
Feb 04, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
The flag-bearer of Western influence and globalists in Russia, Alexey Navalny, has been sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison for grossly disregarding the terms of his suspended sentence.
The initial sentence was for 3.5 years, but he has already served a part of that term under house arrest. The absurdity of the situation is that his initial sentence was related to corruption – something he allegedly fights against.
Despite claims by MSM and Western diplomats that Navalny is subject to political persecution, his proven and known ties to Western Intelligence were not part of the case.
Just recently, on February 1st, videos were released online showing the joyful cooperation between Navalny's team and foreign intelligence services. To put it plainly – Navalny's team requested information from British Intelligence. It planned to employ that "dirt" to hinder Russia's interests, both internal and external. His Anti-Corruption Foundation, furthermore, promised to work against Russian business, and to promote British companies. For that, these would be paid hefty sums when he, ultimately, somehow managed to come to power. To achieve that, Navalny's people vowed to stage mass protests, spread propaganda and strike behind the scenes deals with the elites. It can't be corruption, if it's for a "good cause", right?
As further evidence of this foreign support and pressure, at least 20 diplomats from various countries, including the US, made an appearance when Navalny's case came up in the Moscow Court hoping to pressure the court in his favour thereby meddling in Russian internal affairs. The massive media propaganda campaign was also plain to see.
For proven in court criminal offenses involving embezzlement of funds on a massive scale, dozens of violations of the terms of his suspended sentence, contempt of court, his active and public work in the interests of foreign states against the Russian nation Navalny faced slightly more than 2.5 years in jail. For any neutral observer, this was an expected outcome and the only concern would be the soft punishment that he received. This can be partly explained by Russia once again showing itself to be a stronghold of tolerance and democracy and also by the fact that the decision of the court is related to the violations of the suspended sentence only and it did not review other 'achievements' of the anti-Russian clique operating under the Navalny brand.
Following the court decision, Western leaders and diplomats further publicly meddled in internal Russian affairs by calling for violence to demand the release of the self-proclaimed anti-corruption activist. This will also likely be used as a pretext for increasing pressure on Russia, including new sanctions. The remaining Western-funded network inside the country already tried to stage violent protests in Moscow and other big cities. Nonetheless, their attempts failed largely due to a low turnout and to the successful actions of the authorities. There are no doubts that foreign efforts in this field will continue as opponents of Russia need violence on the streets and casualties to push forward their destabilization campaign. At the same time, recent events demonstrated that the hardcore pro-Western opposition has close to no real support among the general Russian population. Therefore, help from Western special services will likely focus on creating pinpoint provocations to escalate the violence and to create some sacred sacrifice. If the government acts successfully to contain these provocations and avoid the escalation of violence, anti-Russian forces will likely focus on keeping up the pressure and some level of instability in the larger cities for the next month. A new round of major provocations can be expected in the runup to the Russian general election in September 2021.
Actions of the global establishment show that hopes for a 'reconciliation with the West' demonstrated by the 'liberal part' of the Russian elites are largely baseless. Therefore, Russia should be ready for the further confrontation with the so-called 'Democratic world', which has for a long time forgotten what the words 'democracy' and the 'rule of law' really mean.
Savvy 1 hour ago
Five_Black_Eyes_Intel_Agency 1 hour ago (Edited)All that's left is for the US to declare Navalny President of Russia.
Savvy 1 hour agoThey declared Guaido prez of Venezuela. How did that work out? Even the EU are distancing themselves from him. The US is the global pariah, along with zionist entity.
Five_Black_Eyes_Intel_Agency 1 hour agoAt least Guaido has the distinction of being one of the Chicago Five. Look it up, interesting read. : )
Savvy 1 hour agoU mean the Chicago boys? Milton Friedman and the Washington Consensus
jonesbeach 1 hour agoNo, the CIA had a group of trainees that did boot camp in Eastern Europe, heavily involved in Georgia and Ukraine. They were called the Chicago Five. Guaido was one.
2 play_arrowBaNNeD oN THe RuN 1 hour agoAmerica has zero credibility to dictate to any other country about how they should treat their dissidents. The corporate media and Washington establishment have waged war on half the country for decades. And now they are arresting people for posting memes, labeling peaceful protestors as terrorists and purging people for wrongthink.
QABubba 34 minutes ago remove linkNovichok had to be the easiest fraud for the Russians to refute, but was used because the general public was conditioned to believe it after the Skriptal hoax.
Novichok is stored in 2 separate vials which have to be mixed shortly before use. It is not something you whip up in a restaurant kitchen or hotel bathroom. The risk is too great to the handlers.
Navalny's day-to-day MI-6 handlers (Maria Pevchikh) then concocted a series of increasingly unbelievable scenarios about how he came in contact.
The final blow came when the initial Berlin hospital tests contradicted what the mititary tests claimed they found.
John Helmer documented it all...
http://johnhelmer.net/category/navalny/Max21c 30 minutes agoThis should have ended with the Russian side mentioning they had blood samples taken at their hospital before Navalny left for Berlin.
Max21c 27 minutes ago (Edited) remove linkDespite claims by MSM and Western diplomats that Navalny is subject to political persecution
Washington elites conveniently & consistently ignore real political persecution in their own homeland by their security services and only use the phony claim of "political persecution" as a political tool when it benefits them against countries & governments they are at odds with or where they may someday gain a financial windfall by overthrowing another government and installing their own hand picked puppets...
BaNNeD oN THe RuN 1 hour agoNavalny may be a crook and embezzler in Russia but in the eyes of Washingtonians he's their kind of crook. In the Washingtonians skewed & distorted way of viewing the world Navalny is a GOOD CROOK rather than a BAD CROOK .
How about this source:
"Navalny received a scholarship to the Yale World Fellows program at Yale University in 2010."
I wonder what "Bonesman" drew the short straw to be his State Dept handler.
|
|
|
Jan 29, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
rico , Jan 29 2021 19:24 utc | 32
Speaking about rich families who own the world. There is one unique feature of german oligarchy, they don't change. More than half of the hundred richest families now have already been rich before ww1. They made the crazy history of last century possible. Please just go for a second in the perspective they have.
|
|
|
Jan 29, 2021 | roycekurmelovs.substack.com
Raising Hell: QandA: Who The Hell Is Alexei Navalny? "If Yeltsin suspends an anti-democratic Parliament, it is not necessarily an anti-democratic act." - Anonymous Clinton Administration official quoted in the New York Times, 13 March 1993 Royce Kurmelovs Jan 27
Compressed into a two-minute soundbite, the story of Alexei Navalny and the recent protests that have erupted across Russia seems simple enough. The Russian opposition figure who recently survived an attempt on his life -- an alleged poisoning delivered via Novichok-laced pants -- was arrested and convicted of breaching his bail conditions in a process that can be fairly described as unjust. In response, his supporters took to the streets across the country in protest.
Ask a Russian, like Katya Kazbek , and they will tell you something different: things are way more complicated than they seem. Katya is a writer, translator and the editor-in-chief of arts and culture magazine Supamodu.com who today lives in New York by way of Moscow and Krasnodar Krai in the North Caucuses. In an effort to give some nuance to Navalny and what has been happening overseas, they recently put together a widely shared Twitter thread that served as a highlight reel of Navalny's political career -- and the picture it painted was not pretty. Having read this, I contacted them to ask more about a man whose treatment has been unjust, but who -- it turns out -- is no hero.
This QandA has been edited for length and style.
Royce Kurmelovs : What is happening in Russia right now?
Katya Kazbek: Nothing fundamentally new is happening right now. A part of Russian society is unhappy with Putin and his government, but that's been a constant throughout his 20-plus year term and, previously, throughout his predecessor Boris Yeltsin's term. The grievances include corruption, low life quality, restricted freedoms and undemocratic elections. Additionally, in the last decade, since the previous wave of protests in the early 2010s, there had been some particular legislative measures, such as Putin amending the constitution to his advantage. There has been a tightening in the protest laws, which make protesting harder, even in single-person pickets, and the ramifications graver. But most importantly, 2019 was marked by the beginning of a sprawling pension reform project, which looks to raise the retirement age by five years and has caused a lot of outcry from the population.
In this light, a change in government seems an even more remote perspective for those Russians who do not support Putin and practicing dissent becomes an even more daunting task.
Bakhti Nishanov @b_nishanov This pro-Navalny protest in Yakutsk in the negative 50C absolutely blows my mindJanuary 23rd 2021
17,562 Retweets 86,274 LikesMeanwhile, a particular set of the general public is also concerned with the events surrounding investigative journalist and opposition figure Alexei Navalny. His alleged poisoning last year, subsequent return to Russia, and arrest upon arrival due to parole violations have led to calls for his supporters to protest against this, alongside other issues.
RK : Who is Alexei Navalny?
KK : Alexei Navalny should be first and foremost viewed as an investigative journalist. He founded and leads his Anti-Corruption Foundation, which conducts thorough examinations of corruption in the personal and business lives of members of Vladimir Putin's government. He mostly digs up hidden assets, such as real estate, businesses and yachts that belong to them and members of their families.
In 2010, he received a scholarship from Yale's World Fellows program, with graduates directly linked to the Maidan Revolution in Ukraine. In 2013 he ran for mayor of Moscow, coming second after the incumbent Sergey Sobyanin. However, it's important to point out that both then and now, his popularity is only high in large cities, and the situation in the regions is drastically different. He was not allowed to run for president in 2018 because of two conditional convictions for fraud in the cases of timber company Kirovles and cosmetics company Yves Rocher, which Navalny himself calls "frame-ups."
It was that year that he started expanding into election activism and has used various tactics to engage in them. During the 2018 presidential election, he called for people to boycott. In the 2019 regional elections, he launched the system called "Smart Elections," where the goal was to take away as many votes from United Russia candidates by supporting anyone outside the party. It was lauded as a success by Navalny and his followers, while the leaders of Russia's other two biggest parties, Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), argue that it was their popularity that led to evident electoral shifts.
There are plans to use the system again this year in various elections. And of course, lately, Alexei Navalny has been in the headlines for his alleged poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok. It's worth pointing out that according to liberal polls, the attitudes of Russians en masse to the poisoning and its implications differ significantly from the narrative in the western press: while to some people he remains obscure, and many stay neutral, people in general are more distrustful and wary of him than they are distrustful and wary of the Russian government or Putin personally. His popularity has indeed grown some in the wake of the alleged poisoning, as well as the calls he made relatively recently for direct stimulus measures to help citizens in the wake of COVID. However, it still tails that of Putin and even that of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of far-right LDPR.
RK : I know you could write a whole book about this, but what are his politics?
KK : Navalny is most definitely a populist, and he likes to follow trends. For instance, during the US democratic primary, he endorsed Bernie Sanders because American cultural markers are appealing to him. I have been watching Navalny since he was just an aspiring politician and had a blog on LiveJournal, the prevalent social media platform in Russia at the time.
Back then, he identified openly as a nationalist and attended nationalist rallies. He started in the liberal, market-oriented party Yabloko but was kicked out for his nationalist views. He then created his movement "The People" aimed against illegal immigration and recorded blatantly xenophobic videos where he compared people from South Caucuses to dental cavities and migrants to cockroaches: one of these videos is still on his verified YouTube channel.
Mark Ames @MarkAmesExiled Navalny's infamous "Muslim migrants are cockroaches" video with English subtitles. At the end, Navalny shoots person representing Muslim migrants from North Caucasus. [Small correction: opener is "Alexei Navalny Certified Nationalist" not "specialist"]January 26th 2021
427 Retweets 829 LikesIn the following years, there has been an effort to whitewash his views, and he has switched gears on various topics; for instance, I believe he has changed his position on same sex marriage from negative to positive. But when pressed about his earlier convictions and the videos mentioned above, for instance, in a post-poisoning interview with Der Spiegel, he flat out said, "I have the same views that I held when I went into politics." When he ran for president, he wanted to introduce a visa regime with Central Asian countries -- the source of the majority of labor migrants in Russia. When asked why he insists on that while also saying he'd want to let German people visit Russia visa-free, he responded that those who have a rich country should be more welcome as visitors.
As to the other spheres: his economic views favor privatisation and free markets, and he is backed by many post-Soviet capitalists, from the oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky to the former head of the Central Bank of Russia, Sergei Aleksashenko. However, he also wanted to run for the presidency on the platform of raising wages, pensions, and introducing progressive taxes -- but never centered the working class in his agenda, only sometimes talking about poverty and always outlining the necessity of helping small business owners. The times when I recall him talking about the working class, it was with disdain or posturing.
Navalny's geopolitical views are a bit all over the place as well. While he has made calls against Russian military presence in Syria and Ukraine, Navalny's stance on Crimea varies from supportive to cautious. In general, when it concerns internal Russian politics, he tends to support regional autonomy: one of his central policies through the years has been "Stop Feeding Caucusus," which called, among other things, for severing republics such as Chechnya from the Russian Federation.
In general, Russian regions are way worse off than Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the growing resentment is a straightforward target for further balkanization of the post-Soviet space and Russian Federation in particular. Moreover, when it comes to foreign diplomacy, Navalny thinks Russia should align more with Europe and less with its ex-Soviet neighbors, Asian or Latin American countries.
Joshua Potash @JoshuaPotash Wow. The scale of the protests in Russia today is stunning. This is St. Petersburg.January 23rd 2021
4,418 Retweets 18,038 LikesBasically, his politics adapt to whatever seems opportune, but that also doesn't seem to help his cause. He is not Nazi enough for the ultra-right, too right-wing for leftists, spooks some liberals with his pro-gun stance and uncertain position on Crimea, which are both serious issues for them. He seems to only find full support in those who want to switch from Putin's government by any means necessary and don't really care about views or policies.
RK : How much support does Navalny have within Russia?
KK : Despite his 15-year-old crusade against Putin, his government, and corruption, Navalny is still mostly recognized only for his investigative work. Even though trust in him grew in the wake of the poisoning, the number of people distrusting him has also grown along with awareness. Overall, in the last poll about the number of people trusting significant political figures taken in August 2020, he scored two per cent, in third place after Vladimir Putin's comfortable 40 per cent and Vladimir Zhirinovsky's four per cent. However, some politicians who trailed behind him belong to parties in the Russian Duma that enjoy way more support as whole entities, including the CPRF and LDPR.
RK : Why is this happening now?
KK : His support in Russia has been greatly exaggerated by the Western press. The Navalny supporters, who are not as numerous, have been galvanized by the attempt on his life and his arrest. Others, who might not be supporting Navalny per se, view the case of his apprehension as yet another in the string of cases where one's political views become a basis for detention and imprisonment. Such cases vary greatly; some figures are more popular, some downright ambiguous, others do not get as much coverage in the liberal media and Western media. I'll name a few I consider most worthy of attention, even as my personal opinion on them varies. Communist party member and diplomat Nikolai Platoshkin has been under house arrest on charges of inciting riots and endangering public safety for the past few months. Anarchist Azat Miftakhov has just been sentenced to six years in prison for breaking the window and throwing a smoke bomb into the United Russia party -- Putin's party -- office in Moscow. Investigative journalist Ivan Golunov had been tried on a fabricated drug charge, although released after much public outcry and an investigation. Feminist artist Yulia Tsvetkova is still on trial for administrative charges, including dissemination of pornography and gay propaganda, for her online activity and art.
Meanwhile, far-right populist Sergey Furgal , ex-Khabarovsk Krai governor, has been charged with multiple murders. Because of this, regular protests in support of the "people's governor," as his constituents call him, and against federal involvement in regional politics, have been going on for the past six months. Around 25 thousand protestors took part at its peak, about four per cent of the city's population.
I would say that these protests, as well as the protests in neighboring Belarus, have been an inspirational force for recent protests across Russia. But I believe that the Russian protests are a mix of organic and astroturfed. I would definitely see what's happening with Alexei Navalny in the context of the foreign politics of the European Union and the USA -- and especially to the presidency of Joe Biden. The US Democrats have spent years talking about the so-called "Russiagate", a narrative prevalent in the US, that blamed Russia for Hilary Clinton's loss in 2016. The conspiracy has been debunked continuously but remains a big staple of American politics. I believe that because of that and the proxy wars going on between the two countries, Biden's term will be very hawkish on Russia.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/GS6uLmGfYF8?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0
RK : There have been other protest movements before. I remember images of Garry Kasparov getting arrested. Is this different?
KK : Apart from some particularities, in general, a lot of what's happening seems to be similar to the events in the 2010s, when I personally participated in the protests. Back then, I believe, they were also astroturfed to a point by foreign interference but also stemmed from various reasons of organic discontent -- quite similar reasons to what has sparked the protests now. I will also add that the 2010s protests started right after parliamentary elections, which were widely considered fraudulent.
That said, I believe that the protests of the early 2010s and early 2020s seem to be almost identical. I have seen the same jokes and memes surface, very similar manifestos written, people have been referring to unsanctioned protests as "going out for a walk" and cracking jokes about that, and taking white flowers as a symbol of peace to the events. But most importantly, the people most vehemently supporting these protests remain pretty much the same. Of course, there are newer figures, and some have died or changed camps since the last ones, but in general, it's all pretty much the same, which creates a peculiar feeling of deja vu.
As opposed to the Black Lives Matter protests here in the US, which I had also been following since inception and which had taken on a completely different spin this past summer, the Russian protests do not seem to have evolved. Of course, I might be mistaken because I'm not currently in Russia, but I have not seen anything radically different about them. Of course, twenty-somethings, who were too young to participate in the protests of the 2010s, or people who had been apolitical before will perceive them as unprecedented, and I do believe that there has been an increase in participation in a broader geographic and class context -- as compared to the mostly Moscow-centric, middle-class events of 2010s. But the overall tactics had not changed, no meaningful strategy has been adopted, and most importantly, just like the last time, no effort to address or center the working class has been made. All of it makes the narrative all too familiar, and the protests appear detached from the everyday worries of Russia's working class.
"Twenty-somethings, who were too young to participate in the protests of the 2010s, or people who had been apolitical before will perceive them as unprecedented "
RK : The nineties were, to put it mildly, a hell of a time for Russia with western governments massively interfering in Russian politics and, essentially, looting the economy. Those events, such as Yeltsin's coup to depose a democratically elected parliament and the creation of the oligarchs, must have been scarring for many in society. How much can we read what is happening within Russia today as an echo of those events?
KK : Everything that has been happening in Russia over the past 30 years has been an echo of these events. Boris Yeltsin's coup, that was backed by Bill Clinton and the US media , is definitely something people think back to a lot. Vladimir Putin was Yeltsin's chosen heir and a continuation of the system that makes sure that power and capital are concentrated in the Kremlin. The whole idea of Putin being replaced with Navalny just seems like a reshuffling of the same old: a new pro-Western leader to replace the one who has strayed from NATO's grasp, and a different set of oligarchs and capitalists taking the reigns. But even if people were eager for this shuffle, Putin has something that Navalny doesn't: a factual track record as the country's leader. And even if this record is indeed marred deeply with corruption, trespasses, and things that many find unpalatable, life under Putin has improved as compared to the impoverished 90s. It might not be a huge advantage, but having seen the pits, no one is eager to forfeit the small advantage that exists for the unknown. And as someone on Twitter rightly said: "While it's obvious whom Navalny is against, it's not quite clear whom he is for."
RK : What do those outside Russia need to know about the situation?
KK : I want everyone to realize that the overwhelming majority of western journalists are busy communicating their own narrative, which does not have anything to do with the real situation on the ground; however, it too often reflects the opinions of State Departments of NATO countries. Disgruntled diaspora voices and loud English-speaking liberals in Moscow are incredibly biased, also. The majority of Russian online presence is in Russian and overwhelmingly on VK.com and Telegram. So judging the country by what you hear most often about it is misleading and dangerous. Honestly, I think the same applies to most countries that are not considered allies by the US and EU, but Russia more than others because of this new Cold War we have at hand.
The biggest myth about Russia is that Putin is some off-the-charts dictator, Russia is an absolute hellhole, and that his only opposition is Navalny, who is being prevented from elections and poisoned. Careful investigation into the material circumstances of people in Russia will show that while the country is poor, it has improved since the 90s. It isn't a liberal paradise, for sure, but having tirelessly compared it to the US where I've been working in the past few years, I have to say while nothing about Russia is performatively woke, the foundations set in place by the Soviet Union remain quite firm: from the access to free, unlimited abortions to a genuinely multiethnic society. Russia is not without its racial problems, of course, but that's also true for Europe with its Roma and migrants, the US with its Latinos and African-Americans and Australia with the Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islander people to pontificate about.
The more significant problems that Russia struggles with are Putin's weaponisation of the orthodox church and nationalism, the domestic violence surges and decriminalisation of them, and the economy, of course, especially in the COVID era and with the pension reform in full swing. But I firmly believe we Russians can solve those internally and don't need any interference from the West. Moreover, the West should get rid of the white savior syndrome and allow Russians to choose their leader themselves. According to polls, right now, it is Putin. I'm not a fan, but I don't feel like I have the moral high ground to tell most of my compatriots they lack the agency to make this choice for themselves.
"As someone who has worked as an election observer during a presidential election, I can say that even in Moscow, [Putin] wins by a margin, fair and square."
Moreover, as someone who has worked as an election observer during a presidential election, I can say that even in Moscow, he wins by a margin, fair and square. Meanwhile, his most significant opposition is not Navalny, as one can gather from the poll figures. The real opposition party, CPRF, holds a sizeable presence in the Duma. And while overall it is quite reactionary for my personal taste and tends to sometimes fall in line with Putin, it exists; it's big. Those on the left can build towards socialism from within it, which numerous politicians have done, as they became Duma members, mayors, governors or form their coalitions that splinter off CPRF in less reactionary formations that have some promising members, like the Russian United Labour Front movement. All of this is something I can not even imagine in the United States, where the socialist parties are small, fringe, and not present in the Congress, and self-proclaimed socialist politicians would rate as centrists elsewhere.
So whenever you hear something about Russia, please consider what vested interests there may be in that opinion, who is telling you these things, and why. And just in general, whenever you're interested, try to talk to actual people within Russia, preferably its regions, and not the pundits who get paid for pitting Navalny against Putin.
Before You Go (Go)
Are you a public sector bureaucrat whose tyrannical boss is behaving badly? Have you recently come into possession of documents showing some rich guy is trying to move their ill-gotten-gains to Curacao? Did you take a low-paying job with an evil corporation registered in Delaware that is burying toxic waste under playgrounds? If your conscience is keeping you up at night, or you'd just plain like to see some wrong-doers cast into the sea, we here at Raising Hell can suggest a course of action: leak! You can securely make contact through Signal or through encrypted message Wickr Me on my account: rorok1990.
And if you've come this far, consider supporting me further by picking up one of my books, leaving a review or by just telling a friend about Raising Hell !
|
|
|
Jan 29, 2021 | www.rt.com
29 Jan, 2021 18:47 / Updated 6 hours ago Get short URL
Kevin Clinesmith is the FBI lawyer who altered evidence to secure a FISA warrant for spying on Carter Page (December 7, 2018 file photo). © REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 152 Follow RT on
The only FBI official charged in the improper use of FISA warrants to spy on President Donald Trump via campaign aide Carter Page got a slap on the wrist. Kevin Clinesmith's sentence was a year of probation, and community service.
Clinesmith worked at the FBI General Counsel's Office (GCO) and was assigned to Crossfire Hurricane, the probe of Trump's alleged ties with Russia during the 2016 election. In that capacity, he altered an email from the CIA that described Page as a source for the spy agency, to say he was "not" a source – enabling the FBI to request a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant against Page as a "Russian agent" – and, through him, spy on the Trump campaign, transition and presidency.
ALSO ON RT.COM Trump declassifies 'binder of materials' related to Russiagate probe, but caves to FBI & keeps saucy bits secretOn Friday, federal judge James Boasberg – who also sits on the FISA court – sentenced Clinesmith to 12 months' probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $100 fine.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=RT_com&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1355206047867301888&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fusa%2F514079-clinesmith-sentence-fbi-russiagate%2F&siteScreenName=RT_com&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
Boasberg was reportedly swayed by Clinesmith's insistence that he'd acted in good faith and that his wife has a baby on the way, while shrugging-off Page's testimony that his life had been ruined as the result of false claims he was a "Russian agent."
The Republicans sitting on the House Judiciary Committee called the sentence "insanity" and "outrageous."
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=RT_com&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1355210065674989573&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fusa%2F514079-clinesmith-sentence-fbi-russiagate%2F&siteScreenName=RT_com&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
Led by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-California), the Judiciary GOP first exposed the FISA abuse and published a memo about it in February 2018, revealing that the FBI had relied on the "Steele Dossier" – a collection of spurious claims compiled by a British spy and paid-for by Hillary Clinton's campaign – in the initial spying request.
Others pointed out that Clinesmith's transgression was far greater than almost anyone who ended up going to jail as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller's 'Russiagate' probe. Campaign aide George Papadopoulos spent two weeks in jail for allegedly lying to the FBI – the same process crime Clinesmith pled guilty to last August – and General Michael Flynn spent four years trying to beat the same charge.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=RT_com&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1355209138633015297&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fusa%2F514079-clinesmith-sentence-fbi-russiagate%2F&siteScreenName=RT_com&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
Clinesmith is also the only FBI official to face any scrutiny over the bureau's handling of Crossfire Hurricane. Former director James Comey, his deputy Andy McCabe, lead agent Peter Strzok and attorney Lisa Page – all of whom were involved in the probe – have landed lucrative book contracts or cable news jobs, or become heroes of the Democrat "resistance" instead.
ALSO ON RT.COM Twitter influencer Douglass Mackey, aka Ricky Vaughn, arrested for allegedly tricking Clinton backers to lose their votes in 2016The lenient sentence for a FBI lawyer altering evidence was seen as especially egregious, as, earlier this week, a Trump supporter going by the handle 'Ricky Vaughn' on Twitter was arrested and charged by the Biden administration for "conspiracy to deprive people of their voting rights" by posting memes that allegedly misled Clinton voters in 2016.
"The entire game is rigged," said Federalist editor Sean Davis. "The rule of law is dead."
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=RT_com&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-3&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1355206434921836544&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fusa%2F514079-clinesmith-sentence-fbi-russiagate%2F&siteScreenName=RT_com&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
"As outrageous as this is, it's also useful. It's in our faces now," wrote lawyer and filmmaker Mike Cernovich. "When they come for more Trump supporters Remember today."
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=RT_com&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-4&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1355209922078674944&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fusa%2F514079-clinesmith-sentence-fbi-russiagate%2F&siteScreenName=RT_com&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
Democrats, who spent the past four years insisting that "no one is above the law" and that Trump must be investigated for an array of suspected crimes, did not comment.
ALSO ON RT.COM Pro-Trump 'WalkAway' campaign founder Brandon Straka arrested by FBI on federal charges linked to Capitol riot
|
|
|
Jan 28, 2021 | www.nakedcapitalism.com
Mikerw0 , January 27, 2021 at 7:33 am
I highly recommend this in the Atlantic on the topic. It is worth reading through.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/how-early-trump-supporters-feel-now/617815/
We live in upscale Westchester, NY, just north of Manhattan. Most of our social circles are highly educated, high income earners with advanced degrees -- MBAs, lawyers, doctors. Of those that subscribe to these theories our general sense is that it is driven by either --
1) Anti immigrant sentiment, despite almost all of them being descendants of Jewish immigrants
2) Anti tax -- this is a big driver
3) Anti government -- classic neoliberalists if that is a term of art
4) They get their news from Fox and or CNBC (which has become a Fox-like spin on things)They claim to abhor Trump, are clearly anti populist, very pro Israel (Trump scores major points here) but support all the policies (but they are not anti abortion). Interestingly, as they earn their incomes serving the wealthy donor class they will not risk this and cross them.
They view Biden and Sanders as being alike, despite any actual facts you cite such as Biden's work in bankruptcy, think the democrats are anti Israel and pro Palestinian, etc. Much of this dates back to Obama and the claims he was going to transfer all the money to the welfare queens -- remember the give them free cell phones.
Interestingly, they clash heavily with their children (upper teens to 20-somethings) who more align with Sanders and progressives and are very concerned about wealth inequality and climate change.
One last point, they are as inclined to get their news from Facebook feeds as Fox.
|
|
|
Jan 27, 2021 | nationalinterest.org
There is no singular "opposition" for Washington to support -- no unified alternative ideology, least of all one palatable to the West, to replace the current Russian state and institutions.
|
|
|
Jan 27, 2021 | www.reuters.com
Jailed Kremlin foe Navalny being used by West to destabilise Russia: Putin ally
By Reuters Staff
3 MIN READ
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is being used by the West to try to destabilise Russia, a prominent hardliner and ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, saying he must be held to account for repeatedly breaking the law.
Slideshow ( 2 images ) Navalny was remanded in custody for 30 days last week after returning from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning. He could face years in jail for parole violations and other legal cases he calls trumped up.
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council, called for Navalny to face the full force of the law in comments that offered a glimpse into the mood inside Russia's security establishment after tens of thousands of Navalny's supporters protested against his jailing on Saturday.
"He (Navalny), this figure, has repeatedly (and) grossly broken Russian legislation, engaging in fraud concerning large amounts (of money). And as a citizen of Russia he must bear responsibility for his illegal activity in line with the law," Patrushev told the Argumenty i Fakty media outlet.
ADVERTISEMENT
"The West needs this figure to destabilise the situation in Russia, for social upheaval, strikes and new Maidans," Patrushev said, in a reference to the 2014 revolution in Ukraine that ousted a Moscow-backed president.
When asked about Patrushev's comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was up to a court to make further decisions in the opposition politician's case and that it was not a matter for the Kremlin.
Navalny faces a court hearing on Feb.2.
RELATED COVERAGE
G7 calls for peaceful Navalny protesters to be released by RussiaPolice detained more than 3,700 people on Saturday as protesters called on the Kremlin to release Navalny. The Kremlin said the protests were illegal.
Peskov on Tuesday said there could be no dialogue with illegal protesters, accusing them of behaving aggressively and of using what he called unprecedented violence against the police.
He said incidences of police violence against protesters, some of which were captured on video, were far fewer and being investigated.
ADVERTISEMENT
In a sign that Russian authorities may crack down hard after the protests, the Kommersant newspaper on Tuesday cited unnamed security sources as saying they may open a criminal investigation that would treat the demonstrations as "mass unrest".
The West has called for Navalny's release, but the European Union has said it will refrain from fresh sanctions on Russian individuals if Moscow releases Navalny after 30 days.
|
|
|
Jan 27, 2021 | www.rt.com
News outlets and campaign groups that get cash from overseas could be prevented from spending money in Russia under proposals put forward by an influential Moscow think tank.
RT obtained a copy of the proposal, addressed to Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev on Wednesday. Developed by Anton Orlov, director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Politics, the draft regulations would effectively ban groups that are registered as "foreign agents" from making financial payments to individuals.
Orlov claims in his statement that one such organization has been demonstrated to have "organized unauthorized street political actions in Russian cities." He added: "At the same time, representatives of the organization disseminated information on social networks and in the media that they were ready to pay the fines of citizens received as a result of committing offenses at these events."
It is unclear how this would affect the ability of these groups to pay their staff in Russia.
ALSO ON RT.COM 'Register and keep working': Russia's 'foreign agents' law protects from outside meddling, doesn't infringe on anyone, Putin saysA number of organizations have been labeled as foreign agents under government rules, because they receive significant proportions of their funding from abroad, predominately from Western governments. Among them are US state-run media outlets Voice of America and RFE/RL, as well as the opposition-leaning Moscow-based Levada Center.
READ MOREInfluential Russian senator Klimov accuses foreign spooks of helping to organize weekend protests in support of Navalny
In March last year, President Vladimir Putin defended the law, comparing it to equivalent measures in the US and arguing that it "exists simply to protect Russia from external meddling in its politics."
"Nobody's rights are being infringed on here whatsoever. There is nothing that runs counter to international practice," he added.
One of the country's most senior parliamentarians, Senator Andrey Klimov, told Rossiya-1 news channel on Sunday that the street protests organized in support of jailed opposition figure Alexey Navalny last weekend had been orchestrated from outside the country. "The Senatorial Commission has reason to believe that all these activities are clearly traced to the actions of foreign states, and it is all happening with the assistance of foreign specialists," he told the broadcaster.
A number of organizations have been labeled as foreign agents under government rules, because they receive significant proportions of their funding from abroad, predominately from Western governments. Among them are US state-run media outlets Voice of America and RFE/RL, as well as the opposition-leaning Moscow-based Levada Center.
READ MOREIn March last year, President Vladimir Putin defended the law, comparing it to equivalent measures in the US and arguing that it "exists simply to protect Russia from external meddling in its politics."
"Nobody's rights are being infringed on here whatsoever. There is nothing that runs counter to international practice," he added.
One of the country's most senior parliamentarians, Senator Andrey Klimov, told Rossiya-1 news channel on Sunday that the street protests organized in support of jailed opposition figure Alexey Navalny last weekend had been orchestrated from outside the country. "The Senatorial Commission has reason to believe that all these activities are clearly traced to the actions of foreign states, and it is all happening with the assistance of foreign specialists," he told the broadcaster.
Dachaguy 3 hours ago 27 Jan, 2021 09:57 AM
America used their weaponized dollar to fund mercenaries in Syria and we all saw the result of that. Russia has a duty to prevent that type of attack against Russia. America's Achilles' Heel is the US dollar, so cutting off its use by foreign agents to fund nefarious activities is a good place to start.Count_Cash 3 hours ago 27 Jan, 2021 10:44 AMNot enough - its time to send the diplomatic note to western countries that Russia considers itself under attack by Western powers through an info war. Then it should close all foreign media and campaign groups over night. It cannot be the case that enemy spying posts and combatants are allowed on Russian soil during conflict!
|
|
|
Jan 26, 2021 | off-guardian.org
oe Biden enters the White House with an entourage of faces very familiar to OffGuardian, and many of those readers who have been with us since the beginning.
Glassy-eyed Jen Psaki is once again taking the White House press briefings. Victoria "Fuck the EU" Nuland is going to be secretary of state, and Samantha Power is hoisted back onto a platform from which she can berate the rest of the world for not following America's "moral example" by bombing Syria back to the stone age.
It was the machinations of these people – along with Biden as VP, John Kerry as Secretary of State and of course Barack Obama leading the charge – that lead to the coup in Ukraine, the war in Donbass and – indirectly – the creation of this website. For it was our comments on the Guardian telling this truth that got everyone here banned, multiple times.
So, for us, pointing out cold-war style propaganda is like slipping back into a comfy pair of shoes.
A good thing too, because with this coterie of neocon-style warmongers comes another familiar friend: the propaganda war on Putin's Russia. Throughout the media and on every front, all within hours of Biden's inauguration.
Now, anti-Russia nonsense didn't go away while Trump was President – if anything it became deranged to the point of literal insanity in many quarters – but it definitely quietened down in the last 12 months, with the outbreak of the "pandemic".
No more! Now we're back to good old-fashioned cold-war craziness. The media tell us that Russia was a "spectre that loomed over Trump's presidency" , that one of the Capitol Hill rioters intended to "sell Nancy Pelosi's laptop to Russia" and other such brazen hysteria.
Of course underneath the standard pot-stirring propaganda to keep the "new cold war" on the boil, there is the Navalny narrative. An incredibly contrived piece of political theatre that may even evolve into a full-on attempt at regime change in Moscow.
For starters, three days before Biden's inauguration, Alexei Navalny (having supposedly only just survived the poison the FSB placed "in his underpants" ), returned to Russia. Where he was promptly arrested for violating the terms of his bail .
He knew he would be arrested if he returned to Russia, so his doing so was pure theatre. That fact is only underlined by the media's reaction to his 30 day jail sentence.
Yes, that's thirty DAYS, not years. He'll be out before spring. Even if he's convicted of the numerous charges of embezzlement and fraud, he faces only 3 years in prison.
Nevertheless, already the familiar Russia-baiters in the media are comparing him to Nelson Mandela .
On the same day as Biden's inauguration, the European Parliament announced that Russia should be punished for arresting Navalny, by having the Nordstream 2 pipeline project closed down . (Closing this pipeline down would open up the European market to buy US gas, instead of Russia. This is a complete coincidence).
And then, the day after Biden's inauguration, the European Court of Human Rights announced they had found Russia guilty of war crimes during the 5-day war in South Ossetia in 2008. The report was subject to a gleeful (and terrible) write-up by (who else?) Luke Harding. (Why they waited 13 years to make this announcement remains a mystery)
It doesn't stop there, already Western pundits and Russian "celebrities" are trying to encourage street protests in support of Alexei Navalny. An anonymous Guardian editorial states Navalny's "bravery needs backing" , whatever that means.
All of this could mean Biden is "forced" to "change his mind" and pull out of the re-signing of the anti-nuclear weapons treaty . Ooops.
But are there bigger aims behind this as well? Do they hope they can create another Maidan but this time in Moscow? That would be insane, but you can't rule it out.
One thing is for sure, though; they work fast. Less than two days in office, and we've already got a new colour revolution kicking off. Speedy work.
Reply
captain spam , Jan 25, 2021 7:33 PM
As McFaul said recently, we must combat Putin! His support for traditional Christian family values is an absolutely intolerable threat to the liberal international order!! What we desperately need is non stop gay anal sex for everybody, especially children, non stop free abortions for sluts, and as many child trannies as possible!!! We must force through this progressive enlightened agenda everywhere!!!!
Bob , Jan 25, 2021 4:15 PM
The overthrow crew is back in business. They will continue chipping away at the old USSR. Belarus seems pretty ripe, though under Trump CIA failed at the overthrow earlier this year. But with Victoria Nuland and gang in there we will see a real push to dismantle Russia and China. Also watch for Islamic terror in Xinjiang in Western China with CIA sponsored Uygher militants. Jan 24, 2021 6:18 AM
For people who prefer information to propaganda, a little ethnographic insight into the reality of life in Russia, courtesy of Dr Jeremy Morris:
NORMAN R PILON , Jan 24, 2021 4:13 AM
If it's a CIA only operation, Russians are obviously incredibly gullible and impressionable, and in surprisingly huge numbers (and this is only one brief snapshot of what apparently is happening across 11 time zones):
https://twitter.com/i/status/1352910616604925953
Yup, I'd say there's at least a couple of dozens of people who came together in that show of discontent toward a government that, if not exactly among the ranks of this particular riff-raff, is hugely popular.
And then there are these CIA trained Russian provocateurs caught on video:
captain spam , Jan 23, 2021 10:27 PM
Navalny has heroically returned to Russia after the dastardly Putins hapless goons Novichoked his tea/ water bottle/ underpants* delete as appropriate. But at least we are now seeing the truth emerge from completely impartial and wholly credible CIA funded sources like the Victims Of Communism Foundation. Now we know the horrific facts about 300 million Weegers and 500 million Georgians being turned into soap and lamp shades. We must nuke Putins dacha immediately. Show him we mean business. Its a typical underhand trick of the evil Vlad, genociding millions of people without leaving any evidence. Further proof of his guilt, if any were needed.
Charlie , Jan 23, 2021 8:08 PM
Just running a theory by you all, was the Ukraine colour revolution a response to Russian push-back on the WMD narrative in Syria and Obama's red line that failed the sniff test (that's bleach, not chloride gas)? Mess in our back yard and we'll mess in yours. If so Putin handled it very well, all things considered, ended up more secure than before, in spite of everything.
slorter , Jan 23, 2021 8:21 PM Reply to Charlie
America,s aim after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1990 was to split Russia apart gut it and subdue it! Playing silly buggers on Russia's border would have happened no matter what! The globalists want complete control! Georgia Chechnya are other examples of globalist interference. China is getting the same treatment.
niko , Jan 23, 2021 8:01 PM
Duck and cover the Russians are coming! Prelude to false flag cyberterrorism and the dark winter? Whatever comes next, we need to start fighting the real enemy.
"Whether the mask is labeled fascism, democracy, or dictatorship of the proletariat, our great adversary remains the apparatus -- the bureaucracy, the police, the military. Not the one facing us across the frontier of the battle lines, which is not so much our enemy as our brothers' enemy, but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this apparatus and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others." -Simone Weil
Charlie , Jan 23, 2021 7:51 PM
Did anyone catch that interview Aaron Mate did with Luke Harding? Think it was while Aaron was still with the real news. Poor old Luke thought he was talking to a confirmed Democrat and Aaron took his piece of shit book on Russia 2016 to pieces, well worth a look if it's still up.
Guy , Jan 23, 2021 7:44 PM
"But are there bigger aims behind this as well? Do they hope they can create another Maidan but this time in Moscow? That would be insane, but you can't rule it out."
The Western media propaganda machine IS insane . Jealousy in big bold letters because Russia , Russia seems to be doing quite well economically ,regardless of Western media machinations.
Victor G. , Jan 24, 2021 2:09 PM Reply to Guy
Mercuns would love to rerun Maidan. I don't think they have the numbers in Rooskia though. Division, internal conflict, confusion that will have to do for the short term.
dr death , Jan 24, 2021 3:42 PM Reply to Victor G.
indeed but burger-on-a- bagel land has got plenty of its own now
the thrashing bankrupt golem is about to have its own yeltsin 'moment'..just lining up the ducks
now where did I put that novichok, I mean icing sugar, I mean mrs mays concealer.
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2021 | www.rt.com
McFaul cautions against what he refers to as "Putin's ideological project" as a threat to the neoliberal international order. Yet he is reluctant to recognize that the neoliberal international order is an American ideological project for the post-Cold War era.
READ MORE: With no sign of US returning to fold, Russia is preparing to withdraw from 'Open Skies' treaty - Foreign Ministry
After the Cold War, neoliberal ideologues advanced what was seemingly a benign proposition – suggesting that neoliberal democracy should be at the center of security strategies. However, by linking neoliberal norms to US leadership, neoliberalism became both a constitutional principle and an international hegemonic norm.
NATO is presented as a community of neoliberal values – without mentioning that its second largest member, Turkey, is more conservative and authoritarian than Russia – and Moscow does not, therefore, have any legitimate reasons to oppose expansionism unless it fears democracy. If Russia reacts negatively to military encirclement, it is condemned as an enemy of democracy, and NATO has a moral responsibility to revert to its original mission as a military bloc containing Russia.
Case in point: there was nobody in Moscow advocating for the reunification with Crimea until the West supported the coup in Ukraine. Yet, as Western "fact checkers" and McFaul inform us, there was a "democratic revolution" and not a coup. Committed to his ideological prism, McFaul suggests that Russia acted out of a fear of having a democracy on its borders, as it would give hope to Russians and thus threaten the Kremlin. McFaul's ideological lens masks conflicting national security interests, and it fails to explain why Russia does not mind democratic neighbors in the east, such as South Korea and Japan, with whom it enjoys good relations.
Defending the peoplesStates aspiring for global hegemony have systemic incentives to embrace ideologies that endow them with the right to defend other peoples. The French National Convention declared in 1792 that France would "come to the aid of all peoples who are seeking to recover their liberty," and the Bolsheviks proclaimed in 1917 "the duty to render assistance, armed, if necessary, to the fighting proletariat of the other countries."
The American neoliberal international order similarly aims to liberate the people of the world with "democracy promotion" and "humanitarian interventionism" when it conveniently advances US primacy. The American ideological project infers that democracy is advanced by US interference in the domestic affairs of Russia, while democracy is under attack if Russia interferes in the domestic affairs of US. The neoliberal international system is one of sovereign inequality to advance global primacy.
READ MOREPutin says American presence in Afghanistan is beneficial to Moscow's interests, rubbishes claims of 'Russian bounties to Taliban'
McFaul does not consider himself a Russophobe, as believes his attacks against Russia are merely motivated by the objective of liberating Russians from their government, which is why he advocates that Biden "distinguish between Russia and Russians – between Putin and the Russian people." This has been the modus operandi for regime change since the end of the Cold War – the US supposedly does not attack countries to advance its interests, it only altruistically assists foreign peoples in rival states against their leaders such as Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin etc.
McFaul and other neoliberal ideologues still refer to NATO as a "defensive alliance," which does not make much sense after the attacks on Yugoslavia in 1999 or Libya in 2011. However, under the auspices of neoliberal internationalism, NATO is defensive, as it defends the people of the world. Russia, therefore, doesn't have rational reasons for opposing the neoliberal international order.
McFaul condemns alleged efforts by Russia to interfere in the domestic affairs of the US, before outlining his strategies for interfering in the domestic affairs of Russia. McFaul blames Russian paranoia for shutting down American "non-governmental organizations" that are funded by the US government and staffed by people linked to the US security apparatus. He goes on to explain that the US government must counter this by establishing new "non-government organizations" to educate the Russian public about the evils of their government.
The dangerous appeal of ideologuesIdeologues have always been dangerous to international security. Ideologies of human freedom tend to promise perpetual peace. Yet, instead of transcending power politics, the ideals of human freedom are linked directly to hegemonic power by the self-proclaimed defender of the ideology. When ideologues firmly believe that the difference between the current volatile world and utopia can be bridged by defeating its opponents, it legitimizes radical power politics.
Consequently, there is no sense of irony among the McFauls of the world as US security strategy is committed to global dominance, while berating Russia for "revisionism." Raymond Aaron once wrote: "Idealistic diplomacy slips too often into fanaticism; it divides states into good and evil, into peace-loving and bellicose. It envisions a permanent peace by the punishment of the latter and the triumph of the former. The idealist, believing he has broken with power politics, exaggerates its crimes."
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
Ghanima223 2 days ago 22 Jan, 2021 09:36 AM
In short, the tables have turned since the end of the Cold War. It is no longer communist ideologues that try to export revolution and chaos while the western world would promote stability and free markets. Now it's western ideologues that are trying to export revolutions and chaos while clamping down on free markets with Russia, as ironically as it sounds, being a force for stability and a strong proponent for the free exchange of goods and services around the world. The west will lose just as the USSR has lost.US_did_911 Ghanima223 1 day ago 23 Jan, 2021 01:01 AMThe Dollar is the only fake reason that still keeps US afloat. The moment that goes, it loss will be a lot worse then of USSR.US_did_911 Ghanima223 1 day ago 23 Jan, 2021 12:58 AMThat happened not exactly after the end of the cold war. It was about even for a decade after that. The real u-turn happened after the 9/11 false flag disaster.Amvet 2 days ago 22 Jan, 2021 10:00 AMForeign dangers are necessary to keep the attention of the American people away from the 20 ton elephant in the room--the fact that 9/11 was not a foreign attack. Should any of the main stream media suddenly turn honest and report this in detail, things will get interesting.King_Penda 2 days ago 22 Jan, 2021 09:11 AMI wouldn't worry too much. At the same time Biden will be purging the US military of any men of capability and replacing them trans and political appointments. The traditional areas where the military recruited it's grunts are falling as they are waking up to the hostility of the state to their culture and way of life. The US military will end up a rump of queerss, off work due to stress or perceived persecution and fat doughballs sat in warehouses performing drone strikes on goats.Fjack1415 King_Penda 1 day ago 23 Jan, 2021 01:20 PMYes, you point to a paradox. While the globalists are using the US as their military arm for global domination, they are at the same time destroying the country that supports that military. Perhaps the US military will be maintained by dint of its being the only employer for millions of unemployed young men in the American heartland, doughballs or not.Ghanima223 King_Penda 2 days ago 22 Jan, 2021 09:39 AMIdeologues will always be more concerned with having political reliable military leadership as opposed to actually qualified leaders. It took the Russians 2 decades to purge their own military of this filth of incompetent 'yes' men within their military.UKCitizen 2 days ago 22 Jan, 2021 09:09 AM'The Liberal International Order' - yes, that seems a fair description. Led by what might be termed 'liberal fundamentalists'.far_cough 1 day ago 23 Jan, 2021 07:01 AMthe military industrial complex and the various deep state agencies along with the major corporations need russia as an adversary so that they can milk the american people and the people of the western world of their money, rights, freedoms, etc etc...roby007 2 days ago 22 Jan, 2021 09:54 AMI'm sure Biden will pursue "peaceful, productive coexistence" just as his friend Obama did, with drones and bombs.Paul Citro 2 days ago 22 Jan, 2021 09:16 AMI hope that Russian leaders fully realize that they are dealing with a country that is the equivalent of psychotic.Fjack1415 Paul Citro 1 day ago 23 Jan, 2021 01:26 PMTrue, the ruling party and MSM mouthpieces and their readers and followers are now truly INSANE. Beyond redemption. Staggering in the depth and power of the subversion of so many people, including many with high IQs (like my ex girlfriend and housemate in the US).Anastasia Deko 2 days ago 22 Jan, 2021 10:57 AMtyke2939 Anastasia Deko 2 days ago 22 Jan, 2021 01:07 PMUS security strategy is committed to global dominanceAbsolutely. Biden has filled up his admin with "progressive realists," which when it comes to foreign policy, is just a euphuism for neocons and their lust for world empire. So expect an unleashing of forces in the coming two years that will finally humble America's war machine.They are desperate for a war with someone but it must be someone they can beat convincingly. It certainly will not be Russia or China and I suspect Iran will be a huge battle even with Israel s backing. More than likely they will invade some country like Venezuela as Syria has Russia covering its back. What a dilemma who to fight.9/11 Truther Anastasia Deko 2 days ago 22 Jan, 2021 11:24 AMThe "American war machine" has been humbled from Saigon, Vietnam 1975 to Kabul, Afghanistan.Salmigoni 2 days ago 22 Jan, 2021 09:25 AMThey are not really liberals. They are blood thirsty parasitic neoconservative fascist war mongers working for the Pentagon contractors. General Eisenhower warned us about these evil people. A lot of Americans still do not get it.
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2021 | www.unz.com
Beckow , says: Next New Comment January 24, 2021 at 4:32 pm GMT • 6.4 hours ago
@annamaria or wish it well – and everyone knows that.Robjil , says: January 24, 2021 at 5:52 pm GMT • 5.1 hours agoHe must know this. He must also know that his electoral prospects are nil – even if he was allowed to compete and given access. Short of a revolution he is done, and revolution is not coming, too soon. That is not a good place to be. He is in theory protected by his sponsors, but that may not amount to much if things get hot. At best he would get exchanged. Or he can quietly slip away after a few years if he is lucky.
Mulatto did his job, now mulatto can go. A single-use politician who is endlessly promoted, celebrated, and then discarded and forgotten, only to be listed on a sad list of names to demonise the enemy. That enemy is his own country, is that really heroism?
@annamaria by them.TheIdiot , says: Next New Comment January 24, 2021 at 6:36 pm GMT • 4.3 hours agoHe is a nationalist like the Maiden. Maiden in power promoted with violence anti-Russian hysteria. This action created a civil war since a large part of Ukraine are Russian speakers.
Navalny, if in power, would do something similar as in Ukraine. Act as a Nationalist of only the Russians in the Russian Federation. Get all the other peoples of the Russian Federation to break away or stir up a civil war.
Within a few years, put in place Zion/USA puppets like Poroshenko and Zelensky. Look at the recent Ukrainegate Impeachment trial, almost everyone supporting Ukrainegate trial was Jewish, even the Ukrainians in this sham trial. .
annamaria , says: Next New Comment January 24, 2021 at 7:03 pm GMT • 3.9 hours agoThis is not about bringing down Putin but about dismembering Russia and ending its sovereignty
The easiest proxy here is the 1990s campaign against Milosevic (the campaign) as a tool to dismember Yugoslavia
Russia is too rich, too week and is refusing to surrender, hence it will be divided between and
Absorbed on one side by China and on the other side/s by USA and EUSA
The initial planning for disintegration of Russia was drafted in the NSC directive in 1948
West of Russia to Urals will be absorbed by EU/(Germany)
East of Russia to Yenisei will be controlled by US/(Japan)
China will take over hte greatest price – everything between Urals and YeniseiPutin with his United Russia/One Russia Party is a major obstacle to the master plan and
will therefore
be eliminated
whether one likes it or not@Beckow s.Beckow , says: Next New Comment January 24, 2021 at 9:52 pm GMT • 1.1 hours ago
After being a popular dissident for some time, Mr. Khdorkovsky is finally looked upon as a crook and murderer. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-khodorkovsky-arrest/russia-wants-khodorkovsky-arrested-abroad-on-murder-charges-idUSKBN0U60PO20151223 .
Mr. Khodorkovsky, a very wealthy Jewish man, is accused of crimes committed during the lawless years of Yeltsin's regime. By supporting Mr. Navalny and Mr. Khodorskovsky, the western presstituting apparatus reminds the world about the fate of Julian Assange, imprisoned by the western injustice system for honest journalism.@annamaria from his sponsors are of little use in his current situation.I find the Western coverage of this affair absurdly propagandistic. A few things are never mentioned:
– what was Navalny convicted off – fraud
– that he is not by any stretch of imagination the "opposition" leader – his party has not reached even 5% required to be represented in the parliament
There is also an omission of why Russia claims "interference" – because US Embassy published the routes for the demos. And many of the demonstrators are paid one way on another by the West – if the situation was reversed, liberals would call for a war (as they basically did with Trump's allegations).
Assange for Navalny would be a win-win.
|
|
|
Jan 24, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
BY TYLER DURDEN FRIDAY, JAN 22, 2021 - 22:20
Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,
An academic study carried out by researchers in the US and Germany has concluded that big-tech elites are completely different to all other people on the planet, and can be placed in their own class.
"Our research contributes to closing a research gap in societies with rising inequalities," note the authors of the study from two German universities and the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies in New York.
The research centres around analysing language used in close to 50,000 tweets and other online statements by 100 of the richest tech-elites as listed by Forbes.
The researchers conclude that big-tech elites such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates display a 'meritocratic' worldview, meaning they do not see wealth as a source of their influence or success, but rather believe their innate abilities and more altruistic beliefs have enabled them to achieve power.
"We find that the 100 richest members of the tech world reveal distinctive attitudes that set them apart both from the general population and from other wealthy elites," the study states.
The findings reveal that big-tech elites consistently talk about believing in democracy, being philanthropic, and helping make the world a better place for other people.
"Yet their position in a democratic system is contradictory – as a result of their enormous wealth, they have disproportionate influence over how discretionary income is spent," the researchers note.
The researchers found that language used by the tech-elites regularly includes words such as 'merit', 'distinct', 'excellent', 'value', 'virtue', 'advantage', 'superiority', 'worth', 'perfect', 'important' and 'significant'.
https://lockerdome.com/lad/13084989113709670?pubid=ld-dfp-ad-13084989113709670-0&pubo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com&rid=www.zerohedge.com&width=511
The researchers also note that:
"The tech elite may be thought of as a 'class for itself' in Marx's sense – a social group that shares particular views of the world, which in this case means meritocratic, missionary, and inconsistent democratic ideology."
The researchers noted that the study had limitations, ironically owing to the fact that they were not able to access language used by all the top 100 tech-elites because Twitter is banned in China.
The Twitter accounts they were able to access could also be managed by PR professionals and are obviously public projections of how the tech elites want to be thought of by the public at large, therefore the language used may be 'strategic'.
Nevertheless, the findings go some way to explaining why big-tech elites are so inclined to censor and de-platform those who hold world views at odds with their own.
ay_arrow
josie0802 12 hours ago remove link
LetThemEatRand 18 hours ago remove linkBig Tech feeds on narcissist tendencies in people. As long as you engage you are part of the problem. Once you leave you might be part of the solution.
BluCapitalist PREMIUM 18 hours ago remove linkIronically, most of history's psychopaths were nerds before they gained power. If you want a basic psychology lesson, they have an axe to grind.
in4mayshun 17 hours ago (Edited) remove linkAlso grandiosity. Their wealth is self fulfilling. Hitler thought the same of himself
Agreed. Deep down they know how pathetic they are. Even more sad is that they aren't even smart enough to make their own billions; These technologies were entrusted to them in exchange for selling out humanity.
|
|
|
Jan 22, 2021 | www.rt.com
By Glenn Diesen , Professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway, and an editor at the Russia in Global Affairs journal. Follow him on Twitter @glenndiesen
Donald Trump's efforts to reduce the ideologically driven base of US foreign policy fuelled great resentment among those who believed it betrayed Washington's leadership position in the so-called "liberal international order."
Now that power has changed, will the pendulum swing in the opposite direction, with Joe Biden's administration applying a radical ideological foreign policy?
A recent article by Michael McFaul, once Barack Obama's ambassador to Russia and a noted 'Russiagate' conspiracy theorist, indicates what such an ideological foreign policy would look like. McFaul's article, 'How to Contain Putin's Russia', makes a case for a containment policy.
Containment: learning from the past or living in the past?To advance his argument, McFaul quotes George Kennan, the author of the Long Telegram and architect of erstwhile US containment policy against the Soviet Union. McFaul suggests that Kennan's advocacy for a "patient but firm and vigilant containment" against the revolutionary Bolshevik regime 75 years ago remains as valid as ever.
It would have made more sense to quote Kennan when he condemned NATO expansionism and predicted it would trigger another Cold War. As Kennan noted: "there was no reason for this whatsoever. No one was threatening anybody else. This expansion would make the Founding Fathers of this country turn over in their graves."
Kennan continued to express disbelief over the rhetoric by the misinformed US leadership, presenting "Russia as a country dying to attack Western Europe. Don't people understand? Our differences in the Cold War were with the Soviet Communist regime. And now we are turning our backs on the very people who mounted the greatest bloodless revolution in history to remove that Soviet regime." Kennan then went on to correctly predict that, when Russia would eventually react to US provocations, the NATO expanders would wrongfully blame Russia.
ALSO ON RT.COM Biden hopes for 5-year extension of New START nuclear treaty while seeking to demonize Russia for 'hacking, meddling & bounties'Ideologues often have nostalgia for the Cold War, when the bipolar power distribution was supported by a clear and comfortable ideological divide. The Western bloc represented capitalism, Christianity, and democracy, while the Eastern bloc represented communism, atheism, and authoritarianism. This ideological divide supported internal cohesion within the Western bloc and drew clear borders with the adversary.
The liberal international order has attempted to recast the former capitalist-communist divide with a liberal-authoritarian divide. However, the ideological incompatibility between American liberalism and Russian conservatism is less convincing. For example, McFaul cautions against Putin's nefarious conservative ideology committed to "Christian, traditional family values" that threatens the liberal international order.
The new ideological divide nonetheless advances neo-McCarthyism in the West. McFaul presents a list of European conservatives and populists that should be treated as American conservatives, purged from political life as enemies of the liberal international order and thus possible agents of Russia. Hillary Clinton even suggested that the Capitol Hill riots were possibly coordinated by Trump and Putin – yes, Russiagate is here to stay. The solution, for McFaul, is for American tech oligarchs to manipulate algorithms to protect populations from Russian-friendly media.
An American ideological projectMcFaul cautions against what he refers to as "Putin's ideological project" as a threat to the liberal international order. Yet he is reluctant to recognize that the liberal international order is an American ideological project for the post-Cold War era.
READ MORE: With no sign of US returning to fold, Russia is preparing to withdraw from 'Open Skies' treaty - Foreign MinistryAfter the Cold War, liberal ideologues advanced what was seemingly a benign proposition – suggesting that liberal democracy should be at the center of security strategies. However, by linking liberal norms to US leadership, liberalism became both a constitutional principle and an international hegemonic norm.
NATO is presented as a community of liberal values – without mentioning that its second largest member, Turkey, is more conservative and authoritarian than Russia – and Moscow does not, therefore, have any legitimate reasons to oppose expansionism unless it fears democracy. If Russia reacts negatively to military encirclement, it is condemned as an enemy of democracy, and NATO has a moral responsibility to revert to its original mission as a military bloc containing Russia.
Case in point: there was nobody in Moscow advocating for the reunification with Crimea until the West supported the coup in Ukraine. Yet, as Western "fact checkers" and McFaul inform us, there was a "democratic revolution" and not a coup. Committed to his ideological prism, McFaul suggests that Russia acted out of a fear of having a democracy on its borders, as it would give hope to Russians and thus threaten the Kremlin. McFaul's ideological lens masks conflicting national security interests, and it fails to explain why Russia does not mind democratic neighbors in the east, such as South Korea and Japan, with whom it enjoys good relations.
Defending the peoplesStates aspiring for global hegemony have systemic incentives to embrace ideologies that endow them with the right to defend other peoples. The French National Convention declared in 1792 that France would "come to the aid of all peoples who are seeking to recover their liberty," and the Bolsheviks proclaimed in 1917 "the duty to render assistance, armed, if necessary, to the fighting proletariat of the other countries."
The American liberal international order similarly aims to liberate the people of the world with "democracy promotion" and "humanitarian interventionism" when it conveniently advances US primacy. The American ideological project infers that democracy is advanced by US interference in the domestic affairs of Russia, while democracy is under attack if Russia interferes in the domestic affairs of US. The liberal international system is one of sovereign inequality to advance global primacy.
READ MORE Putin says American presence in Afghanistan is beneficial to Moscow's interests, rubbishes claims of 'Russian bounties to Taliban'McFaul does not consider himself a Russophobe, as believes his attacks against Russia are merely motivated by the objective of liberating Russians from their government, which is why he advocates that Biden "distinguish between Russia and Russians – between Putin and the Russian people." This has been the modus operandi for regime change since the end of the Cold War – the US supposedly does not attack countries to advance its interests, it only altruistically assists foreign peoples in rival states against their leaders such as Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin etc.
McFaul and other liberal ideologues still refer to NATO as a "defensive alliance," which does not make much sense after the attacks on Yugoslavia in 1999 or Libya in 2011. However, under the auspices of liberal internationalism, NATO is defensive, as it defends the people of the world. Russia, therefore, doesn't have rational reasons for opposing the liberal international order.
McFaul condemns alleged efforts by Russia to interfere in the domestic affairs of the US, before outlining his strategies for interfering in the domestic affairs of Russia. McFaul blames Russian paranoia for shutting down American "non-governmental organizations" that are funded by the US government and staffed by people linked to the US security apparatus. He goes on to explain that the US government must counter this by establishing new "non-government organizations" to educate the Russian public about the evils of their government.
The dangerous appeal of ideologuesIdeologues have always been dangerous to international security. Ideologies of human freedom tend to promise perpetual peace. Yet, instead of transcending power politics, the ideals of human freedom are linked directly to hegemonic power by the self-proclaimed defender of the ideology. When ideologues firmly believe that the difference between the current volatile world and utopia can be bridged by defeating its opponents, it legitimizes radical power politics.
Consequently, there is no sense of irony among the McFauls of the world as US security strategy is committed to global dominance, while berating Russia for "revisionism."
Raymond Aaron once wrote: "Idealistic diplomacy slips too often into fanaticism; it divides states into good and evil, into peace-loving and bellicose. It envisions a permanent peace by the punishment of the latter and the triumph of the former. The idealist, believing he has broken with power politics, exaggerates its crimes."
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
|
|
|
Jan 21, 2021 | off-guardian.org
THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF CAPITULATESThe Trump Era is over after the incumbent announced in the day after Wednesday's storming of the US Capitol that "My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power", which was widely interpreted by friends and foes alike as the tacit concession that he previously promised never to provide a little more than 24 hours prior during his speech at the Save America Rally .
At that event, he literally said that "We will never give up. We will never concede, it doesn't happen. You don't concede when there's theft involved", yet completely changed his tune following the day's tumultuous events and after mysteriously "going dark" for over 24 hours, during which time some speculate that he was forced by his enemies in the permanent military, intelligence, and diplomatic bureaucracies (" deep state ") to give up the fight.
BETRAYING HIS BASEThis totally devastated his supporters who elected him primarily for the purpose of executing his chief promise to "drain the swamp" that all of them so deeply despise. They truly believed that he could irreversibly effect significant long-term change to the way that America is run, something which Trump himself also sincerely thought he could do as well, but he ultimately lacked the strength time and again to take the decisive steps that were necessary in order to do so.
Thus, he ended up getting swallowed by the same "swamp" that he attempted to drain, which is licking its lips after feasting on the political carcass that he's since become as a result of his capitulation. For as much hope as he inspired in his supporters and the respect that many of them still have for him, most of them are profoundly disappointed that he gave up and didn't go down fighting.
That's not to say that the vast majority of them expected him to forcefully resist Biden's impending inauguration, but just that they never thought they'd see the day where he publicly capitulated after carefully cultivating such a convincing reputation among them as a fighter who literally said a little more than 24 hours prior that "We will never give up. We will never concede, it just doesn't happen."
This prompted an ongoing soul-searching process among the most sober-minded of them who aren't indoctrinated with the cultish Q-Anon claims that Trump still has a so-called "master plan" that he's preparing to implement after this latest "5D chess" move. It's over, the Trump Era has ended, and the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) movement that he inspired is now at risk of being declared a " domestic terrorist " organization in the coming future.
TRUMP'S MOST FATAL POLITICAL MISCALCULATION" Biden's America Would Be A Dystopian Hellhole ", like the author predicted a few months ago, and all of Trump's supporters know that. Some had already resigned themselves to its seeming inevitability after his efforts to legally reverse the contested results of the latest elections failed for a variety of reasons that most of them attribute to the "swamp's" corruption, but they nevertheless remained as positive as possible after having believed that their hero would go down with them to the end.
None ever thought twice about his promise to "never give up, never concede", and they even expected him to have to be escorted from the White House on 20 January, yet his tacit concession is forcing many of them to re-evaluate their views about him in hindsight. Not only is he going out with a whimper on the "deep state's" terms, but he never fully "drained the swamp".
Trump's most fatal political miscalculation is that he thought that he could change the system from the "inside-out" after symbolically -- yet importantly, not substantively -- taking control of it as America's first modern-day "outsider" President. He immediately switched from an "outsider" to an "insider" shortly after his inauguration by capitulating to the "deep state's" demands that he fire former National Security Advisor Flynn, which was his "original sin" that paved the way for all that would later follow.
Trump the self-professed "deal-maker" thought that he could strike a "compromise" with his enemies through these means, but all that he did was embolden them to intensify their fake news-driven efforts to oust him and continue sabotaging him from within through many of the same "swamp" creatures that he naively continued to surround himself with.
RINOS + MSM = TRUMP'S DEFEATThe most reviled among them in the eyes of his base is "Javanka", the popular portmanteau of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his daughter Ivanka. He continued listening to these "Republicans In Name Only", or RINOs as many MAGA members describe them, as well as many others such as those who still sit in Congress but pretended to be his friend just to win re-election.
Furthermore, the influence that his former reality TV career had on him resulted in Trump remaining obsessed with how his enemies might malign him in the Mainstream Media (MSM) for any decisive moves that he took to smash the "deep state". This weakness of character proved to be his greatest personal flaw since he should have followed his instincts instead of submitting to the egoistic desire to be "liked" by his foes.
So influenced was he by the MSM that his enemies were able to employ the most basic "reverse-psychology" tricks to manipulate him into "playing it safe" in his struggle against the "deep state". They fearmongered since even before he entered office that he'd turn into a so-called "dictator", yet he never seriously contemplated any such authoritarian moves in that direction despite always having the possibility of utilizing the immense powers vested in him by the Constitution to do so if he sincerely wanted.
His MAGA supporters passionately pleaded that he should have turned into his enemies' worst nightmare by declaring at least limited martial law in response to the decades-long Hybrid War of Terror on America finally going kinetic last summer after Antifa and "Black Lives Matter" (BLM) orchestrated nationwide riots to oust him.
TRUMP'S THREE GREATEST FAILURESBewildering his base, Trump also failed to revoke Article 230 despite now-proven fears that it would empower Big Tech to censor him and his supporters , nor did he thwart the Democrats' mail-in ballot and Dominion voting system schemes which they argue ultimately led to them stealing the election.
Just as concerning was his decision to not stop the Democrat Governors from locking down their populations for political reasons under the convenient pretext of COVID-19. The author addressed all of these issues in his analysis published shortly after the election about why " The Anti-Trump Regime Change Sequence Is Worthwhile Studying ". Trump could have legally exercised near-"dictatorial" powers to avert all of this and thus save America as his supporters see it, yet time and again he failed to gather the strength needed to do so due to his deep personal flaws.
THE HYBRID WAR ON AMERICA IS OVERWhile Trump was unquestionably victimized by the "deep state" during his entire time in office, he's no longer as much of a martyr as he used to be after suddenly giving up the fight following Wednesday's storming of the US Capitol. He surrendered to the shock of his base, was subsequently swallowed by the "swamp", and is now being mercilessly destroyed in an ominous sign of what awaits the rest of the MAGA movement in the Biden-Kamala era.
Had he gone down fighting to the end and "never gave up" like he promised, then it would be an altogether different story, but instead his over-hyped "deal-making" instincts got the best of him at the very last minute and he foolishly thought that he could save himself by capitulating to their demands. The "deep state" is now showing their "thanks" by censoring him from social media and pushing for his impeachment.
The MAGA movement always believed that the country has already been at "war" for years even though most couldn't articulate the hybrid nature of it like the author did in his piece last summer about how " The Hybrid War Of Terror On America Was Decades In The Making ".
They truly felt that Trump shared their threat assessment after he was viciously attacked by the "deep state" from the second that he stepped onto the campaign trail, but it turned out that he underestimated the threat even though his enemies never did. To the "deep state" and their public Democrat proxies, this was always a "war" in its own way, which they never shied away from expressing.
The supreme irony is that while Trump lambasted the "weak Republicans" in his Save America Rally speech, he himself ultimately epitomized that very same weakness by later surrendering.
THE "DEEP STATE" WONHis opponents know no limits and believe in classic Machiavellian fashion that "the ends justify the means", whereas he thought that he could play by the rules -- and not even all of them as was early explained by pointing out his refusal to employ the near-"dictatorial" powers vested in him by the Constitution -- and still come out on top.
His naïveté will go down in history since it's what's most directly responsible for him failing to fully recognize the seriousness of the "deep state's" no-holds-barred war on him and the rest of America.
As a born-and-raised New Yorker, Trump perfected the art of slick talking, so much so that he even managed to dupe his base into believing that he shared their threat assessment about the decades-long Hybrid War of Terror on America. They fell for this charade since they desperately wanted to believe that there was still some hope left.
There isn't, though, since the war is over and the "deep state" won once and for all. The " Great Reset "/" Fourth Industrial Revolution " brought about by World War C is barreling forward at full speed ahead, and practically every domestic accomplishment that Trump has to his name will likely be reversed by Biden-Kamala during their first year in office, especially since the "deep state's" Democrat proxies control all branches of government now (remembering that the Supreme Court's supposed "conservative supermajority" really just consists of RINOs as was proven by their refusal to hear his team's convincing election fraud cases).
After " Analyzing The MAGA Movement's Democratic Security Failure " on Wednesday, it's clear that whatever "master plan" he and/or the MAGA movement might have had backfired and was actually exploited by their opponents.
THE REAL "MASTER PLAN"In fact, the only real "master plan" was that of the "deep state", which effectively thwarted every one of Trump's moves and ultimately turned his supporters' "last hurrah" of a mostly peaceful rally into the nail that'll now be hammered into the MAGA movement's coffin.
It's extremely suspicious that the US Capitol was so poorly defended despite there being an ongoing session of Congress on such an historic day and after weeks of preparation to ensure the site's safety ahead of Trump's long-planned Save America March.
It's even more baffling that some of the police officers removed the barricades and even opened the doors to some of the protesters, which in hindsight suggests that the "deep state" wanted to tempt the most "overly passionate" among them (to say nothing of suspected provocateurs) into storming the site as the pretext for what followed.
The whole point in passively facilitating this scenario through the masterful exploitation of crowd psychology was to lay the basis for a comprehensive nationwide crackdown against the MAGA movement on the grounds that it's now "proven" to be a "domestic terrorist" group.
That explains the push behind impeaching Trump less than two weeks before he himself acknowledged just the other day that he'll be leaving office after ensuring the "transition of power".
Had he not surrendered, then he probably would still be a martyr to most of the MAGA movement, but now he's just a palace hostage awaiting his highly publicized political execution as the opening salvo of the "deep state's" Democrat-driven reprisals against his supporters in the name of "defending against domestic terrorism". That, not whatever Q-Anon imagines, is the real "master plan", and it succeeded.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTSTrump was swallowed by the "swamp" because he lacked the strength to drain it. Every MAGA member needs to accept this harsh truth no matter how painful it might be. Time and again, he failed to muster up the strength needed to meaningfully fulfill what many sincerely believed to be his destiny.
This was due to his fatal political miscalculation of transforming from an "outsider" into an "insider" in a doomed-to-fail attempt to change the system from within. He continued relying on RINOs despite their proven unreliability. Trump's obsession with how his foes portrayed him in the MSM also led to him never seriously countenancing the use of the near-"dictatorial" powers vested in him by the Constitution to save America.
He pathetically surrendered after the "deep state's" "master plan" succeeded, and now he can't even go down in history as a martyr.
Originally published on One World Press Jan 20, 2021 2:08 PMTrump was part of the show nothing more nothing less. They had the goods on him for decades. He made Izzrail grate again. That was about it. Notice Jizzlaid Maxwell, the Mossad kiddy victim procurer watching her mark in the background of the video below from 92 as the king of bankruptcy eyes the broads and "struts" his stuff.
Meanwhile Kill Bill Gates gets to poison Planet Sheeple and nobody ever questions his association with Mossad kiddy porn snuff director, Epstein or Kill Bill's sojourns on Pedovore Island. Anyone remember the CIA Operation Brownstone"? It's global and it's Satanic.
King of Bankruptcy and King Pedovore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUDr_c2PalI&ab_channel=TODAYKill Bill and King Pedovore
https://www.youtube.com/embed/fg4nK4u8vuU?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent 0 0 Reply
Malatok , Jan 20, 2021 2:10 PM Reply to Malatok
https://www.youtube.com/embed/AUDr_c2PalI?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent
Jams O'Donnell , Jan 13, 2021 6:47 PM
How could Trum 'drain the swamp' when he lives in the swamp. contributes to the swamp and essentially is part of the swamp.
This story is sh!te. Trump is a swamp dweller.
Trump is just the same as all the other oligarchs and would be oligarchs. He is a rich, privileged, white entrepreneur. His propaganda campaign in which he claimed to be on the side of the poor and unemployed whites is just about the biggest lie which has been swallowed wholesale since Goebbles was whitewashing the Nazi regime.
How you fools here can fall for this tripe has me absolutely beat.
Aethelred , Jan 13, 2021 10:17 AM
Trump in his political ineptitude resembles Jimmy Carter, an idealist incapable of wielding power. Neither man had the gumption, nor the charisma (much the same thing) to win over the apparatchiki. Both vain and selfish men (like all politicians), neither inspired sufficient love nor fear to gather support, unlike Reagan or Clinton, both of whom exuded calm confidence. Trump differs from Carter in that Trump's social incapacity manifests in bombast, and Carter's in staged humility. Neither could convince the ruling classes, and so were ushered away.
The elevation of Biden, an aged hack, is a signal the republic is finally overturned. The feds not only can convict but now can elect and govern through a ham sandwich.
Blather , Jan 13, 2021 8:21 AM
Does the author know how to read Trump's speech or is he so BIAS as not to see?
Trump DID NOT capitulate. Read careFOOLY. It can go both waze.
ZenPriest , Jan 12, 2021 8:50 PM
Trump was never going to drain the swamp. He was a clown put in place by America's masters, to keep an endless supply of material for their media and to stir up hatred among citizens.
It's funny because citizens should be uniting against the puppeteers. Or they would be if they knew they even existed, or knew they were being played.S Cooper , Jan 13, 2021 2:47 AM Reply to ZenPriest
"Quite a number already know this. That number keeps growing with each passing day. Got Debs?"
https://www.youtube.com/embed/rsL6mKxtOlQ?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&listType=playlist&list=FLnnoDlrP9jUXGwJPoM_f7sg
captain spam , Jan 12, 2021 7:32 PM
F**k Twitter.
#Boycott Twitter.niko , Jan 12, 2021 7:24 PM
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." Remember that line? That was Ronnie Raygun back in 1986, with one of his (or his ghost writers') versions for 'draining the swamp' then, getting government off our backs, and blah, blah, blah. Agitprop thrown the masses so the corporate state could get down to bizzness as usual in dispossessing 'we the people' by rolling back government programs for social welfare and building up wealth and power for elites via the MIC and Wall Street (complementary to Iron Bitch Thatcher's neoliberal programs for a greater fascism in Britain).
Hardly anything original, such marketing ads. Politricking fronts of the ruling class have been campaigning before and after getting into office with noble lies of populism covering for their brands of treachery as long as the fraudulence of capitalist democracy and representative government have been around. In the post-WWII era of Pox Americana, the U$ CEOs for the Fortune 500 routinely have disguised their institutional role in managing the empire under cover of brands of reform that keep promising power to the people with one hand while taking it away with the other.
But when it comes to the greatest show on earth, it's the words attributed to P.T. Barnum that there's a sucker born every minute (or at least every election season) which ring truest. So now we've got the ringmasters retiring the Donald and installing good ole Creepy Joe to 'build back better' on behalf of the Great Reset. That's after Swamp Thang has played his part as dictator of distraction overseeing such achievements as the greatest robbery of the commons in human history and launch of technofascism under Operation Warp(ed) Speed, all thanks to a global coup with which he's been entirely complicit. And his manufactured base of true believers still carry on with the covidiocy as much as the controlled opposition of the faux left.
The more things change, the more they stay the same (only worse!).
Chris , Jan 12, 2021 5:14 PM
The Q group are patriots with access to a quantum computer able to untangle timelines from a possibility/probability vortex.
Their movement was designed to awaken many individuals with key roles to play in the real Operation Warpspeed.The majority of these folks had some connection to the military or other branches of government including the police.
Chris , Jan 12, 2021 7:34 PM Reply to Chris
In 2012 nearly all technology, ancient or more modern, was suddenly rendered non functional.
The Mayans were obviously dead right with their calender.
The race was on to gain absolute supremacy in the prediction game.
All major stakeholders have access to quantum computing, but the US has the upper hand.
The true value of quantum computers lies not in the task of pure number crunching, but in its ability to predict probabilities of complex situations.The quantum computer exposes the most probable timelines and delivers the results in numerical form that correspond to actual events and dates/times .
Igby MacDavitt , Jan 12, 2021 3:43 PM
"The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you're going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins."
― I.F. StoneLaurence Howell , Jan 12, 2021 12:42 PM
President Trump has declared a State of Emergency in the District of Columbia.
White HouseWaldorf , Jan 12, 2021 2:00 PM Reply to Laurence Howell
Not reported anywhere else that I can see.
Laurence Howell , Jan 12, 2021 7:00 PM Reply to Waldorf
Try the Whitehouse website
Moneycircus , Jan 12, 2021 2:20 PM Reply to Laurence Howell
Strange that it is reported by overseas news outlets, ignored by domestic.
Strange also that U.S. Capitol Police officer commits suicide days after riots Saw something he didn't oughta? Stepped out of the thin blue line?
Cyd , Jan 12, 2021 3:01 PM Reply to Moneycircus
Witness protection?
Laurence Howell , Jan 12, 2021 12:21 PM
To everyone that believes in the rule of law congratulations President trump has won.
Laurence Howell , Jan 12, 2021 7:03 PM Reply to Laurence Howell
Correction, President Trump has not signed the Insurrection Act.
My error.
REvail , Jan 13, 2021 5:18 PM Reply to Laurence Howell
OW look the fruitcakes and cult follower spent another new moon being juiced , Trump has not signed the Insurrection Act. BUT BUT BUT
Cult of BIG disclosure keep watching.donate huge Arrests and stay tuned keep watching
it happening – keep watching- it happening soon, BIG disclosure huge Arrests . it Happening soon psyop AND distractionSimple simon and Q nonsense told another lie to the sheep
Laurence Howell , Jan 12, 2021 12:16 PM
President Trump has signed the Insurrection Act.
YouDontCareAboutGrandma , Jan 12, 2021 12:47 PM Reply to Laurence Howell
Proof? And don't link to Simon Parkes' YouTube channel. He's provided no evidence whatsoever for his claims. He says he talks to aliens and "Q" on the telephone.
REvail , Jan 13, 2021 5:20 PM Reply to YouDontCareAboutGrandma
comment is above
Sgt_doom , Jan 12, 2021 3:04 PM Reply to Laurence Howell
Please stop spreading Q-propaganda -- they originate out of Asia and are a silly, cartoonish disinfo outlet of the CCP!
Sgt_doom , Jan 12, 2021 3:07 PM Reply to Sgt_doom
When a serious traceroute is done on the Q lines it tracks back to a Filipino Maoist group.
Moneycircus , Jan 12, 2021 10:12 AM
Capitol Riot: 10 Questions -- James Tracy's Memory Hole Blog
https://www.youtube.com/embed/mEyUmL0_KR0?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent
Sgt_doom , Jan 12, 2021 6:59 AM
Gosh, evrn more baffling and scarey and reminescent of 1963, never seen footage of the murder of Ms. BABBIT showing collusion between police and antifa agitators, taken by an independent Japanese reporter!
.
!nd this is the real plan begun almost 50 years ago:https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/americas-china-class-fights-trump
Great article but consider how many thousands of people the Islamist extremist, Erdogan of Turkey, had to fire and imprison, to dismantle the positive Deep State structure Attaturk put in place to keep that country secular? Functioned admirably for many years.
DimlyGlimpsed , Jan 12, 2021 1:06 AM
Dems enthusiatically voted from Bill Clinton, Obama, Hillary and Biden. All corrupt and compromised. Repubs voted for Bush Jr., Romney, and Trump. All corrupt and compromised. Both accuse the other of corruption, dishonesty and hypocrisy. Both are right, of course.
Reality, though, is not possible to perceive when limited to a diet of mainstream news. Neither is it a trivial task to navigate the rough seas online disinformation.'
Unless one is privy to big-picture high-level (and secret) information, one is left to attempt to identify and assemble a complex jigsaw puzzle using one's own sleuthing and intuition skills.
Common people without inside knowledge can still interpret the world, however. War is evil, and those who advocate war have been seduced by evil. Kindness and generosity are among the highest values. On the other hand, those who are selish and cruel pollute our world. Etc,, etc.
Let us keep in mind that the most evil cloak themselves in the garb of peace, kindness and generosity, in order to dine on sheep who wishfully and willfully refused to judge behavior rather than be seduced with addictive slogans. Let us also keep in mind that no leaders can remain in power without the compliance of the rest of us.
Any of should be able to recognize Joe Biden as evil. His "track record" is one of corruption, budget cutting, war and authoritarian legislation. And Trump? One of the great mysteries of human civilization is that Trump, the ultimate swap creature, was elected by promising to "clean the swamp".Julia , Jan 12, 2021 8:52 AM Reply to DimlyGlimpsed
I literally want to copy and paste this comment and send it to as many people as I can. You capture it precisely.
Sgt_doom , Jan 12, 2021 3:11 PM Reply to DimlyGlimpsed
That is fairly accurate but Trump did push back against America's China Class and the CCP -- more than you can say for commies like the Bidens, Obamas, Clintons, Bushes, etc.
REvail , Jan 12, 2021 5:35 PM Reply to Sgt_doom
Trump's America First Hoax: Trump is an Israeli agent. He put #Mossad asset #JaredKushner in charge of infiltration of US Intelligence and Defense. Bidens are Chinese agents? Charles Kushner (Jared's father), is an agent of #AnbangInsurance, a Chinese Communist front group.
Jams O'Donnell , Jan 13, 2021 6:54 PM Reply to REvail
All US presidents, vice-presidents, chiefs of staff, etc are Israeli agents, or more accurately, are in effect the same thing.
Jams O'Donnell , Jan 13, 2021 6:53 PM Reply to Sgt_doom
"commies like the Bidens, Obamas, Clintons, Bushes, etc."
If you think that the above mentioned capitalist clowns are "commies", then you really, REALLY, need to get an education, because clearly you don't know your arse from your elbow.
Igby MacDavitt , Jan 12, 2021 3:46 PM Reply to DimlyGlimpsed
"Trump, the ultimate swap creature " I do not think you have any idea what the 'swamp' is to make such a claim.
Otherwise, a great post.
Lost in a dark wood , Jan 12, 2021 12:40 AM
Note: I drafted this as a response, but the person is not worthy of a reply, so I'll post it here instead.
--I've always said that Q is a deep-state operation. It's the NSA, military intelligence, etc. It's just a different deep state to the CIA/MI6 deep state. And I've always said that people should at least know what "the plan" is. They should know what it is because it's by far the most coherent explanation for what is happening now, and for what has happened over the last four years.
A couple of years ago I thought a deal had been struck between the opposing factions, and it was all going to be wound down. But I changed that view after the Covid911, attempted colour revolution. The overwhelming view on this site, from contributors and posters, was that Trump would fall in June 2020. I was one of only a handful of people saying Trump would survive.
I can't predict the details of what's happening now, but I think Trump will survive this because:
a) he has the ammunition
b) it would make no sense to go this far and not see it through
c) even though it seems to be going to the precipice, it still fits a coherent planFor some time now, the best rolling updates have been provided by X22 Report:
https://rumble.com/c/X22ReportLost in a dark wood , Jan 12, 2021 2:35 AM Reply to Lost in a dark wood
I've only recently started following Simon Parkes, but in his latest update he claims to have spoken to the real Q. Of course, as anybody who's been following Q posts would know, this would breach the "no outside comms" principle.
Moneycircus , Jan 12, 2021 10:20 AM Reply to Lost in a dark wood
I'm not at all impressed. Appeared on the scene coincidental with Gen McInerney and all the misinformation about "hammer and scorecard" which was a blatant distraction from clear and convincing evidence of election fraud.
Parkes does far too much, "I could have told you beforehand but then I'd have had to kill you."
REvail , Jan 12, 2021 5:37 PM Reply to Lost in a dark wood
Your on the ball wow from 1 psyop to another Now your following simon charlatan parkes.
HE gets excepted into the Q nonsense and trump Savior psyop and becames one of there star leaders over night.
Do you not do basic checks on who you start to worship?? or do they have to say code words like Q and trump maga and its like there chosen to lead you.Sgt_doom , Jan 12, 2021 3:13 PM Reply to Lost in a dark wood
Negative, far too silly and cartoonish and tracks back to a Filipino Maoist group directed by the CCP!
Asylum , Jan 11, 2021 7:34 PM
We've been manipulated into fighting against each other over trivial differences to divert us from the fact that we're all in the same boat.
Lost in a dark wood , Jan 11, 2021 6:33 PM
Andrew Korybko: "That, not whatever Q-Anon imagines, is the real "master plan", and it succeeded."
Okay, I'm trying to figure this out. With regard specifically to this thread, are we allowed to post direct links to Q posts? For instance, Q has stated explicitly that there is no "Qanon" (#4881). Instead, there is Q and there are anons. I personally think this is debatable, and that Qanon is a collective name for a highly amorphous movement and method of enquiry. Furthermore, that movement and method predates Q and was to some extent co-opted by Q. The movement will also outlive Q, though it may retain the name. As a movement, Qanon stands in opposition to the hierarchical, hive-mind vacuity of the Rationalists and Neo-Platonists. In short, Qanon is Blakean. Welcome to Jerusalem!
We do not want either Greek or Roman models if we are but just & true to our own imaginations, those Worlds of Eternity in which we shall live forever; in Jesus our Lord.
– William Blake
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Milton_(excerpts)/PrefaceSophie - Admin1 , Jan 11, 2021 7:25 PM Reply to Lost in a dark wood
Oh please
Lost in a dark wood , Jan 11, 2021 7:40 PM Reply to Sophie - Admin1
So what happened to my other posts?
Lost in a dark wood , Jan 12, 2021 9:17 PM Reply to Lost in a dark wood
Q Alerts is back up so I'll try again. The following is a critical part of "the plan".
--Q (Oct 17, 2020):
I'm going to bring the whole diseased, corrupt temple down on your head. It's gonna be Biblical.
Enjoy the show!
https://qalerts.app/?n=4884https://www.youtube.com/embed/LUsLDzXWUU4?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent
Marion Reynolds , Jan 11, 2021 6:01 PM
Please – can we have more of Andrew Karybko. I've seen him on Peter Lavelle. For such an acutely well informed young chap about international politics, he demonstrates an equally rigorous understanding about Trumps psyche.
Loverat , Jan 12, 2021 6:28 PM Reply to Marion Reynolds
Andrew Korybko is probably one of the best geo-political analysts I've come across and his depth of knowledge across all continents shines through. A very warm and engaging person.
He runs a site called OneWorld Press. Recently accused by mainstream media and The Daily Beast of being GRU agents. Well if it is, they are most measured and balanced in the history of intelligence services.
Lost in a dark wood , Jan 11, 2021 5:18 PM
The best is yet to come.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ozWZYbYfkp4?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent
REvail , Jan 11, 2021 11:50 PM Reply to Lost in a dark wood
Your be saying that on the way to the concentration camps!!!
'trust the plan' is a never ending story psyop
Similar to the 'best is yet to come' ..
you trumpsters have your own Down Syndrome language.
WWG1WGA, another bunch of devotees similar to a cult who will not except there guru is a oppressormikael , Jan 11, 2021 1:09 PM
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."Reinhold Niebuhr
Pardon moi for the lenght.
I dont know whats with people this days, the shere avalange of bollocks is baffling, the inability to conect the dots to what was, the past, to the present is making me think there must be something, hehe, with the narrative, or should we say in this uh . conpiracy tinfoil hat wearing days, in the tap water, and the rethotic, about Trump, I have my issues, and I have never been quiet about them, but then to whine about things when most of it have been inplace before Trump came into the WH, incl children in gages to wars, Obamalama started more wars than any other American president ever, with Hitlary the Beast from Little Rock beside, after Her husband stole Social sec and now, witch could be massive, is completely eradicated out of existence, and the sactions, etc, most of them are just continuations of existing systems, we can always blame Trump for something, but please, do know the difference and dont just throw bollocks because of the people whom wanted change, when Obamalama said it, you belived, and what happened, again, he pissed upon you all, and have since laughed all the way to the bank, the economic crashes, the insane austeritys, the bailins and outs, you name it to color revolutions.
This isnt to defend Trump, for me, He was more an castrat, singing but otherwise balless, but also tied, unable to move, and been relentlessly attacked by those that defenses the past witch in no way was better.Then we have the eh .. storming?, and if you look at videos, what sticks out is, what storming, some gass clouds, yea, means what, an Cop throving an gass can, but take an look for your self, it was never in any way what the MSM wants you to belive, and the army of people crawling all over the sites wants you to persive, along with profanitys about people whom did suported Trump, because they hoped for change, you cant attack them, maybe for been a bit naive, but one thing shal be the thing Trump did, exposed them all, in an way witch is unpresedented despite His flaws, nobody have done that in this level, He exposed them all, and if you havent gotten it yet, you have an problem, nobody else, incl the people whom did their duty as free citizens of the USA, did the protesting.
Rioting, again, what riot, the worst thing I can come up with, after watching some videos, is minore, a window, probably by the AntiFags/BLMs/eh leftards?, and one man whom ran off with an piece of the furiture, nothing else, and if I drag that further, maybe the stormers should have wiped their shoos off before entering the Hill, stepping on the fine carpets on the floor in the hallway, what an horrible crime, right.
What storming, do you see anything, do enlighten us.So, I know I am pushing the attention span to the limit.
BUT, I have thru the years found out that Americans, not that I want to call em stupid, but regarding world poltics, more infantile, naive, brainwashed to such an extent thru the decades/centurys of propaganda, where the various Gov always have had an enemy, it have variated, from muslims etc to what it have become to day, domestic terrorism aka conservatives whatever that means, and not only in the MSM but also thru an army of so called Alternative MSM, witch have feed upon this narratives and played upon this, but overall, gone the same erant as the Gov wanted them to go, and witch have resulted in wars upon wars, and stil some want more wars, like the broad attack line on Iran, just to give you one ex to the strangling of others, like western sahara to the Palestinians.
Then we have the new enemy, in mainly the so called alternative ugh .. rightwinged? whatever whom sommehow manages to blame everything on socialism, yea, apart from the weather because thats Putins fault, despite that, I found Putin to be an scoundrel, the Russian Gov rotten to its core, that dont mean I hate Russians but there will always be those that cant differentiate at all.
Whom is the "enemy" Americans, socialism, China, Russia, Iran, huh.I have saxed this from P. L. Gonzalez.
Social media networks, payment processors, airlines, hotels, streaming services, and online vendors are strangling people based on ideology but TPUSA is still complaining about "socialism." Burn your money or donate it to TPUSA, it's the same thing.Yup, briliantly summarised everything in some few lines, and why, do you refuse to see them when they are right infront of your very own eyes, and yet, you blame some imaginary enemy witch have nothing to do with this coup, its an class war, its the oligarcs, the robber barons, witch have an army of buttspreaders in the capitol Hill to their abuse, and this bitches do whatever they are told, do notice how the RepubliCONs threw you under the buss, is that to the Chines fault.
So, I hope the Americans whom stil have some parts of their bran fuctional, can notice the difference, in Norway we have the same problem, but we are an so called socialistic nation, but we are held hostages by the same pack of scums that is plundering your nation and resources, and have nothing but contempt for everyone of us, and an Gov that do whatever they want and whom are we then to blame, the Hottentots, Maoris, communism is an tool for social unrest, and when they have done their job, thrown under the buss, because the PTB wants us to fight each others, as long we do, they will win.
Unite and you have an chanse, if not, well, I am old, and my life span expectanse isnt that long anymore and I will not have to live in the totalistaian regime that comes, but the sole reason for me to even bother, is for our children, and their children.
And to all of you whom went to the protest, you have my deepest respect.
It truly is an war, against the dark forces.
You all need to take an stand.
Be the light.peace
Igby MacDavitt , Jan 12, 2021 3:53 PM Reply to mikael
We have the same problem worldwide. Singling out and scorning the Americans is simply divisive. It has always been the People against the Oppressors. The Americans are people and have Oppressors bearing down on them like the rest of us. There is a cancer that needs to be removed lest it devour us all.
Chris , Jan 11, 2021 10:57 AM
The overtone of Korybko's writing is excessively defeatist. When the "Deep State" applies such overt tools to steal the U.S. election, imposes censorship, labels millions of American citizens as potential "domestic terrorists", silences the still incumbent U.S. President, resorts to provocation, deprives Americans of essential liberties through Covid, curfews or other bogus emergencies, then it means that the establishment behind the "Deep State" is scared. Scared not as much of Donald Trump as scared of You – the People. I know it since I live in a central European country with a very bitter experiences with dicatorship. When the power starts to resort to an open forgery and uses coercion or force it reveals its weakness, not strength. Its power derives only from the passive attitude of majority of population, nothing more. What this so called 'liberal elite' in America hopes for is to return to the good old days, when the whole Middle America remained voiceless, silent, isolated, without any leadership or political representation. Now it is their objective to 'legally' separate the 'progressive America' from the 'populist' one and they might even inspire separation, violence or secessionist moves to achieve it. But MAGA movement must not play this delusional vision of retreat to entrench in false sense of local security. That's what the 'Deep State' wants to achieve – to herd the popular opposition into their home arrests and their privacy soon to be possibly separated by walls, sanitary wards, wired fences or a new Indian reservation. Americans would never win their Independence by acting in defense only, by retreating to 'wait and see' tactics as Korybko suggests. What must be done is to recapture Your state institutions that have been stolen and turned into a travesty of American political tradition. Before that happens a common awareness is needed that those who appear to rule as a new 'government' are just a tiny bunch of criminals who try to impress the whole world that their power has no limits, that they monopolised the mass media and economy, that they are invincible. Do not let this delusion of 'Deep State' victory to dominate Your outlook. Yes, I agree that Trump failed as a leader in a time of crisis but MAGA (or however we call it) but all the people who really care for America need to maintain representation, authority and leadership. They shouldn't accept a comfortable fantasy that sooner or later the 'Deep State' would crumble under its own weight and then by some miracle a new movement would be born. If Trump indicates that 'its only the beginning' then his supporters should join him in any action he offers. All Republican politicians, conservative or libertarian societies, local communities, state legislatures or any other active group must be engaged in this action. Struggle for political freedom always involves risk and mistakes. Trump certainly made a lot of them. But it is the People who are sovereign, not any office, institution or technological dicatorship. When the Constitution, the congressional debate and civil liberties are ruined by 'elite' it is the responsibility of the People to act in emergency to restore law, order and liberty. The 'Deep State' perfectly understands that after the four years of Trump and the emergence of trumpism as a social-political fact there can not be any turning back to the business as usual. Not under normal and peaceful circumstances. That's why they are so frightened and act in panic. That's why they impose health and security 'emergencies' to incapacitate the population, to make it superfluous and useless. We saw it in totalitarian regimes.
The world needs the U.S. not as an imperial power but as an example of well established social contract, human liberty and hope for a better future. The European 'elites' are in revolt against their people too but here we won't have a chance for any anti-establishment president to support us. That's why in Europe we still believe that not all has been lost in America.Laurence Howell , Jan 11, 2021 12:17 PM Reply to Chris
Lt. General Thomas Mcinerney,
"special forces imbedded in Antifa rioters have Nancy Pelosi's laptop"
Panic in DC would ban understatement.
Bring it on
Asylum , Jan 11, 2021 2:56 PM Reply to Laurence Howell
laptop always the laptop it on the laptop he/she left the laptop at
it etc etc et was found there# etc etc etc bullshit
laptop psyop used as much as the immaculate passport psyop found at the scene of crime in a burning inferno it aimed at idiotsAsylum , Jan 11, 2021 7:24 PM Reply to Asylum
Laurence Howell , Jan 12, 2021 10:37 AM Reply to Asylum
Are you saying that Hunter Biden's laptop and the released information that it contains is of no value?
Conflating 911 with the current conspiracies is not helpful. This would need an article of longer length and written by an unbiased observer which you are not.
Instead of saying etc. etc. bullshit, why not explain why this is your position?
Or does this not fit in with your soundbite posting?Jacques , Jan 11, 2021 9:41 AM
Historically speaking, the problem with the "deep state" is essentially that the current system has corrupted itself to a point where it is so far from what is claimed, or perhaps appears to be, that there is no way to fix it from within by rebuilding it, by "draining the swamp".
Klaus "Cockroach" Schwab et al understand this, hence the Great Reset, a new vision for the future. Of course, they want a future for themselves, but that's another story.
Even if Trump were entirely sincere in his effort to "drain the swamp", he had nothing to offer apart from some vague anachronistic concept of Making America Great Again. What the fuck is that supposed to mean anyway, eh? The only thing he had behind him was populism which in itself is an empty concept.
Like it or not, a change will only come if people formulate a new philosophy, ideology, and if the new ideology is proposed and embraced on a broad scale. Ideally in a non-violent fashion.
Right now, there is fuck all, people are still stuck on all sorts of left-right bullshit dichotomies, (fake) democracy, the games that have been played for decades if not hundreds of years.
If you ask me, it would be nice if the ideology of the future was loosely based on Hayek's spontaneous order.
Thom1111 , Jan 11, 2021 3:03 PM Reply to Jacques
If Trump can pull something off this week or early next, the new plan is already waiting in the wings. It's called Nesara/Gesara. It's a new economic system not based on a debt based system.
rechenmacher , Jan 12, 2021 3:45 PM Reply to Thom1111
Heard that one before. Fraud.
Thom1111 , Jan 12, 2021 7:09 PM Reply to rechenmacher
It's a real framework plan, it's just whether it can be implemented is the question.
Igby MacDavitt , Jan 12, 2021 3:57 PM Reply to Jacques
"Like it or not, a change will only come if people formulate a new philosophy, ideology, and if the new ideology is proposed and embraced on a broad scale. Ideally in a non-violent fashion."
Sure. So we the people have had centuries or more to figure the answer out. Repeating the dilemma is not enlightening. Idealism has no voice with tyrants.
ZenPriest , Jan 11, 2021 8:53 AM
All this talk of the 'deep state' yet no one can name them. Lol.
Thom1111 , Jan 11, 2021 3:04 PM Reply to ZenPriest
you must have been born yesterday. In America it's the alphabet agencies but obviously all runs back to Rothschild and the Vatican.
gordan , Jan 11, 2021 7:48 PM Reply to Thom1111
eustace mullins
bookthe curse of canaan
old names
very old
and new oneswritten in the 1980s
still up to dateZenPriest , Jan 12, 2021 2:44 PM Reply to Thom1111
If you think it stops at the Vatican and Rothschilds, maybe you were born yesterday.
Thom1111 , Jan 12, 2021 7:11 PM Reply to ZenPriest
well actually no, it goes off planet or interdimensionally if you want to go that deep.
Igby MacDavitt , Jan 12, 2021 4:02 PM Reply to ZenPriest
https://www.corbettreport.com/?s=deep+state
Start here.
ZenPriest , Jan 12, 2021 5:02 PM Reply to Igby MacDavitt
Corbett is owned like almost everyone else. Gives you everything but the source.
Joerg , Jan 11, 2021 8:50 AM
ARCHBISHOP VIGANÒ: OPEN LETTER TO DONALD TRUMP, WARNS ABOUT 'GREAT RESET' PLOT TO 'SUBDUE HUMANITY,' DESTROY FREEDOM
https://counterinformation.wordpress.com/2021/01/10/archbishop-vigano-open-letter-to-donald-trump-warns-about-great-reset-plot-to-subdue-humanity-destroy-freedom-2/
Ashley , Jan 11, 2021 6:11 AM
In Covid-19 Period, Honest online career from home, Now A Days Scam is every where but don't worry , every one is not a cheater, very reliable and profitable site. Thousands peoples are making good earning from it. For further detail visit the link no instant money required free signup and information 𝚠𝚠𝚠.𝚓𝚘𝚋𝚜𝟷𝟼.𝚝𝚔
Researcher , Jan 11, 2021 2:13 PM Reply to Ashley
Look. Your spam filter, didn't catch the SPAM.
Asylum , Jan 11, 2021 2:59 PM Reply to Researcher
but it does catch certain comments funny that
aspnaz , Jan 10, 2021 11:47 PM
The 6 January protest march clearly shows that the majority of Trump voters had already given up on Trump so did not join the protest. There was originally talk of a possible one million people attending, it didn't get anywhere close. If half the nation was still behind Trump, this was a very puzzling showing.
Trump just did not have what it takes, or was not really trying, to ruthlessly cut out the cancer of corruption in government. History will show that he was a weak leader who allowed the deep state to distract him to the extent that he never did anything of note other than to reveal, through no action of his own, how extreme is the corruption that he had promised to drain.
The Democrat distractions, paid for by their oligarch owners, showed the world that extreme corruption is running the USA. Even the most loyal Democrats must be puzzled by the current purges and threats of extreme centralised thought control, the arrogance of the swamp now that it has gotten rid of the peoples' man.
To his credit, I am still willing to believe that Trump tried to do the right thing.
Although the author is trying to place Trump as a coward who resigned, going back on his word, I think this is not how his original supporters see him. From what I can see, the majority of his original supporters still support him and see him as a figurehead, but they recognise that he doesn't have the skills to do the job. He is not a coward, he did not cave in, he recognised, probably because of the low protest numbers, that he did not have what is takes to continue the fight, he could see that his base had already given up on him. He is still a figurehead in the patriot movement. He may have lost the far right, but he still has a lot of centre-ground supporters.
MaryLS , Jan 11, 2021 4:47 AM Reply to aspnaz
I disagree with your claim that the majority of supporters had already given up on him. It was the middle of the week. People have jobs. It was a significant turn out. People understand what is at stake. I would not place the blame for failure on Trump. He is amazing in so many ways.
Carmpat , Jan 12, 2021 8:39 AM Reply to MaryLS
I just don't understand here how anybody can believe Trump was sincere in wanting to change anything: he's a narcissistic bully in it for his own benefit and that of his offspring. Fighting corruption??? Come on!
Igby MacDavitt , Jan 12, 2021 4:06 PM Reply to Carmpat
The mere fact that hundreds and hundreds of treasonous actors throughout government and business have been clearly and openly revealed through the process started by Trump is a damn good start.
S Cooper , Jan 11, 2021 5:53 AM Reply to aspnaz
"What is going in DC right now is like what went on at Jonestown after Jim Jones went crackers. Except instead of cyanide laced Kool-Aid they are going to use 'Doc' Billy Eugenics EUTHANASIA DEATH SHOT to off the 'faithful'. If only Billy and they would just off themselves and leave the rest of the World out of it."
" EUTHANIZE the World! Corporate Fascism and Eugenics forever."
S Cooper , Jan 11, 2021 4:24 PM Reply to S Cooper
"Time now for Na n zi Pelosi, Chuckie 'Upchuck' Schumer and all the rest of the war criminal gang of CORPORATE FASCIST FABIAN EUGENICISTS to beam back to the mothership. They see insurrections, rebellions and conspiracies everywhere. They believe the humans are out to get them . They are going full Jim Jones. "
https://giphy.com/gifs/alien-they-live-john-caenter-3og0IUd5D9Y77EXtRK
S Cooper , Jan 11, 2021 6:40 PM Reply to S Cooper
"Also Nasty Na n zi should lay off the hooch. It is beginning to have a deleterious and harmful effect upon the sad thing's cognitive faculties and behavior."
Sgt Oddball , Jan 10, 2021 10:35 PM
I *Hope* they name the next Carrier after him – USS Donald J. Trump – CVN 83
😉
Sgt Oddball , Jan 10, 2021 10:38 PM Reply to Sgt Oddball
- Nickname: – 'Big Don'
Voxi Pop , Jan 10, 2021 9:57 PM
https://worldchangebrief.webnode.com INSURRECTION ACT "PROBABLY" SIGNED –
Military In Control of the US, Under Commander In Chief Trump/
Updates Will Follow Throughout The DayCal , Jan 10, 2021 9:56 PM
.
Sgt Oddball , Jan 10, 2021 9:26 PM
"Captain America's been torn apart,
Now he's a court jester with a broken heart,
He said, "Turn me around and take me back to the start",
"I must be losing my mind!" Are you blind?!
– I've seen it all a *Million Times* "James Meeks , Jan 10, 2021 9:02 PM
Situation Update Jan 8th – Trump fighting from secure location, did NOT concede
https://www.hangthecensors.com/487773.html?fbclid=IwAR2Na1XhGeff0jKFmZWBWrQnd5hjKgFEsSqwJOjQIqZFFkzN7flG-FcGG_sSukma Dyk , Jan 10, 2021 8:50 PM
You are going to be very surprised. See what happens.
David Meredith , Jan 10, 2021 9:08 PM Reply to Sukma Dyk
I was just about to post a comment saying: It's not over yet, but you beat me to it! Well done.
John Smith , Jan 11, 2021 6:17 PM Reply to Sukma Dyk
Why the secrecy? If you know summit then spill.
Jacques , Jan 10, 2021 8:49 PM
I don't know what Trump's intentions were, and I couldn't care less.
From where I'm standing, it appears that he was elected on a wave of populism, which seemed to be an alternative to the "liberal democracy" fakery, the swamp. An interesting presentation of that was here ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA50BE7d1X8 ). IMHO, Bannon kicked Frum's butt in that debate.
It would appear that populism was a big enough threat for the "swamp" to unleash four years of a hate campaign against Trump, possibly, probably culminating with COVID. Hard to believe that it was a coincidence.
Be it as it may, and allowing for the possibility that this or that or the other thing has been staged this way or that way, Trump's presidency has certainly set things in motion, woken up people. Had somebody more slick been elected, the transition to the dystopia that seems to be in the pipeline would probably have been less noticeable, perhaps not noticeable at all. With the shitshow that has been going down since last February, all of a sudden there is a public debate. Perhaps misinformed, perhaps mislead, but there is a debate nevertheless. Will it result in something positive? Hard to say, hopefully.
Bottom line, Trump's presidency has been historically a good thing.
YouTube_censors_unfortuna , Jan 11, 2021 10:05 AM Reply to Jacques
Covid19 was decided in 2010 and earlier.
Jacques , Jan 11, 2021 10:37 AM Reply to YouTube_censors_unfortuna
So what? What sort of relevance does it have to what I said?
First understand the bigger picture, then worry about details.
Carmpat , Jan 12, 2021 8:43 AM Reply to Jacques
Covid 19 was DECIDED? But of course, yes, it's just a detail .. lol
Researcher , Jan 10, 2021 8:45 PM
Turns out the Viking Guy aka QAnon Shaman aka Jake Angeli aka Jacob Anthony Chansley aka Actor and self proclaimed "Super Soldier" pals around with Bernard Kerik and Rudy Giuliani when he takes time off from memorizing the latest NSA script:
Lost in a dark wood , Jan 10, 2021 9:42 PM Reply to Researcher
Oh look, a photo at some sort of book-signing type event. I'll file it alongside the one of Oswald and Mother Teresa.
Researcher , Jan 10, 2021 11:32 PM Reply to Lost in a dark wood
Where's the book? Nowhere. Not a book signing.
Freemason handshake tho, Lost_In_Your_Tiny_Mind
Lost in a dark wood , Jan 11, 2021 4:37 PM Reply to Researcher
BTW: if that's what Bernard Kerik looks like when he's "palling around", you definitely wouldn't want to fall out with him!
James Meeks , Jan 10, 2021 10:10 PM Reply to Researcher
Haven't you figured out yet that QAnon is an intelligence agency psyop based in the type of magical thinking that will get you killed and lose the nation? If not, you really aren't qualified to participate in what is currently hitting us. The enemy has your number. This is obviously a photo op staged by the security state to feed the false narrative created around QAnon.
Researcher , Jan 10, 2021 11:23 PM Reply to James Meeks
Can you read? Read what I wrote again. Read it enough times until you understand.
QAnon = Q Group NSA
Nothing is hitting you except the Democrats and Republicans together against the citizens. That's not new.
Asylum , Jan 11, 2021 6:30 PM Reply to Researcher
S Cooper , Jan 11, 2021 10:25 PM Reply to Asylum
"If there was a non WAR RACKETEER CORPORATE FASCIST in SHAM DEMOCRACY USA for whom to vote and the REPUBLICRATS did not FAKE the counts and rig the SHAM elections WE THE PEOPLE might. Where is a Eugene Victor Debs when the world needs one?"
"Soon that is not going to be an issue, however. There will be no need for SHAM ELECTIONS after Billy EugenIcs and the CORPORATE FASCIST FABIAN EUGENICISTS cull all the untermenschen and useless eaters with their EUTHANASIA DEATH SHOT."
https://www.deviantart.com/redamerican1945/art/Eugene-V-Debs-Republican-Democratic-Party-674343047
https://www.youtube.com/embed/rsL6mKxtOlQ?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&listType=playlist&list=FLnnoDlrP9jUXGwJPoM_f7sg
REvail , Jan 11, 2021 11:42 PM Reply to S Cooper
it was a compliment and joke on others who still be lie ve in what you eloquently posted
S Cooper , Jan 12, 2021 12:23 AM Reply to REvail
"Just can not give up the opportunity for a good lead up (segue'). In good faith and in all seriousness, thanks for providing it."
Cmiller , Jan 12, 2021 5:27 AM Reply to Researcher
Masonic handshake
Dayne , Jan 10, 2021 8:40 PM
Peasants in 19th-century Russia clung to a notion of the Czar as a benevolent, fatherly figure. Even when he rained misery and oppression down on them, it was only because he was "misinformed", "surrounded by bad guys", etc.
It makes sense: Those were desperate, illiterate people living in misery. Hoping against hope was all they had. But why would anyone in 2021 think of Trump in essentially the same way is beyond me. An entrenched military-industrial-media-psychiatric-intelligence system, hundreds of years in the making and with untold trillions in funding, just stood by as a Robin-Hood-type hero and people's champion rose to take the Oval Office? Sorry. Trump might as well sprout wings and fly.
Sgt Oddball , Jan 10, 2021 10:10 PM Reply to Dayne
Thanx for your comment, Dayne – I've been trying to put this into words, and as I'm autistic, I could frankly, literally *Sperg'-out* over this, right now
- TL:DR version is this, tho': – Ever wonder why 'Populism' is such a dirty word for the establishment and their MSM bullhorn? – The argument I've heard thus far generally goes like the South Park underpants gnome's plan for world domination: – Phase 1: Popular Uprising (aka: 'Civil Unrest') Phase 2: ? . Phase 3: Fascist 'Strongman' Dictatorship – Why is that?
- Also that we're *Too Stoopid*(/ie: Self-Absorbed) – Like the Mud-Pickin' peasants in Monty Python' Holy Grail
- I would suggest 2 reasons for this:
- 1.) The Davostanis (Global Banksters/Oligarchs) never *merely* back the *winning horse* in the race, – In fact they back *every* horse that they *allow* to run (ergo: Trump was an Establishment-groomed *Stalking Horse* )
- 2.) The Davostanis (again), have *long since* seen to it that *most everyone*, from birth onwards, is psychologically conditioned, first with childhood myths and fairy-tales about Charming Princes and Fair Princesses, then with religio-spiritual 'adult' myths and fairy-tales about (In Judeo-Christian terms) Messianic, White-Knight champion/rescuer types who, if *we would only* put our lives and our *Utmost Faith* in their holy, heaven-sent hands, would *Save Us All* from all the terrible, terrible *Mess We've All Made* for ourselves down here on Earth, by collectively *Shitting The Bed*
*Obviously*, this is *All* just so much *Childish Nonsense*, and, more to the point, a *Writ-Large Con-Job*
- Cutting to the chase: – The 'Great-Man' theory of history is *Bunk* – Always *Has Been*, always *Will Be*
If you're still "Holding Out For A Hero", I invite you to stare *Long And Hard* into the nearest available mirror, *Take A DEEP Breath*, and then go out and *Elect Yourself* to the office – *Better Yet*, elect your family, elect your friends, elect your neighbors, elect *Everyone*
- And then let's *Do This Shit* – *Together*!
James Meeks , Jan 10, 2021 10:23 PM Reply to Dayne
It could have something to do with the fact that Biden is backed by every billionaire member of the Davos gang of criminals getting ready to use this event, coupled with medical martial law, to stage the "great reset" scheme. A wet dream of Malthusian eugenecists like Faucci & Gates, since it includes a drastic reduction in world population aka genocide of the elderly, vulnerable, poor and non compliant. This Globalist Technocracy will be led by un-elected bankers and corporate CEO's effectively ending any form of Democracy planet wide. MSM mockingbirds are completing the programming of the public to make Casey's statement to Reagan ring true" We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is wrong."
janmarsh , Jan 10, 2021 8:16 PM
Insurrection Act signing brought forward.
Scroll down to 10th. January update:
https://www.simonparkes.org/Asylum , Jan 11, 2021 3:31 PM Reply to janmarsh
Ow look Simon one trick pony parkes been laughed at and ridiculed and busted for his many many many many lies and it happening you watch just donate psyop
gets excepted into the Q nonsense and trump Savior psyop and became s one of there leaders!!!doesn't anyone go back 5 years and do basic check on thsoes they watch and then make idols of them.
fools follow fools
Mike , Jan 10, 2021 8:15 PM
Trump was never going to be Ameica's hero. He was played to depict America as a fascist, racist, neo-nazi country that needs to be saved by the Left aka Joe Biden/Kamala Harris. The Left can now "save us all" from the "damage" caused by the MAGA movement and Trump. They can do this through heavily increased mass surveillance and what is essentially imprisonment, to make sure that we don't fall victim to the "domestic terrorism" that is represented by Trump and his fan base.
David Meredith , Jan 10, 2021 9:10 PM Reply to Mike
saved by the left? The left has been selling out the US to the globalist agenda for the last 20 years (in power or out). Trump is not finished restoring America to a country that doesn't sell out to China.
S Cooper , Jan 10, 2021 9:32 PM Reply to David Meredith
"Left-Center-Right" seems that paradigm is a tad askew. It is more like a top to bottom pyramid [scheme/racket]. The CORPORATE FASCIST OLIGARCH MOBSTER PSYCHOPATH SLAVE MASTERS sitting on their gold platinum thrones at the very top of the tower/pyramid and all their prole slave victims, WE THE PEOPLE (HUMANITY) in the mud at the base. The PSYCHOS will say or do anything to get the prole slaves at each others throats. IF WE ARE FIGHTING AMONG OURSELVES WE ARE NOT FIGHTING THEM."
https://www.youtube.com/embed/rsL6mKxtOlQ?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&listType=playlist&list=FLnnoDlrP9jUXGwJPoM_f7sg
Mike , Jan 10, 2021 11:12 PM Reply to David Meredith
Well, being saved by the left was a sarcastic comment. And Trump is clearly done with "restoring America" because it was never his to restore, let alone him conceding to the left after the Capitol "riots".
falcemartello , Jan 11, 2021 3:53 AM Reply to David Meredith
@ David
The left is as left as my right GONADMartin Usher , Jan 10, 2021 10:12 PM Reply to Mike
Biden/Harris "the left"? Surely you're joking? These two are conservatives, in another timeline they'd be Republicans. What they have going for them is they, like many Americans, believe in the Constitution of the United States, about what the country is and what its trying to acheve. It strives to build "a more perfect union".
This the fundamenal error many people made about the Deep State. I've no doubt that there's a fom of Deep State out there, an ingrained conservative streak in the bureaucracy, because there is in all bureaucracies. But the real Deep State is all of us, its every last person who believes in the system, in the American form of democracy and the principles upon which the nation was founded. There are innumerable personal interpretations of exactly what this means but the sum total is the United States.
Trump, MAGA and the modern GoP represent 'capture', the idea that the capture of the state can be turned to personal profit. In doing so Trump and his enablers degraded the notion of what the US is and why it exists. This is what's caused the backlash, its not 'the left' or 'socialism'.
Sgt Oddball , Jan 10, 2021 10:54 PM Reply to Martin Usher
"Biden/Harris "the left"? Surely you're joking?"
- The proverbial 'Overton Window' has, at this point, collapsed to a quantum singularity, about a nothingth of a planck length wide
- Prepare for *Teh Great Suck*!
Peanut butter wolf , Jan 10, 2021 8:11 PM
You seriously think Trump was genuinly elected? All the points you make show obviously he was a puppet and psy-op of the deepstate from the very beginning.
The deepstate won because they never had an enemy, they created him from the start, with or without him knowing we dont know, but anyone on that level is on a need to know basis anyway. It's clear that his every move is steered with the goal to bring down rogue antiestablishment sentiments.And it worked very well. Radical left antiestablishment is suddenly prodemocrats and radical right antiestablishment is totally disillusioned and just became domestic terrorists.
David Meredith , Jan 10, 2021 9:12 PM Reply to Peanut butter wolf
you spelled Biden incorrectly on your fourth word in.
Sgt Oddball , Jan 10, 2021 10:57 PM Reply to Peanut butter wolf
- *Divide and Conquer* Churn, same as it ever was
BTW, My condolences for MF Doom
Asylum , Jan 11, 2021 3:07 PM Reply to Sgt Oddball
ironic dont you think a artist MF Doom who is known for wearing a mask gets
sacrificessorry dies on the usual astro constellation
zzzzzzzzThom1111 , Jan 11, 2021 3:15 PM Reply to Peanut butter wolf
Trump wasn't supposed to win in 2016. The deep state probably wanted liberal Jeb Bush or Rubio or Cruz in there. Trump destroyed all the competition in the GOP primaries. Remember, Trump wasn't picked by the deep state to be their guy. He financed his own campaign. He was a major burr in their saddle. The Trump phenomenon is real and he proved it with a landslide victory that was stolen.
Martin Usher , Jan 12, 2021 6:16 PM Reply to Thom1111
What 'landslide'? The numbers tell a very different story. Trump should have won a second term but he didn't because of two things, one being the grass roots efforts of Democrats to motivate voter groups despite systematic road blocks being placed in those groups' path and the other -- a important one -- being that there's quite a lot of life long Republicans out there that cannot stand Trump.
Trumpism is like a cult in many ways. One feature is that those who 'believe' find it difficult to come to grips with the fact that they might hold a minority view. They're used to being embattled, that's a signature feature of such groups (they're always fighting for something against an implacable enemy, preferably an unseen one) but its just inconceivable that they're really a fringe group. The events of last Wednesday have probably done more to promote Democrat candidates than anything else this cycle; fortunately for the most part the election was over so all they lost were the two Senate seats.
PS -- May I draw your attention to an old Beatles song -- "Revolution"? (I'd also suggest an even old song "Trouble Coming" from the Mothers of Invention.)
Voz 0db , Jan 10, 2021 7:58 PM
Under the CURRENT MAIN SYSTEM – The Monetary System – there is no "drain the swamp"!
James Meeks , Jan 10, 2021 10:29 PM Reply to Voz 0db
Then you're going to love the technocrats "social credits" scheme such as China currently imposes on it's population.
Voz 0db , Jan 11, 2021 10:43 AM Reply to James Meeks
China developed that system with the HELP of the Western Corporations, so that in a near future the tech will be deployed in the western Plantations. OPERATION COVIDIUS is just the 1st of many operations that will create the FEAR & PANIC conditions among the herds of modern western moron slaves, that will make it really easy for THEM to deploy that tech.
Why do you think China was the chosen one to practice a "city lockdown" during EVENT 201 planning?
Why do you think China was on the news of western countries while they were executing the lockdown and then no more China news?
China is also under the Shadow of the SRF & Billionaires at least for now. The only thing China is trying to achieve is to shift the POWER of the SRF into Chinese Families, nothing more.
maxine , Jan 10, 2021 7:48 PM
What has Off-G come to? .One must be truly mad to imagine that D. tHRUMP
"SINCERELY" thought ANYTHING EVER, let alone "changing the way America is run" .He's incapable of comprehending what the word "SINCERITY" means .Sorry the author has lost his hero.wardropper , Jan 10, 2021 8:24 PM Reply to maxine
OffG publishes articles and anybody who wants to can comment on them.
It does not push, or imagine, any group philosophy other than to support us all in a deep distrust of what the mainstream media ram down our throats every day, and to give us space to express our personal disgust in our own way.
We are not going to imagine what you would like us to imagine merely on your say-so either, although you are quite free to tell us what your personal recommendations are.
OffG has never been pro-Trump, and we are all aware that the alternative is far from being any better.
Perhaps you would like to tell us what is really bugging you, given that you have never been under any pressure even to show up here At the very least, you could stay on topic:
So, what about the swamp, and who you think is most likely to succeed in draining it ?Carol Jones , Jan 10, 2021 8:53 PM Reply to wardropper
Hear Hear!
Gezzah Potts , Jan 10, 2021 10:26 PM Reply to wardropper
Spot on W👍
YouTube_censors_unfortuna , Jan 10, 2021 7:40 PM
Trump's racist fan base supported America's bogus War of Terrorism against blameless Muslim countries, did they not? What goes around, comes around.
James Meeks , Jan 10, 2021 10:40 PM Reply to YouTube_censors_unfortuna
I think you are getting fan bases mixed up. Trump inherited these conflicts from Bush, Iraq 2002 invasion & Obama's 2015 invasion of Syria and it was Trump that threatened to end the propping up of the endless war industry. In fact that played the major role in why Trump had to be removed at all costs including selling treason and vote rigging as Democracy to be defended against "domestic terrorists".
YouTube_censors_unfortuna , Jan 11, 2021 9:45 AM Reply to James Meeks
Did America's white patriots oppose the demonisation of Muslims as being terrorists who did 9/11 or did they participate in this US government fiction?
Thom1111 , Jan 11, 2021 3:17 PM Reply to YouTube_censors_unfortuna
No, at least half of the patriots are and were aware that 9/11 was an inside job.
Geoffrey Skoll , Jan 10, 2021 7:25 PM
Right! The Donald was too weak and too stupid. A smarter president got shot for his troubles, but the rulers knew they didn't have to resort to that against the Donald. He was obsessed with his mirror. All those meeting between Ike and JFK, what do you think they were talking about?
Sgt Oddball , Jan 10, 2021 11:01 PM Reply to Geoffrey Skoll
- Please also note the *Extreme* copypasta, every other sentence, in the article – Who *Actually Is* this guy?
DM: , Jan 11, 2021 12:22 AM Reply to Sgt Oddball
A fifty-center.
Lisa , Jan 10, 2021 7:09 PM
Fuck Trump and his knuckle dragging moron supporters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_P-0I6sAck
Mr Y , Jan 10, 2021 7:21 PM Reply to Lisa
Now tell us what *you* like.
David Meredith , Jan 10, 2021 9:14 PM Reply to Lisa
hey, my knuckles don't drag – how dare you suggest such a thing.
James Meeks , Jan 10, 2021 10:44 PM Reply to Lisa
Sounds like you came to Off Guardian thinking it was the Guardian and expected to find a group of like minded consumers of security state propaganda in a Trump bashing fest.
Sgt Oddball , Jan 10, 2021 11:02 PM Reply to Lisa
"Oook, Oook, Oook!!! "
*Flings Monkey-Poop *
sue , Jan 10, 2021 6:55 PM
A premature judgement. Time will tell.
MANUEL , Jan 10, 2021 6:55 PM
Do u relly guys think Trump was a hope for all pf us? I am still amazed that people(including off-guard) still thinks in terms of left vs right, good vs bad, and all that narrative. I am afraid that nnarrativ has never been true. It is part of the game of "the matrix" to keep us entertained in shows programmed for tth masses, division, polarizaiomn, saviours and "heros". In my opinion it is time for a deep shift. Continuing to hope that some guy will save us all, it is just seeing a tree but not being able to see the woods. While some keep waiting for somebody to save us, they are moving forward with their plans really fast. But no problem guys. Sooner or later the rrality will knock on you door, and you will have to decide if you are going to be a slave or a free human. And it will be all about what you decide. No american hero or any messiah will do it for you.
Sophie - Admin1 , Jan 10, 2021 9:50 PM Reply to MANUEL
We have warned against accepting the Left/Right paradigm many times. This is NOT an editorial and therefore is not 'the voice of OffG'.
Some visitors here need to up their sophistication level to the point they understand we publish a SPECTRUM of dissident opinion that we consider merits discussion or a wider audience, without necessarily agreeing with all of it.
Sgt Oddball , Jan 10, 2021 11:15 PM Reply to Sophie - Admin1
"Some visitors here need to up their sophistication level to the point they understand we publish a SPECTRUM of dissident opinion "
- Yep, well that's as may be, but Andrew Korybko's position is *Lame As All Hell* – Every establishment talking point *Covered* – just from the 'Contrarian' side
- Trump was an 'Outsider' who 'Became' an 'Insider'?! – Aww Puh-lease! – He was a *Stalking Horse
- "He didn't have the *'Strength'* to 'Drain The Swamp'(tm)"??!?! – *No-One* *Indivudal* in all Creation could've
- Do you think we're *Children*?!
Asylum , Jan 11, 2021 3:26 PM Reply to Sgt Oddball
been on this site a whole while now not seen any articles discussing trump failures
James Meeks , Jan 10, 2021 11:06 PM Reply to MANUEL
We are all aware that we are the playthings of the rich and powerful but all you're doing is stating what most of us already know. What is your solution? So tell us please what you are doing to that makes you feel free and not a slave? Are you living off the grid? Not using currency? What is it you're doing that makes you different from those of us you claim are not facing reality? I think many people, myself included, who have no love for Trump see that he is being denounced by every billionaire member of the Davos gang of criminals as a threat to world order and the economy while they shut down the planet with medical martial law and create an authoritarian Globalist Technocratic dictatorship ending Democracies worldwide and targeting "domestic terrorists" who oppose them.
George Mc , Jan 10, 2021 6:35 PM
The steps on how to destroy all of the services, public and private though focussing on the NHS:
Seize on a moderate flu variant. Build it up to be the blackest death since the black death. Seize on all the old people who die anyway and claim their numbers as an indication of the carnage. For anyone still hesitant, introduce hypocritical emotional blackmail about "the most vulnerable" in our society to shame everyone into the game On the basis of those appropriated death figures, endlessly circulate fear porn – enhanced by the fact that the symptoms of this apocalyptic virus are indistinguishable from the regular flu or even the common cold. Get everyone to steer clear of everyone else. Close down all "inessential" work plus communal gathering places to ensure everyone is isolated before the droning monolithic message you are pumping out. Introduce even more draconian measures for anyone who "has" the bug – effectively barring them even (especially) from care work. Prioritise the new bug cases so that they have access to hospital facilities – while anyone with other (real) illnesses are barred to "protect" them! This fills up the hospitals with hypochondriacs with the common cold. Introduce the notion that some may carry the bug without symptoms. Introduce a new test which can determine who has the symptomless bug. On the basis of those magical symptomless bug test kits, bar the essential workers from supporting the vulnerable – in order to "protect the vulnerable"! Constantly report on how the NHS is collapsing – which it is, being filled up with folks with the cold and turning everyone else away, and also being deprived of essential workers who tested positive for the symptomless bug. Just stand back and watch it all collapse whilst continuing to report on it with increasing horror!George Mc , Jan 10, 2021 6:41 PM Reply to George Mc
PS the list is not exhaustive. I didn't even touch on the phony Left/Right divide.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL , Jan 10, 2021 7:18 PM Reply to George Mc
EXCERPTS FROM THE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORTS INTO COVID-19 AND CARE HOMES.
A must read.
The Department of Health and Social Care . adopted a policy, that led to 25,000 patients, including those (known to be) infected (with Covid-19, and also those who were) possibly infected with Covid-19 (but) had not been tested, being discharged from hospital into care homes between 17 March and 15 April -- exponentially increasing the risk of transmission to the very population most at risk of severe illness and death from the disease. (This, while being denied) access to testing, (being denied) personal protective equipment, (while having) insufficient staff, and limited (and confusing) guidance.
(As expected) care homes were overwhelmed.
James Meeks , Jan 10, 2021 11:10 PM Reply to AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Amnesty International is US State Department Propaganda Amnesty run by US State Department representatives, funded by convicted financial criminals, and threatens real human rights advocacy worldwide.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/amnesty-international-is-us-state-department-propaganda/32444
DM: , Jan 11, 2021 12:30 AM Reply to George Mc
Who the hell down-voted this. I want a name, address, and employment details.
Teresa , Jan 10, 2021 6:27 PM
No, the entire "game" hasn't played out yet. Hold back on your final conclusions for now. Watchful waiting at the moment.
Moneycircus , Jan 10, 2021 6:21 PM
Computah sez. I mean computer is science, right? And you gotta trust the science Just Google it, OK?
So, AI sez BABY FILTER!
https://www.youtube.com/embed/qUm2KWPmnHg?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent
George Mc , Jan 10, 2021 6:04 PM
The tackiest of plays unfolding with the most tedious predictability: "And the NHS can't take much more as .."
Yes yes yes – as if we didn't fucking know!
YOU MEAN TO DESTROY THE NHS AND YOU WILL REPEAT THIS OVER AND OVER AND OVER UNTIL IT IS DONE!
|
|
|
Jan 20, 2021 | www.thegatewaypundit.com
Feds Quietly Close Flynn Leak Investigation, Find No Wrongdoing By Crooked Obama Officials
frozeninbemidji-INA sec.212(f) • 4 hours ago
Commie-Crusher dlovely • 3 hours ago ,Everything will be swept under the rug now.
They have an all too willing media and a bureaucracy loaded with 99% like minded scumbags.
flash dlovely • 3 hours ago ,Barr is Deep State
Donald J Tromp flash • 3 hours ago ,We begged Trump to get rid of him many months ago. Same with Wray. Without justice you have no society and no Constitution. Halper came into the CIA by Brennan. Should have gotten rid of her many months ago. These are Trumps biggest mistakes.
Sessions, Barr, Wray, Haspel, Coates, Krebs... Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Coney-Barrett... even his SC Justice picks are suspect at this point. Honestly, it's pathetic!
|
|
|
Jan 20, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Zanon , Jan 19 2021 8:11 utc | 137
LOL!
Clinton, Pelosi: Was Russia/Putin involved in the riots?
https://www.foxbangor.com/national-news/clinton-suggests-putin-may-have-known-about-riot-in-capitol-pelosi-wants-9-11-commission-type-probe/
|
|
|
Jan 19, 2021 | www.nybooks.com
Orthodoxy of the Elites - by Jackson Lears - The New York Review of Books
By 2016 the concept of "liberal democracy," once bright with promise, had dulled into a neoliberal politics that was neither liberal nor democratic. The Democratic Party's turn toward market-driven policies, the bipartisan dismantling of the public sphere, the inflight marriage of Wall Street and Silicon Valley in the cockpit of globalization -- these interventions constituted the long con of neoliberal governance, which enriched a small minority of Americans while ravaging most of the rest.
Jackson Lears is Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of History at Rutgers, Editor in Chief of Raritan, and the author of Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of Modern America, 1877–1920, among other books. (January 2021)
|
|
|
Sep 17, 2020 | www.unz.com
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself."
Marcus Tullius Cicero
The Transition Integrity Project (TIP) is a shadowy group of government, military and media elites who have concocted a plan to spread mayhem and disinformation following the November 3 presidential elections. The strategy takes advantage of the presumed delay in determining the winner of the upcoming election. (due to the deluge of mail-in votes.) The interim period is expected to intensify partisan warfare creating the perfect environment for disseminating propaganda and inciting street violence. The leaders of TIP believe that a mass mobilization will help them to achieve what Russiagate could not, that is, the removal Donald Trump via an illicit coup conjured up by behind-the-scenes powerbrokers and their Democrat allies. Here's a little more background from an article by Chris Farrell at the Gatestone Institute:
"In one of the greatest public disinformation campaigns in American history -- the Left and their NeverTrumper allies (under the nom de guerre: "Transition Integrity Project") released a 22-page report in August 2020 "war gaming" four election crisis scenarios: .The outcome of each TIP scenario results in street violence and political impasse.
Is it possible that the leadership of the American Left, along with their NeverTrumper allies, are busy talking themselves into advocating and promoting street violence as a response to a presidential election?
The answer is: Yes . expect violence in the aftermath of the election, because now that is the new 'normal." (" How to Steal an Election", Gatestone Institute )
Farrell is right. As we can see from the many articles that have recently popped up in the media, the American people are being prepared for a contested election that will fuel public anxiety and revolt. This all fits with the overall strategy of the TIP. Selected journalists will be used to provide bits of information that serve the interests of the group while the people will be told to expect a long and drawn-out constitutional crisis. Meanwhile, the media, the Democrat leadership, trusted elites and elements in the Intelligence Community will put pressure on Trump to step down while firing up their political base to take to the streets. TIP's 22-page manifesto makes it clear that mass mobilization will be key to any electoral victory. Here's an excerpt from the text:
"A show of numbers in the streets-and actions in the streets-may be decisive factors in determining what the public perceives as a just and legitimate outcome." ( "Preventing a Disrupted Presidential Election and Transition" The Transition Integrity Project )
In other words, the authors fully support demonstrations and political upheaval to achieve their goal of removing Trump. Clearly, this scorched earth approach did not originate with Joe Biden, but with the cynical and bloodthirsty puppetmasters who operate behind the curtain and who will do anything to advance their agenda.
This is a full-blown color revolution authored and supported by the same oligarchs and deep-state honchoes that have opposed Trump from the very beginning. They're not going to back down or call off the dogs until the job is done and Trump is gone. And when the dust settles, Trump will likely be charged, tried, sentenced and imprisoned. His fortune will be seized, his family will be financially ruined, and his closest advisors and allies will be prosecuted on fabricated charges. There's not going to be a "graceful transition" of power if Trump loses. He will face the full wrath of the scheming mandarins he has frustrated for the last 4 years. These are the men who applauded when Saddam and Ghaddafi were savagely butchered. Will Trump face the same fate as them?
Trump has less than two months to rally his supporters, draw attention to the conspiracy that has is presently underway, and figure out a way to defend himself against the coup plotters. If he is unable to derail the impending junta, his goose is cooked.
It's worth noting, that the Transition Integrity Project (TIP) has no legal authority to meddle in the upcoming election. They were not appointed by any congressional committee nor did any government entity approve their intrusive activities. This is entirely a "lone wolf" operation designed to exploit loopholes in campaign laws in order to undermine public confidence in our elections and to express their unbridled hostility towards Donald Trump. That said, there analysis will probably influence those who share their views. In the first page of their "Executive Summary" they say:
"We assess with a high degree of likelihood that November's elections will be marked by a chaotic legal and political landscape. We also assess that the President Trump is likely to contest the result by both legal and extra-legal means, in an attempt to hold onto power. " (Ibid )
This short statement provides the basic justification for the group's existence. It presents the participants as impartial observers performing their civic duty by objectively analyzing exercises (war games?) that indicate that Trump will challenge the election results in a desperate attempt to hold on to power. Not surprisingly, the group provides no evidence that the president would react the way they think he would. In fact, their hypothesis seems extremely far-fetched given the fact that Trump has no militia, no private army, and very few allies among the political class, the Intelligence Community, the FBI, the military or the deep state. Who exactly does the group think would help Trump hold on to power: Bill Barr, Larry Kudlow, Melania??
There is nothing "impartial" about this analysis. It is partisan gibberish aimed at discrediting Trump while creating a pretext for launching a coup against him. Here is another sample of TIP's "objective analysis" from page 1 of the manuscript:
"The Transition Integrity Project (TIP) was launched in late 2019 out of concern that the Trump Administration may seek to manipulate, ignore, undermine or disrupt the 2020 presidential election and transition process. TIP takes no position on how Americans should cast their votes, or on the likely winner of the upcoming election; either major party candidate could prevail at the polls in November without resorting to "dirty tricks." However, the administration of President Donald Trump has steadily undermined core norms of democracy and the rule of law and embraced numerous corrupt and authoritarian practices. This presents a profound challenge for those –from either party –who are committed to ensuring free and fair elections, peaceful transitions of power, and stable administrative continuity in the United States." (Ibid )
Got that? In other words (to paraphrase) "Trump is a corrupt dictator who hates democracy and the rule of law, but that is just our unbiased opinion. Please, don't let that influence your vote. We just want to make sure the election goes smoothly."
As we noted, the hatred for Trump permeates the entire 22-page document and that, in turn, undermines the credibility of the author to portray his project as an impartial examination of potential problems in the upcoming election. There is nothing evenhanded in the approach to these issues or in the remedies that are recommended. This is a partisan project concocted by malicious elites who despise Trump and who plan to remove him from office by hook or crook.
So, do we know who the leaders of this (TIP) group are?
Well, we know who their two main spokesmen are: Rosa Brooks– Georgetown law professor and co-founder of the Transition Integrity Project, and Ret. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William & Mary, and chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell. According to an article by Whitney Webb:
" (Rosa) Brooks was an advisor to the Pentagon and the Hillary Clinton-led State Department during the Obama administration. She was also previously the general counsel to the President of the Open Society Institute, part of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), a controversial organization funded by billionaire George Soros. Zoe Hudson, who is TIP's director, is also a former top figure at OSF, serving as senior policy analyst and liaison between the foundations and the U.S. government for 11 years .
OSF ties to the TIP are a red flag for a number of reasons, namely due to the fact that OSF and other Soros-funded organizations played a critical role in fomenting so-called "color revolutions" to overthrow non-aligned governments, particularly during the Obama administration. Examples of OSF's ties to these manufactured "revolutions" include Ukraine in 2014 and the "Arab Spring" ..
In addition to her ties to the Obama administration and OSF, Brooks is currently a scholar at West Point's Modern War Institute, where she focuses on "the relationship between the military and domestic policing" and also Georgetown's Innovative Policing Program. She is a currently a key player in the documented OSF-led push to "capitalize" off of legitimate calls for police reform to justify the creation of a federalized police force under the guise of defunding and/or eliminating local police departments. Brooks' interest in the "blurring line" between military and police is notable given her past advocacy of a military coup to remove Trump from office and the TIP's subsequent conclusion that the military "may" have to step in if Trump manages to win the 2020 election, per the group's "war games" described above.
Brooks is also a senior fellow at the think tank New America . New America's mission statement notes that the organization is focused on "honestly confronting the challenges caused by rapid technological and social change, and seizing the opportunities those changes create." It is largely funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, including Bill Gates (Microsoft), Eric Schmidt (Google), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Jeffrey Skoll and Pierre Omidyar (eBay) . In addition, it has received millions directly from the U.S. State Department to research "ranking digital rights." Notably, of these funders, Reid Hoffman was caught "meddling" in the most recent Democratic primary to undercut Bernie Sanders' candidacy during the Iowa caucus and while others, such as Eric Schmidt and Pierre Omidyar, are known for their cozy ties to the Clinton family and even ties to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign." (" "Bipartisan" Washington Insiders Reveal Their Plan for Chaos if Trump Wins the Election ", Unlimited Hangout )
Is it safe to say that Rosa Brooks is a Soros stooge overseeing a color revolution in the United States aimed at toppling Trump and replacing him with a dementia-addled, meat-puppet named Joe Biden?
Political analyst Paul Craig Roberts seems to think so. Here's what he said in a recent post at his website:
"I have provided evidence that the military/security complex, using the media and the Democrats, intends to turn the November election into a color revolution The evidence of a color revolution in the works is abundantly supplied by CNN, MSNBC, New York Times, NPR, Washington Post and numerous Internet sites funded by the CIA and the foundations and corporations through which it operates.. All of these media organizations are establishing the story in the mind of Americans that Trump will not leave office when he loses or steals the election and must be driven out.
With Antifa and Black Lives Matter now experienced in violent protests, they will be unleashed anew on American cities when there is news of a Trump election victory. The media will explain the violence as necessary to free us from a tyrant and egg on the violence, as will the Democrat Party. The CIA will be certain that the violence is well funded .
What is a reelected President Trump going to do when the Secret Service refuses to repel Antifa and Black Lives Matter when they breach White House Security?
American Democracy is on the verge of being ended for all times, and the world media will herald the event as the successful overthrowing of a tyrant." ( "America's Color Revolution" , Paul Craig Roberts )
Another of the leading spokesmen for TIP is Retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson who made this revealing statement in a recent interview:
"Let me just say some of the things that we're putting out there. Among those things, one that is very important is the media, particularly the mainstream media. They cannot act as they usually act with regard to elections. They have to play a coup on election night. They can't be declaring some state like Pennsylvania for one candidate or the other. When Pennsylvania probably has thousands upon thousands of votes yet to come in and count. So, the media has to get its act in order and it has to act very differently than it normally does."
(NOTE: In other words, Wilkerson does not want the media to follow the normal protocols for covering an election, but to adjust their reporting to accommodate the aims of the coup-plotters. Does that sound like someone who is committed to evenhanded coverage of events, or someone who wants reporters to shape the news to meet the specifications of his own particular agenda? Here's more from Wilkerson:)
"Second, .we also have learned that poll workers have to be younger. And we've started a movement all across the country to train young people. And we've had really good luck with the volunteers to do so , to be poll workers. Because we found out in Wisconsin, for example, poll workers are mostly over 60. And many of them didn't show up because they were afraid of COVID-19. And so Wisconsin went from about one 188 polling places, to about 15. That's disastrous." (" This 'War Game' Maps out what happens if the President contests the Election" , WBUR )
Why is Wilkerson so encouraged by the young people he's trained to act as poll workers? Doesn't that sound a bit fishy, especially from a dyed-in-the-wool partisan who's mixed up with a group whose sole aim is to beat Trump? And why are the authors of the TIP manifesto so eager to reveal their true intentions. Take a look:
"There will likely not be an "election night" this year; unprecedented numbers of voters are expected to use mail-in ballots, which will almost certainly delay the certified result for days or weeks. A delay provides a window for campaigns, the media, and others to cast doubt on the integrity of the process and for escalating tensions between competing camps. As a legal matter, a candidate unwilling to concede can contest the election into January. .."( Ibid)
So, that's the GamePlan, eh? The coup plotters want a contested election that drags on for weeks, deepens divisions among the population, undermines confidence in the electoral system, instigates ferocious street fighting in cities across the country, and gives the Biden camp time to mobilize its political resources in Congress to mount a Constitutional attack on Trump.
Can we at least call this treachery by its proper name: Treason– "the crime of betraying one's country by trying to overthrow the government?"
If the shoe fits ..
|
|
|
Jan 14, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Petri Krohn , Jan 13 2021 23:08 utc | 51
How to Un-Trump Four Years of Trump?
A central rule of a color revolution is to avoid an "orderly transition". The new regime must have a revolutionary mandate instead of a democratic one. Only then can it operate outside the constitution and outside the law.
The plan here is to declare not only Trump illegitimate but his whole administration illegitimate. The new regime can then undo all of Trump's executive decisions. There is no need to "stuff" the Supreme Court with extra judges. Simply declare Trump's appointments null and void.
|
|
|
Jan 11, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
LittleWhiteCabbage , Jan 11 2021 15:19 utc | 128
@84:
As sometimes said: don't sweat the small stuff.
This "We are all Taiwanese now" stunt is Pompeo's act of petty spite for getting outfoxed in the Hong Kong colour revolution play.
Empire's useful idiots were let loose to trash the hapless city, fired up by the Western propaganda machinery.
Now Beijing is putting the stock on those pompous minions with the National Security Law, and their foreign masters can't do nuffin' except squeal human rights and apply some nuisance sanctions.
The West fails because it looks at China through ideological lenses and sees Communists, who can fall back on 5000 years of statecraft to push back at interlopers.
Beijing's moves can be likened to two classic strategies.
1. Zhuge Liang fools the enemy to fire all their arrows at straw men, which become ammunition against them.
2. The Empty City strategy. Invaders take over an ostensibly abandoned city, only to be trapped inside.
Global Times is cantankerous and sometimes risible, but even a broken clock is right, twice a day.
So when it says that crossing Beijing's red line on the Taiwan issue is not in the island's best interests, the incoming BiMala administration should take note.
|
|
|
Jan 10, 2021 | www.unz.com
President Trump was decisively beaten, if not fair and square. The hopes of millions of American voters were squashed and extinguished. The saga of the Orange Man is over. The victors used a gambit: they sacrificed the sanctity and security of the Capitol, allowed intruders in, permitted them to take selfies in the Speaker's office, and then faked horror and outrage. The attempted calls for electoral transparency were deflated in real time as huge crowds were dispersed, electors were confirmed, and the ascendancy of Biden was assured, while Trump followers were branded 'domestic terrorists'.
Donald Trump denounced the people whom he personally called to protest. His close political allies withdrew their support. Within hours, or even minutes, this ruler of the world admired by millions became a non-person. Like a boy who posted an obscenity, he was banned by Twitter and Facebook. Time will tell whether he will go to prison, as so many Dems pray for, but his political life seems to have ended, even if his cause may live.
The deck was stacked against President Trump from Day One. His orders were ignored. The US courts, judges, police, the whole system of law enforcement was against him; his orders were blocked or overturned, while the media made fun of him and the opposition relentlessly delegitimised him. He was blocked even by Fox News. Dem-run states adjusted their laws to assure the elections' result. Trump was a lame duck from the very beginning of his presidency to its bitter end. He was kept on a short leash by the almighty Deep State, and when he tried to free himself, they pulled the leash.
On January 6, a massive demonstration in his support gathered in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands Americans came to the capital to demand justice after the election fraud became obvious. They hoped that the Republican representatives would refuse to certify the fraud and appoint a commission to check and recount the votes. Some of the protesters managed to break into the Capitol, or were let in by the police. This peaceful Occupy Capitol action, the exercise of a natural right to protest, was met with lethal fire, and a young female protester from San Diego, Ashli Babbitt, was murdered by the plainclothes police. The Republican representatives were cowed and surrendered; Biden was confirmed to take office.
The horror and outrage of the Dem politicians and media were as faked as their news. During last year, many government buildings were taken over by Dem-sponsored BLM activists, and in not one case did the police use lethal weapons or even rush the protesters out of buildings.
"Shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the locked King Street entrance to the Capitol, chanting "Break down the door!" and "General strike!" Moments later, police ceded control of the State Street doors and allowed the crowd to surge inside, joining thousands who had already gathered in the Capitol to protest the votes. The area outside the Assembly, which is scheduled to take the bill up at 11 a.m. today, was crowded with protesters who chanted, "We're not leaving. Not this time."
Department of Administration spokesman Tim Donovan said although protesters were being encouraged to leave, no one would be forcibly removed. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said he had instructed Police Chief Noble Wray not to allow his officers to participate in removing demonstrators from the building."
This was what happened in Madison, Wisconsin in March 2011, as Steve Sailer reminded us. Indeed, this is what the protesters expected; some were dressed in flamboyant carnival attire; they behaved well and peacefully, within acceptable limits. It was not an insurrection; they didn't try to take over the Congress in any meaningful sense. For them, it was an honest and funny way to express their indignation. But the real gambit plotters intended to frame them. They even murdered four protesters hoping they would respond with violence, but in vain.
White American protesters are exceptionally non-violent lot; as with Occupy Wall Street a few years back the January 6 Capitol protesters were timid and obedient as lambs. For this reason, BLM was invented, for Blacks are able to riot violently, as opposed to well-trained whites. It is not a race thing: lily-white French Yellow Vests and Ukrainian nationalists have fought the police all right. But US whites are not prone to riot, not since the Civil War. Being a foreigner, I do not understand why the Americans want to keep their guns if they never use them, but that's the way they are.
Anyway, their non-violence didn't help them. The president-elect Biden begrudged them even the name of protesters: "Don't dare call them protesters. They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists." Indeed, the name should be preserved for Deep State-authorised looters and their brethren all over the world, whether in Hong Kong or Minsk, in Seattle or Portland.
Russian social networks were comparing the Washington DC events with those nearer to home and complained of 'double standards'. The US media expressed no indignation when their appointee Boris Yeltsin shelled the Russian Parliament in 1993. The New York Times and the State Department had encouraged the nationalist mob to storm Ukrainian government offices in 2014. They cheered on the opposition in Minsk in taking over their parliament after failing to win elections. The Belarus protesters claimed their country's election results were rigged, just like Trump supporters did for the US elections, but Biden didn't call them "domestic terrorists". (Actually, neither did President Lukashenko: he called them 'protesters', and their violent demos were dispersed without a single shot fired.) In such cases, Jews respond with "How can you compare?!"
The Russians compared the Capitol 'coup attempt' with their own semi-staged 'coup' of 1991, a partly pre-planned provocation. In 1991, the feeble coup organisers could not detain Yeltsin and surrendered as if on cue; the wave of indignation removed Gorbachev and the Communist party from power. In the Capitol, too, police waved the 'invaders' in, as you can see on this video forwarded by the BBC. More videos suggesting Capitol police involvement in the ostensible provocation are presented here . The orchestrated indignation allowed the victors to censor and purge the defeated Trump and his followers. Just as the USSR went down in August 1991, Trump's America went down in January 2021, and the liberal elites representing the big corporations came to power. It was achieved by a provocation, but ordinary Trump followers were really angry with the Election Steal. Likewise, 1991 was a provocation, but ordinary Russian citizens were angry at Gorbachev's perestroika, while the liberal elites used it to dismantle the Soviet state and transfer all assets to their oligarchs.
People with a good knowledge of history refer to the Reichstag Fire of February 1933, the arson contrived by the newly formed Nazi government itself to turn public opinion against its opponents and to assume emergency powers. Alternatively, other researchers have contended that there was no proof of Nazi complicity in the crime, but that Hitler merely capitalised on the Dutch Communist van der Lubbe's independent act. The fire is the subject of continued debate and research, says the Encycopaedia Britannica . Probably the same will be said about the Capitol "invasion", and researchers will argue whether duplicitous Biden's minions organised it or just capitalised on the Trumpers' sincere protest.
There is no doubt that to an objective observer the 2020 elections were profoundly unfair. I won't trouble you with too many published details about the statistically impossible results, but here is one example of fraud. The city of Detroit gave 95 per cent of its vote to Biden/Kamala, a number that Mr Kim Jong-un would view with slight envy, while Mr Lukashenko would murmur, "How can it be done?" It is highly likely this mind-boggling result was achieved in the following way.
Detroit Dems outsourced ballot harvesting to local drug lords, offering them as a prize – recreational marijuana business licenses.
These licences are the best thing sincea licence to print money. Having such licenses is like having your own ATM. Here you can read about their profitability and the lengths criminals will go to obtain them. Detroit Dems had changed local laws allowing the sale of marijuana in their fine city (it was forbidden until November 2020). They changed local laws prescribing the issuing of marijuana licences to drug dealers with previous convictions for drug dealing. They let drug lords out of jail . They changed local laws to allow ballot harvesting; that is, collecting postal votes and assisting with the filling in of ballots. After that, the drug dealers went around collecting postal ballots and filling them in immediately, if they were conscientious, or just filling them in at their leisure, if feeling lazy. They had a judge at their disposal, Cynthia Stephens , who single-handedly changed Michigan election laws, and then rejected Trump's claims of fraud.Yes, Virginia, there was election fraud in many American states. They are used to gambling; they aren't surprised by a beautiful hand of four aces, as Mark Twain suggested. Usually the two parties deal in turns, and cheat in turns. Only this time, Trump convinced many people that it is different; that this is their last chance.
The problem is, Trump was a poor organiser. He could win elections, if he could prevent Cynthia Stephens's kind of legislation, outlaw postal ballots, enforce obligatory IDs for voting, mobilise his people for election control. A formidable task, but not impossible, while dealing with a prone-to-cheat adversary. He could even do a revolution on January 6, tasking the right people to act, forming a revolutionary HQ, planning a strategy of takeover, but he didn't do anything of the sort. He probably thought Congress would see the vast crowds and allow for the checking of election results.
Alternatively, he was so naïve that he believed revolutions just happen by themselves, as in the movies. They do not. Behind every successful revolution, there is a lot of planning, armed force, weapons ready for use, supply lines, logistics, media support, and communications. Trump had none of that. It was enough to turn off Twitter to make him deaf and dumb.
There was no coup attempt, as correctly stated by Tyler Durden : "Trump has never had the concentration, organizational acumen, or ideological coherence to mount a bona fide "coup," and a mob intrusion which was swiftly dispersed by armed agents of the state doesn't change that. Shortly after the breach, he released a video instructing his followers not to take Senators hostage or imprison Mike Pence, but to "go home." No factions of the federal government joined the mob on Trump's orders, because he didn't bother issuing any. The whole episode never stood the remotest chance of preventing the certification of Joe Biden, much less overthrowing the government. It was just another goofball charade, and in that sense, a fitting end to the Trump presidency."
Conspiracy theories played their disappointing part in the debacle. Many Trumpists believed in the QAnon and Kayfabe conspiracies; they posted reports of bad guys being arrested, of servers snatched by the FBI, of Clinton and Biden waiting for rough justice behind bars. This belief disarmed people who would otherwise have fought to achieve this very result. That is the problem with conspiracies: imaginary conspiracies prevent real action.
Still, I do not want to finish this piece on such a sad and disappointing note. President Trump was a great leader. He succeeded against enormous odds in improving the lot of American workers: for the first time since the 1970s, their incomes rose in relation to the other classes. He stopped mass migration to the US: legal immigration went down to a trickle. He avoided new wars; he tried to make peace with Russia. He refused to bomb Iran even in the last days of his presidency, though some pro-Israel supporters promised him a second term if he would.
His fight against the corona madness was his great achievement. He was against the lockdowns that are about to destroy our world so completely that few things will survive. The last great US ruler who didn't wear the cowardly mask will be remembered. He could not defeat the mighty medical complex, or FAGMA, or the Masters of Discourse, but he tried.
The day of his defeat, January 6, was the Epiphany, or Adoration of the Magi, of the Three Wise Men who came to worship Jesus in his cave. It was also Christmas Eve for the Eastern Church. It is the darkest time of the year; from now on, the day will increase and so will our hopes.
Israel Shamir can be reached at [email protected]
This article was first published at The Unz Review .
|
|
|
Jan 07, 2021 | www.speaker.gov
psychohistorian | Jan 7 2021 5:59 utc | 2
Here's what Steve Bannon's MAGA war-room had to say on today's events..."...What people need to understand is that there's a growing sense among the Deplorables that they've been betrayed not only by their political leaders, but the very institutions that were designed theoretically to protect their liberties."
Who by the way knew that members of Congress have gas masks under their seats ?
Tear gas was deployed in the Capitol rotunda, so the order came down for lawmakers to ready gas masks that are stored under their seats. Allred helped some his colleagues take out their masks as Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Marine Corps veteran, provided instruction."When you put your mask on, breathe slowly or you'll hyperventilate," Gallego said, according to Allred.
There surely is a lot of hyperventilating right now. Trump is accused of inciting violence.
It doesn't read like that . In fact Trump spoke out against violence and called on the people to leave peacefully only to get censored by the blue tick monopoly:
If this was the nakedcapitalism web site I would have no question about what the TINA referenced (private finance) but in this posting I am not so sure that is so clear.
How can America have an epiphany moment about the mythological left/right when top/bottom is the reality that TINA should be all about?
Since the global private finance elite can't start a global war they have to resort to manufactured civil warfare to keep the masses under control and brainwashed against the private finance TINA.
A shit show civil war to keep focus off the real TINA of global private finance......and b wants to call that style.....
Down South | Jan 7 2021 6:36 utc | 8
The election was stolen. The fraud was blatant, in your face. The election process, the only peaceful means for a transfer of power according to the wishes of the electorate is seen as fatally undermined by a significant portion of the electorate.
SCOTUS washed their hands of it.
So if their votes don't count and the highest court in the land won't remedy the situation then the only alternative is either dissolve the union or a radical overhaul of the union. Personally I don't think the latter will ever happen.
The only question is will the dissolution of the union be peaceful or violent!
gm | Jan 7 2021 6:52 utc | 13
Full text of Trumps speech at Jan 6 2021 DC Save America rally:
https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-speech-save-america-rally-transcript-january-6
[~75 min long speech--no added color commentary or spin]
I'm sure video of his full speech can also be found with a little searching on internet.
|
|
|
Jan 06, 2021 | www.rt.com
Do you realize now what you have done? US gets the kind of 'democracy' it championed overseas
Nebojsa Malic
is a Serbian-American journalist, blogger and translator, who wrote a regular column for Antiwar.com from 2000 to 2015, and is now senior writer at RT. Follow him on Twitter @NebojsaMalic 6 Jan, 2021 21:29 Get short URL
A protester is seen hanging from the balcony in the Senate Chamber on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC © Win McNamee / Getty Images / AFP 157 1 Follow RT on
A crowd of protesters stormed Congress protesting a presidential election they claimed had been fraudulent. When this happened in Serbia in 2000, the US called it democracy. When it happened in Washington, DC – not so much.
Scenes from the US Capitol on Wednesday, as protesters backing President Donald Trump disrupted the joint session of Congress meeting to certify the election of Democrat Joe Biden, looked very much like Belgrade in October 2000 .
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=RT_com&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1346909952410062848&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fop-ed%2F511740-us-democracy-congress-stormed%2F&siteScreenName=RT_com&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
The sight was later repeated in Ukraine – twice, in 2004 and 2014 – Georgia, Moldova, Belarus, and several Central Asian former Soviet republics. On every occasion, the US backed the "people power," because American NGOs and embassies were supporting what became known as "color revolutions."
ALSO ON RT.COM Trump supporter SHOT during Capitol breach, now in critical conditionSame thing happened in 2011 with the "Arab Spring" that started in Tunisia and then burned its way across North Africa to the Persian Gulf. In some places it "succeeded," overthrowing decades-old governments. In others it failed, setting off wars in Libya and Syria and blood on the streets of Bahrain. Again, the US cheered this on as democracy – except for Bahrain, which hosts a major naval base.
More recently, the US denounced as illegitimate the presidential elections in Belarus, Bolivia and Venezuela. While Minsk and Caracas managed to resist – and got sanctioned for it – the "democrats" in La Paz were successful for a while, but ended up losing the vote last year.
ALSO ON RT.COM America masterminded 'color revolutions' around the world. Now the very same techniques are being used at homeWay back in 2004, the Guardian wrote approvingly about how the US has created a "slick" operation of "engineering democracy through the ballot box and civil disobedience," developing since Belgrade a "template for winning other people's elections."
Now the same mainstream media that slavishly followed the State Department line in denouncing elections elsewhere as "rigged" and color revolutions as spontaneous democracy are clutching their pearls when Americans who believe their election was stolen take to the streets and storm their Capitol.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=RT_com&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1346908580683911168&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fop-ed%2F511740-us-democracy-congress-stormed%2F&siteScreenName=RT_com&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
Ah, but this election wasn't stolen, they'd say – it was pure as driven snow, "most secure ever," all the experts who told us for four years the previous one was "hacked by Russia" tell us so! And Joe Biden won the most votes in history while hardly leaving his basement. Whether you believe this official narrative about the US election or not doesn't really matter, however. Partisan myopia simply won't let people understand the magnitude of what is on display here: utter moral bankruptcy of the entire US political and media establishment.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=RT_com&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1346923404537036807&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fop-ed%2F511740-us-democracy-congress-stormed%2F&siteScreenName=RT_com&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
Republicans and Democrats alike used "color revolutions" as a political weapon for years, preaching democracy even as their astroturfed coups snuffed out any vestiges of it that might have developed organically. Over the past year, they've done so at home as well, using Covid-19 lockdowns to abolish elementary constitutional rights, culminating with changing the electoral rules to better serve "our democracy," defined as whatever gets them power.
What did they think people would do when all avenues of airing their grievances were closed off? Meekly submit – or take a page out of the same playbook the politicians and the media spent 20 years celebrating?
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=RT_com&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-3&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1346906434232057856&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fop-ed%2F511740-us-democracy-congress-stormed%2F&siteScreenName=RT_com&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
Don't go "but Trump," either. The supposed Nazi fascist dictator himself ordered National Guard and police to clear out the protesters who sided with him, and protect the establishment that did not. He's a real Hitler, right? No matter, expect the media to paint him as such anyway.
Perhaps the US ought to take a long, hard look at its own house before it continues calling out, sanctioning, regime-changing or bombing other countries over their supposed lack of "democracy." Maybe actually answer the question Russian President Vladimir Putin asked at the UN back in 2015, addressing the consequences of the 'Arab Spring': "Do you realize now what you have done?"
But we all know that's not going to happen, don't we?
ALSO ON RT.COM Trump supporters in ARMED STANDOFF with police inside US Capitol as offices evacuated & lawmakers told to don gas masks - reportsThink your friends would be interested? Share this story!
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
|
|
|
Jan 04, 2021 | dailymail.co.uk
A transcript of President Donald Trump's call with Brad Raffensperger is shown below, via the Washington Post:
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows: Okay. Alright. Mr. President, everyone is on the line. This is Mark Meadows, the chief of staff. Just so we all are aware. On the line is secretary of state and two other individuals. Jordan and Mr. Germany with him. You also have the attorneys that represent the president, Kurt and Alex and Cleta Mitchell -- who is not the attorney of record but has been involved -- myself and then the president. So Mr. President, I'll turn it over to you.
President Donald Trump: Okay, thank you very much. Hello Brad and Ryan and everybody. We appreciate the time and the call. So we've spent a lot of time on this, and if we could just go over some of the numbers, I think it's pretty clear that we won. We won very substantially in Georgia. You even see it by rally size, frankly. We'd be getting 25-30,000 people a rally, and the competition would get less than 100 people. And it never made sense.
But we have a number of things. We have at least 2 or 3 -- anywhere from 250 to 300,000 ballots were dropped mysteriously into the rolls. Much of that had to do with Fulton County, which hasn't been checked. We think that if you check the signatures -- a real check of the signatures going back in Fulton County -- you'll find at least a couple of hundred thousand of forged signatures of people who have been forged. And we are quite sure that's going to happen.
Another tremendous number. We're going to have an accurate number over the next two days with certified accountants. But an accurate number will be given, but it's in the 50s of thousands -- and that's people that went to vote and they were told they can't vote because they've already been voted for. And it's a very sad thing. They walked out complaining. But the number's large. We'll have it for you. But it's much more than the number of 11,779 that's -- the current margin is only 11,779. Brad, I think you agree with that, right? That's something I think everyone -- at least that's a number that everyone agrees on.
But that's the difference in the votes. But we've had hundreds of thousands of ballots that we're able to actually -- we'll get you a pretty accurate number. You don't need much of a number because the number that in theory I lost by, the margin would be 11,779. But you also have a substantial numbers of people, thousands and thousands, who went to the voting place on November 3, were told they couldn't vote, were told they couldn't vote because a ballot had been put on their name. And you know that's very, very, very, very sad.
We had, I believe it's about 4,502 voters who voted but who weren't on the voter registration list, so it's 4,502 who voted, but they weren't on the voter registration roll, which they had to be. You had 18,325 vacant address voters. The address was vacant, and they're not allowed to be counted. That's 18,325.
Smaller number -- you had 904 who only voted where they had just a P.O. -- a post office box number -- and they had a post office box number, and that's not allowed. We had at least 18,000 -- that's on tape, we had them counted very painstakingly -- 18,000 voters having to do with [name]. She's a vote scammer, a professional vote scammer and hustler [name]. That was the tape that's been shown all over the world that makes everybody look bad, you, me and everybody else.
Where they got -- number one they said very clearly and it's been reported that they said there was a major water main break. Everybody fled the area. And then they came back, [name] and her daughter and a few people. There were no Republican poll watchers. Actually, there were no Democrat poll watchers, I guess they were them. But there were no Democrats, either, and there was no law enforcement. Late in the morning, early in the morning, they went to the table with the black robe and the black shield, and they pulled out the votes. Those votes were put there a number of hours before -- the table was put there -- I think it was, Brad, you would know, it was probably eight hours or seven hours before, and then it was stuffed with votes.
They weren't in an official voter box; they were in what looked to be suitcases or trunks, suitcases, but they weren't in voter boxes. The minimum number it could be because we watched it, and they watched it certified in slow motion instant replay if you can believe it, but slow motion, and it was magnified many times over, and the minimum it was 18,000 ballots, all for Biden.
You had out-of-state voters. They voted in Georgia, but they were from out of state, of 4,925. You had absentee ballots sent to vacant, they were absentee ballots sent to vacant addresses. They had nothing on them about addresses, that's 2,326.
And you had dropboxes, which is very bad. You had dropboxes that were picked up. We have photographs, and we have affidavits from many people.
I don't know if you saw the hearings, but you have dropboxes where the box was picked up but not delivered for three days. So all sorts of things could have happened to that box, including, you know, putting in the votes that you wanted. So there were many infractions, and the bottom line is, many, many times the 11,779 margin that they said we lost by -- we had vast, I mean the state is in turmoil over this.
And I know you would like to get to the bottom of it, although I saw you on television today, and you said that you found nothing wrong. I mean, you know, and I didn't lose the state, Brad. People have been saying that it was the highest vote ever. There was no way. A lot of the political people said that there's no way they beat me. And they beat me. They beat me in the . . . As you know, every single state, we won every state. We won every statehouse in the country. We held the Senate, which is shocking to people, although we'll see what happens tomorrow or in a few days.
And we won the House, but we won every single statehouse, and we won Congress, which was supposed to lose 15 seats, and they gained, I think 16 or 17 or something. I think there's a now difference of five. There was supposed to be a difference substantially more. But politicians in every state, but politicians in Georgia have given affidavits and are going to that, that there was no way that they beat me in the election, that the people came out, in fact, they were expecting to lose, and then they ended up winning by a lot because of the coattails. And they said there's no way, that they've done many polls prior to the election, that there was no way that they won.
Ballots were dropped in massive numbers. And we're trying to get to those numbers and we will have them.
They'll take a period of time. Certified. But but they're massive numbers. And far greater than the 11,779.
The other thing, dead people. So dead people voted, and I think the number is close to 5,000 people. And they went to obituaries. They went to all sorts of methods to come up with an accurate number, and a minimum is close to about 5,000 voters.
The bottom line is, when you add it all up and then you start adding, you know, 300,000 fake ballots. Then the other thing they said is in Fulton County and other areas. And this may or may not be true . . . this just came up this morning, that they are burning their ballots, that they are shredding, shredding ballots and removing equipment. They're changing the equipment on the Dominion machines and, you know, that's not legal.
And they supposedly shredded I think they said 300 pounds of, 3,000 pounds of ballots. And that just came to us as a report today. And it is a very sad situation.
But Brad, if you took the minimum numbers where many, many times above the 11,779, and many of those numbers are certified, or they will be certified, but they are certified. And those are numbers that are there, that exist. And that beat the margin of loss, they beat it, I mean, by a lot, and people should be happy to have an accurate count instead of an election where there's turmoil.
I mean there's turmoil in Georgia and other places. You're not the only one, I mean, we have other states that I believe will be flipping to us very shortly. And this is something that -- you know, as an example, I think it in Detroit, I think there's a section, a good section of your state actually, which we're not sure so we're not going to report it yet. But in Detroit, we had, I think it was, 139 percent of the people voted. That's not too good.
In Pennsylvania, they had well over 200,000 more votes than they had people voting. And that doesn't play too well, and the legislature there is, which is Republican, is extremely activist and angry. I mean, there were other things also that were almost as bad as that. But they had as an example, in Michigan, a tremendous number of dead people that voted. I think it was, I think, Mark, it was 18,000. Some unbelievably high number, much higher than yours, you were in the 4-5,000 category.
And that was checked out laboriously by going through, by going through the obituary columns in the newspapers.
So I guess with all of it being said, Brad, the bottom line, and provisional ballots, again, you know, you'll have to tell me about the provisional ballots, but we have a lot of people that were complaining that they weren't able to vote because they were already voted for. These are great people.
And, you know, they were shellshocked. I don't know if you call that provisional ballots. In some states, we had a lot of provisional ballot situations where people were given a provisional ballot because when they walked in on November 3 and they were already voted for.
So that's it. I mean, we have many, many times the number of votes necessary to win the state. And we won the state, and we won it very substantially and easily, and we're getting, we have, much of this is a very certified, far more certified than we need. But we're getting additional numbers certified, too. And we're getting pictures of dropboxes being delivered and delivered late. Delivered three days later, in some cases, plus we have many affidavits to that effect.
Meadows: So, Mr. President, if I might be able to jump in, and I'll give Brad a chance. Mr. Secretary, obviously there is, there are allegations where we believe that not every vote or fair vote and legal vote was counted, and that's at odds with the representation from the secretary of state's office.
What I'm hopeful for is there some way that we can, we can find some kind of agreement to look at this a little bit more fully? You know the president mentioned Fulton County.
But in some of these areas where there seems to be a difference of where the facts seem to lead, and so Mr. Secretary, I was hopeful that, you know, in the spirit of cooperation and compromise, is there something that we can at least have a discussion to look at some of these allegations to find a path forward that's less litigious?
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger: Well, I listened to what the president has just said. President Trump, we've had several lawsuits, and we've had to respond in court to the lawsuits and the contentions. We don't agree that you have won. And we don't -- I didn't agree about the 200,000 number that you'd mentioned. I'll go through that point by point.
What we have done is we gave our state Senate about one and a half hours of our time going through the election issue by issue and then on the state House, the government affairs committee, we gave them about two and a half hours of our time, going back point by point on all the issues of contention. And then just a few days ago, we met with our U.S. congressmen, Republican congressmen, and we gave them about two hours of our time talking about this past election. Going back, primarily what you've talked about here focused in on primarily, I believe, is the absentee ballot process. I don't believe that you're really questioning the Dominion machines. Because we did a hand re-tally, a 100 percent re-tally of all the ballots, and compared them to what the machines said and came up with virtually the same result. Then we did the recount, and we got virtually the same result. So I guess we can probably take that off the table.
I don't think there's an issue about that.
Trump: Well, Brad. Not that there's not an issue, because we have a big issue with Dominion in other states and perhaps in yours. But we haven't felt we needed to go there. And just to, you know, maybe put a little different spin on what Mark is saying, Mark Meadows, yeah we'd like to go further, but we don't really need to. We have all the votes we need.
You know, we won the state. If you took, these are the most minimal numbers, the numbers that I gave you, those are numbers that are certified, your absentee ballots sent to vacant addresses, your out-of-state voters, 4,925. You know when you add them up, it's many more times, it's many times the 11,779 number. So we could go through, we have not gone through your Dominion. So we can't give them blessing. I mean, in other states, we think we found tremendous corruption with Dominion machines, but we'll have to see.
But we only lost the state by that number, 11,000 votes, and 779. So with that being said, with just what we have, with just what we have, we're giving you minimal, minimal numbers. We're doing the most conservative numbers possible; we're many times, many, many times above the margin. And so we don't really have to, Mark, I don't think we have to go through . . .
Meadows: Right
Trump: Because what's the difference between winning the election by two votes and winning it by half a million votes. I think I probably did win it by half a million. You know, one of the things that happened, Brad, is we have other people coming in now from Alabama and from South Carolina and from other states, and they're saying it's impossible for you to have lost Georgia. We won. You know in Alabama, we set a record, got the highest vote ever. In Georgia, we set a record with a massive amount of votes. And they say it's not possible to have lost Georgia.
And I could tell you by our rallies. I could tell you by the rally I'm having on Monday night, the place, they already have lines of people standing out front waiting. It's just not possible to have lost Georgia. It's not possible. When I heard it was close, I said there's no way. But they dropped a lot of votes in there late at night. You know that, Brad. And that's what we are working on very, very stringently. But regardless of those votes, with all of it being said, we lost by essentially 11,000 votes, and we have many more votes already calculated and certified, too.
And so I just don't know, you know, Mark, I don't know what's the purpose. I won't give Dominion a pass because we found too many bad things. But we don't need Dominion or anything else. We have won this election in Georgia based on all of this. And there's nothing wrong with saying that, Brad. You know, I mean, having the correct -- the people of Georgia are angry. And these numbers are going to be repeated on Monday night. Along with others that we're going to have by that time, which are much more substantial even. And the people of Georgia are angry, the people of the country are angry. And there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated. Because the 2,236 in absentee ballots. I mean, they're all exact numbers that were done by accounting firms, law firms, etc. And even if you cut 'em in half, cut 'em in half and cut 'em in half again, it's more votes than we need.
Raffensperger: Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong. We talked to the congressmen, and they were surprised.
But they -- I guess there was a person named Mr. Braynard who came to these meetings and presented data, and he said that there was dead people, I believe it was upward of 5,000. The actual number were two. Two. Two people that were dead that voted. So that's wrong.
Trump: Well, Cleta, how do you respond to that? Maybe you tell me?
Trump attorney Cleta Mitchell: Well, I would say, Mr. Secretary, one of the things that we have requested and what we said was, if you look, if you read our petition, it said that we took the names and birth years, and we had certain information available to us. We have asked from your office for records that only you have, and so we said there is a universe of people who have the same name and same birth year and died.
But we don't have the records that you have. And one of the things that we have been suggesting formally and informally for weeks now is for you to make available to us the records that would be necessary --
Trump: But, Cleta, even before you do that, and not even including that, that's why I hardly even included that number, although in one state, we have a tremendous amount of dead people. So I don't know -- I'm sure we do in Georgia, too. I'm sure we do in Georgia, too.
But we're so far ahead. We're so far ahead of these numbers, even the phony ballots of [name] , known scammer. You know the Internet? You know what was trending on the Internet? "Where's [name]?" Because they thought she'd be in jail. "Where's [name]?" It's crazy, it's crazy. That was. The minimum number is 18,000 for [name] , but they think it's probably about 56,000, but the minimum number is 18,000 on the [name] night where she ran back in there when everybody was gone and stuffed, she stuffed the ballot boxes. Let's face it, Brad, I mean. They did it in slow motion replay magnified, right? She stuffed the ballot boxes. They were stuffed like nobody has ever seen them stuffed before.
So there's a term for it when it's a machine instead of a ballot box, but she stuffed the machine. She stuffed the ballot. Each ballot went three times, they were showing: Here's ballot No 1. Here it is a second time, third time, next ballot.
I mean, look. Brad. We have a new tape that we're going to release. It's devastating. And by the way, that one event, that one event is much more than the 11,000 votes that we're talking about. It's, you know, that one event was a disaster. And it's just, you know, but it was, it was something, it can't be disputed. And again, we have a version that you haven't seen, but it's magnified. It's magnified, and you can see everything. For some reason, they put it in three times, each ballot, and I don't know why. I don't know why three times. Why not five times, right? Go ahead.
Raffensperger: You're talking about the State Farm video. And I think it's extremely unfortunate that Rudy Giuliani or his people, they sliced and diced that video and took it out of context. The next day, we brought in WSB-TV, and we let them show, see the full run of tape, and what you'll see, the events that transpired are nowhere near what was projected by, you know --
Trump: But where were the poll watchers, Brad? There were no poll watchers there. There were no Democrats or Republicans. There was no security there.
It was late in the evening, late in the, early in the morning, and there was nobody else in the room. Where were the poll watchers, and why did they say a water main broke, which they did and which was reported in the newspapers? They said they left. They ran out because of a water main break, and there was no water main. There was nothing. There was no break. There was no water main break. But we're, if you take out everything, where were the Republican poll watchers, even where were the Democrat pollwatchers, because there were none.
And then you say, well, they left their station, you know, if you look at the tape, and this was, this was reviewed by professional police and detectives and other people, when they left in a rush, everybody left in a rush because of the water main, but everybody left in a rush. These people left their station.
When they came back, they didn't go to their station. They went to the apron, wrapped around the table, under which were thousands and thousands of ballots in a box that was not an official or a sealed box. And then they took those. They went back to a different station. So if they would have come back, they would have walked to their station, and they would have continued to work. But they couldn't do even that because that's illegal, because they had no Republican pollwatchers. And remember, her reputation is -- she's known all over the Internet, Brad. She's known all over.
I'm telling you, "Where's [name] " was one of the hot items . . . [name] They knew her. "Where's [name]?" So Brad, there can be no justification for that. And I, you know, I give everybody the benefit of the doubt. But that was -- and Brad, why did they put the votes in three times? You know, they put 'em in three times.
Raffensperger: Mr. President, they did not put that. We did an audit of that, and we proved conclusively that they were not scanned three times.
Trump: Where was everybody else at that late time in the morning? Where was everybody? Where were the Republicans? Where were the security guards? Were the people that were there just a little while before when everyone ran out of the room. How come we had no security in the room. Why did they run to the bottom of the table? Why do they run there and just open the skirt and rip out the votes. I mean, Brad. And they were sitting there, I think for five hours or something like that, the votes.
Raffensperger : Mr. President, we'll send you the link from WSB.
Trump: I don't care about the link. I don't need it. Brad, I have a much better --
Mitchell: I will tell you. I've seen the tape. The full tape. So has Alex. We've watched it. And what we saw and what we've confirmed in the timing is that they made everybody leave -- we have sworn affidavits saying that. And then they began to process ballots. And our estimate is that there were roughly 18,000 ballots. We don't know that. If you know that . . .
Trump: It was 18,000 ballots, but they used each one three times.
Mitchell: Well, I don't know about that.
Trump: I do think we had ours magnified out.
Mitchell: I've watched the entire tape.
Trump: Nobody can make a case for that, Brad. Nobody. I mean, look, you'd have to be a child to think anything other than that. Just a child.
Mitchell: How many ballots, Mr. Secretary, are you saying were processed then?
Raffensperger: We had GBI . . . investigate that.
Germany: We had our -- this is Ryan Germany. We had our law enforcement officers talk to everyone who was, who was there after that event came to light. GBI was with them as well as FBI agents.
Trump: Well, there's no way they could -- then they're incompetent. They're either dishonest or incompetent, okay?
Mitchell: Well, what did they find?
Trump: There's only two answers, dishonesty or incompetence. There's just no way. Look. There's no way. And on the other thing, I said too, there is no way. I mean, there's no way that these things could have been, you know, you have all these different people that voted, but they don't live in Georgia anymore. What was that number, Cleta? That was a pretty good number, too.
Mitchell: The number who have registered out of state after they moved from Georgia. And so they had a date when they moved from Georgia, they registered to vote out of state, and then it's like 4,500, I don't have that number right in front of me.
Trump: And then they came back in, and they voted.
Mitchell: And voted. Yeah.
Trump: I thought that was a large number, though. It was in the 20s.
Ryan Germany, Raffensberger's General Counsel: We've been going through each of those as well, and those numbers that we got, that Ms. Mitchell was just saying, they're not accurate. Every one we've been through are people that lived in Georgia, moved to a different state, but then moved back to Georgia legitimately. And in many cases --
Trump: How may people do that? They moved out, and then they said, "Ah, to hell with it, I'll move back." You know, it doesn't sound like a very normal . . . you mean, they moved out, and what, they missed it so much that they wanted to move back in? It's crazy.
Germany: They moved back in years ago. This was not like something just before the election. So there's something about that data that, it's just not accurate.
Trump: Well, I don't know, all I know is that it is certified. And they moved out of Georgia, and they voted. It didn't say they moved back in, Cleta, did it?
Mitchell: No, but I mean, we're looking at the voter registration. Again, if you have additional records, we've been asking for that, but you haven't shared any of that with us. You just keep saying you investigated the allegations.
Trump: Cleta, a lot of it you don't need to be shared. I mean, to be honest, they should share it. They should share it because you want to get to an honest election.
I won this election by hundreds of thousands of votes. There's no way I lost Georgia. There's no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes. I'm just going by small numbers, when you add them up, they're many times the 11,000. But I won that state by hundreds of thousands of votes.
Do you think it's possible that they shredded ballots in Fulton County? Because that's what the rumor is. And also that Dominion took out machines. That Dominion is really moving fast to get rid of their, uh, machinery.
Do you know anything about that? Because that's illegal, right?
Germany: This is Ryan Germany. No, Dominion has not moved any machinery out of Fulton County.
Trump: But have they moved the inner parts of the machines and replaced them with other parts?
Germany: No.
Trump: Are you sure, Ryan?
Germany: I'm sure. I'm sure, Mr. President.
Trump: What about, what about the ballots. The shredding of the ballots. Have they been shredding ballots?
Germany: The only investigation that we have into that -- they have not been shredding any ballots. There was an issue in Cobb County where they were doing normal office shredding, getting rid of old stuff, and we investigated that. But this stuff from, you know, from you know past elections.
Trump: It doesn't pass the smell test because we hear they're shredding thousands and thousands of ballots, and now what they're saying, "Oh, we're just cleaning up the office." You know.
Raffensperger: Mr. President, the problem you have with social media, they -- people can say anything.
Trump: Oh this isn't social media. This is Trump media. It's not social media. It's really not; it's not social media. I don't care about social media. I couldn't care less. Social media is Big Tech. Big Tech is on your side, you know. I don't even know why you have a side because you should want to have an accurate election. And you're a Republican.
Raffensperger: We believe that we do have an accurate election.
Trump: No, no you don't. No, no you don't. You don't have. Not even close. You're off by hundreds of thousands of votes. And just on the small numbers, you're off on these numbers, and these numbers can't be just -- well, why wont? -- Okay. So you sent us into Cobb County for signature verification, right? You sent us into Cobb County, which we didn't want to go into. And you said it would be open to the public. So we had our experts there, they weren't allowed into the room. But we didn't want Cobb County. We wanted Fulton County. And you wouldn't give it to us. Now, why aren't we doing signature -- and why can't it be open to the public?
And why can't we have professionals do it instead of rank amateurs who will never find anything and don't want to find anything? They don't want to find, you know they don't want to find anything. Someday you'll tell me the reason why, because I don't understand your reasoning, but someday you'll tell me the reason why. But why don't you want to find?
Germany: Mr. President, we chose Cobb County --
Trump: Why don't you want to find . . . What?
Germany: Sorry, go ahead.
Trump: So why did you do Cobb County? We didn't even request -- we requested Fulton County, not Cobb County. Go ahead, please. Go ahead.
Germany: We chose Cobb County because that was the only county where there's been any evidence submitted that the signature verification was not properly done.
Trump: No, but I told you. We're not, we're not saying that.
Mitchell: We did say that.
Trump: Fulton County. Look. Stacey, in my opinion, Stacey is as dishonest as they come. She has outplayed you . . . at everything. She got you to sign a totally unconstitutional agreement, which is a disastrous agreement. You can't check signatures. I can't imagine you're allowed to do harvesting, I guess, in that agreement. That agreement is a disaster for this country. But she got you somehow to sign that thing, and she has outsmarted you at every step.
And I hate to imagine what's going to happen on Monday or Tuesday, but it's very scary to people. You know, when the ballots flow in out of nowhere. It's very scary to people. That consent decree is a disaster. It's a disaster. A very good lawyer who examined it said they've never seen anything like it.
Raffensperger: Harvesting is still illegal in the state of Georgia. And that settlement agreement did not change that one iota.
Trump: It's not a settlement agreement, it's a consent decree. It even says consent decree on it, doesn't it? It uses the term consent decree. It doesn't say settlement agreement. It's a consent decree. It's a disaster.
Raffensperger: It's a settlement agreement.
Trump: What's written on top of it?
Raffensperger: Ryan?
Germany: I don't have it in front of me, but it was not entered by the court, it's not a court order.
Trump: But Ryan, it's called a consent decree, is that right? On the paper. Is that right?
Germany: I don't. I don't. I don't believe so, but I don't have it in front of me.
Trump: Okay, whatever, it's a disaster. It's a disaster. Look. Here's the problem. We can go through signature verification, and we'll find hundreds of thousands of signatures, if you let us do it. And the only way you can do it, as you know, is to go to the past. But you didn't do that in Cobb County. You just looked at one page compared to another. The only way you can do a signature verification is go from the one that signed it on November whatever. Recently. And compare it to two years ago, four years ago, six years ago, you know, or even one. And you'll find that you have many different signatures. But in Fulton, where they dumped ballots, you will find that you have many that aren't even signed and you have many that are forgeries.
Okay, you know that. You know that. You have no doubt about that. And you will find you will be at 11,779 within minutes because Fulton County is totally corrupt, and so is she totally corrupt.
And they're going around playing you and laughing at you behind your back, Brad, whether you know it or not, they're laughing at you. And you've taken a state that's a Republican state, and you've made it almost impossible for a Republican to win because of cheating, because they cheated like nobody's ever cheated before. And I don't care how long it takes me, you know, we're going to have other states coming forward -- pretty good.
But I won't . . . this is never . . . this is . . . We have some incredible talent said they've never seen anything . . . Now the problem is they need more time for the big numbers. But they're very substantial numbers. But I think you're going to fine that they -- by the way, a little information -- I think you're going to find that they are shredding ballots because they have to get rid of the ballots because the ballots are unsigned. The ballots are corrupt, and they're brand new, and they don't have seals, and there's a whole thing with the ballots. But the ballots are corrupt.
And you are going to find that they are -- which is totally illegal -- it is more illegal for you than it is for them because, you know, what they did and you're not reporting it. That's a criminal, that's a criminal offense. And you can't let that happen. That's a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. And that's a big risk. But they are shredding ballots, in my opinion, based on what I've heard. And they are removing machinery, and they're moving it as fast as they can, both of which are criminal finds. And you can't let it happen, and you are letting it happen. You know, I mean, I'm notifying you that you're letting it happen. So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.
And flipping the state is a great testament to our country because, you know, this is -- it's a testament that they can admit to a mistake or whatever you want to call it. If it was a mistake, I don't know. A lot of people think it wasn't a mistake. It was much more criminal than that. But it's a big problem in Georgia, and it's not a problem that's going away. I mean, you know, it's not a problem that's going away.
Germany: This is Ryan. We're looking into every one of those things that you mentioned.
Trump: Good. But if you find it, you've got to say it, Ryan.
Germany: . . . Let me tell you what we are seeing. What we're seeing is not at all what you're describing. These are investigators from our office, these are investigators from GBI, and they're looking, and they're good. And that's not what they're seeing. And we'll keep looking, at all these things.
Trump: Well, you better check on the ballots because they are shredding ballots, Ryan. I'm just telling you, Ryan. They're shredding ballots. And you should look at that very carefully. Because that's so illegal. You know, you may not even believe it because it's so bad. But they're shredding ballots because they think we're going to eventually get there . . . because we'll eventually get into Fulton. In my opinion, it's never too late. . . . So, that's the story. Look, we need only 11,000 votes. We have are far more than that as it stands now. We'll have more and more. And . . . do you have provisional ballots at all, Brad? Provisional ballots?
Raffensperger: Provisional ballots are allowed by state law.
Trump: Sure, but I mean, are they counted, or did you just hold them back because they, you know, in other words, how many provisional ballots do you have in the state?
Raffensperger: We'll get you that number.
Trump: Because most of them are made out to the name Trump. Because these are people that were scammed when they came in. And we have thousands of people that have testified or that want to testify. When they came in, they were proudly going to vote on November 3. And they were told, "I'm sorry, you've already been voted for, you've already voted." The women, men started screaming, "No. I proudly voted till November 3." They said, "I'm sorry, but you've already been voted for, and you have a ballot." And these people are beside themselves. So they went out, and they filled in a provisional ballot, putting the name Trump on it.
And what about that batch of military ballots that came in. And even though I won the military by a lot, it was 100 percent Trump. I mean 100 percent Biden. Do you know about that? A large group of ballots came in, I think it was to Fulton County, and they just happened to be 100 percent for Trump -- for Biden -- even though Trump won the military by a lot, you know, a tremendous amount. But these ballots were 100 percent for Biden. And do you know about that? A very substantial number came in, all for Biden. Does anybody know about it?
Mitchell: I know about it, but --
Trump: Okay, Cleta, I'm not asking you, Cleta, honestly. I'm asking Brad. Do you know about the military ballots that we have confirmed now. Do you know about the military ballots that came in that were 100 percent, I mean 100 percent, for Biden. Do you know about that?
Germany: I don't know about that. I do know that we have, when military ballots come in, it's not just military, it's also military and overseas citizens. The military part of that does generally go Republican. The overseas citizen part of it generally goes very Democrat. This was a mix of 'em.
Trump: No, but this was. That's okay. But I got like 78 percent of the military. These ballots were all for . . . They didn't tell me overseas. Could be overseas, too, but I get votes overseas, too, Ryan, in all fairness. No they came in, a large batch came in, and it was, quote, 100 percent for Biden. And that is criminal. You know, that's criminal. Okay. That's another criminal, that's another of the many criminal events, many criminal events here.
I don't know, look, Brad. I got to get . . . I have to find 12,000 votes, and I have them times a lot. And therefore, I won the state. That's before we go to the next step, which is in the process of right now. You know, and I watched you this morning, and you said, well, there was no criminality.
But I mean all of this stuff is very dangerous stuff. When you talk about no criminality, I think it's very dangerous for you to say that.
I just, I just don't know why you don't want to have the votes counted as they are. Like even you when you went and did that check. And I was surprised because, you know . . . And we found a few thousand votes that were against me. I was actually surprised because the way that check was done, all you're doing, you know, recertifying existing votes and, you know, and you were given votes and you just counted them up, and you still found 3,000 that were bad. So that was sort of surprising that it came down to three or five, I don't know. Still a lot of votes. But you have to go back to check from past years with respect to signatures. And if you check with Fulton County, you'll have hundreds of thousands because they dumped ballots into Fulton County and the other county next to it.
So what are we going to do here, folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break. You know, we have that in spades already. Or we can keep it going, but that's not fair to the voters of Georgia because they're going to see what happened, and they're going to see what happened. I mean, I'll, I'll take on anybody you want with regard to [name] and her lovely daughter, a very lovely young lady, I'm sure. But, but [name] . . . I will take on anybody you want. And the minimum, there were 18,000 ballots, but they used them three times. So that's, you know, a lot of votes. And they were all to Biden, by the way, that's the other thing we didn't say. You know, [name] , the one thing I forgot to say, which was the most important. You know that every single ballot she did went to Biden. You know that, right? Do you know that, by the way, Brad?
Every single ballot that she did through the machines at early, early in the morning went to Biden. Did you know that, Ryan?
Germany: That's not accurate, Mr. President.
Trump: Huh. What is accurate?
Germany: The numbers that we are showing are accurate.
Trump: No, about [name] . About early in the morning, Ryan. Where the woman took, you know, when the whole gang took the stuff from under the table, right? Do you know, do you know who those ballots, do you know who they were made out to, do you know who they were voting for?
Germany: No, not specifically.
Trump: Did you ever check?
Germany: We did what I described to you earlier --
Trump: No no no -- did you ever check the ballots that were scanned by [name] , a known political operative, balloteer? Did ever check who those votes were for?
Germany: We looked into that situation that you described.
Trump: No, they were 100 percent for Biden. 100 percent. There wasn't a Trump vote in the whole group. Why don't you want to find this, Ryan? What's wrong with you? I heard your lawyer is very difficult, actually, but I'm sure you're a good lawyer. You have a nice last name.
But, but I'm just curious, why wouldn't, why do you keep fighting this thing? It just doesn't make sense. We're way over the 17,779, right? We're way over that number, and just if you took just [name] , we're over that number by five, five or six times when you multiply that times three.
And every single ballot went to Biden, and you didn't know that, but now you know it. So tell me, Brad, what are we going to do? We won the election, and it's not fair to take it away from us like this. And it's going to be very costly in many ways. And I think you have to say that you're going to reexamine it, and you can reexamine it, but reexamine it with people that want to find answers, not people that don't want to find answers. For instance, I'm hearing Ryan that he's probably, I'm sure a great lawyer and everything, but he's making statements about those ballots that he doesn't know. But he's making them with such -- he did make them with surety. But now I think he's less sure because the answer is, they all went to Biden, and that alone wins us the election by a lot. You know, so.
Raffensperger: Mr. President, you have people that submit information, and we have our people that submit information. And then it comes before the court, and the court then has to make a determination. We have to stand by our numbers. We believe our numbers are right.
Trump: Why do you say that, though? I don't know. I mean, sure, we can play this game with the courts, but why do you say that? First of all, they don't even assign us a judge. They don't even assign us a judge. But why wouldn't you . . . Hey Brad, why wouldn't you want to check out [name] ? And why wouldn't you want to say, hey, if in fact, President Trump is right about that, then he wins the state of Georgia, just that one incident alone without going through hundreds of thousands of dropped ballots. You just say, you stick by, I mean I've been watching you, you know, you don't care about anything. "Your numbers are right." But your numbers aren't right. They're really wrong, and they're really wrong, Brad. And I know this phone call is going nowhere other than, other than ultimately, you know -- Look, ultimately, I win, okay? Because you guys are so wrong. And you treated this. You treated the population of Georgia so badly. You, between you and your governor, who is down at 21, he was down 21 points. And like a schmuck, I endorsed him, and he got elected, but I will tell you, he is a disaster.
The people are so angry in Georgia, I can't imagine he's ever getting elected again, I'll tell you that much right now. But why wouldn't you want to find the right answer, Brad, instead of keep saying that the numbers are right? 'Cause those numbers are so wrong?
Mitchell: Mr. Secretary, Mr. President, one of the things that we have been, Alex can talk about this, we talked about it, and I don't know whether the information has been conveyed to your office, but I think what the president is saying, and what we've been trying to do is to say, look, the court is not acting on our petition. They haven't even assigned a judge. But the people of Georgia and the people of America have a right to know the answers. And you have data and records that we don't have access to.
And you can keep telling us and making public statement that you investigated this and nothing to see here. But we don't know about that. All we know is what you tell us. What I don't understand is why wouldn't it be in everyone's best interest to try to get to the bottom, compare the numbers, you know, if you say, because . . . to try to be able to get to the truth because we don't have any way of confirming what you're telling us. You tell us that you had an investigation at the State Farm Arena. I don't have any report. I've never seen a report of investigation. I don't know that is. I've been pretty involved in this, and I don't know. And that's just one of 25 categories. And it doesn't even. And as I, as the president said, we haven't even gotten into the Dominion issue. That's not part of our case. It's not part of, we just didn't feel as though we had any to be able to develop --
Trump: No, we do have a way, but I don't want to get into it. We found a way . . . excuse me, but we don't need it because we're only down 11,000 votes, so we don't even need it. I personally think they're corrupt as hell. But we don't need that. All we have to do, Cleta, is find 11,000-plus votes. So we don't need that. I'm not looking to shake up the whole world. We won Georgia easily. We won it by hundreds of thousands of votes. But if you go by basic, simple numbers, we won it easily, easily. So we're not giving Dominion a pass on the record. We don't need Dominion because we have so many other votes that we don't need to prove it any more than we already have.
Trump attorney Kurt Hilbert: Mr. President and Cleta, this is Kurt Hilbert, if I might interject for a moment. Ryan, I would like to suggest that just four categories that have already been mentioned by the president that have actually hard numbers of 24,149 votes that were counted illegally. That in and of itself is sufficient to change the results or place the outcome in doubt. We would like to sit down with your office, and we can do it through purposes of compromise and just like this phone call, just to deal with that limited category of votes. And if you are able to establish that our numbers are not accurate, then fine. However, we believe that they are accurate. We've had now three to four separate experts looking at these numbers.
Trump: Certified accountants looked at them.
Hilbert: Correct. And this is just based on USPS data and your own secretary of state data. So that's what we would entreat and ask you to do, to sit down with us in a compromise and settlements proceeding and actually go through the registered voter IDs and the registrations. And if you can convince us that 24,149 is inaccurate, then fine. But we tend to believe that is, you know, obviously more than 11,779. That's sufficient to change the results entirely in and of itself. So what would you say to that, Mr. Germany?
Germany: I'm happy to get with our lawyers, and we'll set that up. That number is not accurate. And I think we can show you, for all the ones we've looked at, why it's not. And so if that would be helpful, I'm happy to get with our lawyers and set that up with you guys.
Trump: Well, let me ask you, Kurt, you think that is an accurate number. That was based on the information given to you by the secretary of state's department, right?
Hilbert: That is correct. That information is the minimum, most conservative data based upon the USPS data and the secretary of state's office data that has been made publicly available. We do not have the internal numbers from the secretary of state. Yet we have asked for it six times. I sent a letter over to . . . several times requesting this information, and it's been rebuffed every single time. So it stands to reason that if the information is not forthcoming, there's something to hide. That's the problem that we have.
Germany: Well, that's not the case, sir. There are things that you guys are entitled to get. And there's things that under law, we are not allowed to give out.
Trump: Well, you have to. Well, under law, you're not allowed to give faulty election results, okay? You're not allowed to do that. And that's what you done. This is a faulty election result. And honestly, this should go very fast. You should meet tomorrow because you have a big election coming up, and because of what you've done to the president -- you know, the people of Georgia know that this was a scam -- and because of what you've done to the president, a lot of people aren't going out to vote. And a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative because they hate what you did to the president. Okay? They hate it. And they're going to vote. And you would be respected. Really respected, if this thing could be straightened out before the election. You have a big election coming up on Tuesday. And I think that it is really is important that you meet tomorrow and work out on these numbers. Because I know, Brad, that if you think we're right, I think you're going to say, and I'm not looking to blame anybody, I'm just saying, you know, and, you know, under new counts, and under new views, of the election results, we won the election. You know? It's very simple. We won the election. As the governors of major states and the surrounding states said, there is no way you lost Georgia. As the Georgia politicians say, there is no way you lost Georgia. Nobody. Everyone knows I won it by hundreds of thousands of votes. But I'll tell you it's going to have a big impact on Tuesday if you guys don't get this thing straightened out fast.
Meadows: Mr. President, this is Mark. It sounds like we've got two different sides agreeing that we can look at those areas, and I assume that we can do that within the next 24 to 48 hours, to go ahead and get that reconciled so that we can look at the two claims and making sure that we get the access to the secretary of state's data to either validate or invalidate the claims that have been made. Is that correct?
Germany: No, that's not what I said. I'm happy to have our lawyers sit down with Kurt and the lawyers on that side and explain to him, hey, here's, based on what we've looked at so far, here's how we know this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong.
Meadows: So what you're saying, Ryan, let me let me make sure . . . so what you're saying is you really don't want to give access to the data. You just want to make another case on why the lawsuit is wrong?
Germany: I don't think we can give access to data that's protected by law. But we can sit down with them and say --
Trump: But you're allowed to have a phony election? You're allowed to have a phony election, right?
Germany: No, sir.
Trump: When are you going to do signature counts, when are you going to do signature verification on Fulton County, which you said you were going to do, and now all of a sudden, you're not doing it. When are you doing that?
Germany: We are going to do that. We've announced --
Hilbert: To get to this issue of the personal information and privacy issue, is it possible that the secretary of state could deputize the lawyers for the president so that we could access that information and private information without you having any kind of violation?
Trump: Well, I don't want to know who it is. You guys can do it very confidentially. You can sign a confidentiality agreement. That's okay. I don't need to know names. But on this stuff that we're talking about, we got all that information from the secretary of state.
Meadows: Yeah. So let me let me recommend, Ryan, if you and Kurt will get together, you know, when we get off of this phone call, if you could get together and work out a plan to address some of what we've got with your attorneys where we can we can actually look at the data. For example, Mr. Secretary, I can you say they were only two dead people who would vote. I can promise you there are more than that. And that may be what your investigation shows, but I can promise you there are more than that. But at the same time, I think it's important that we go ahead and move expeditiously to try to do this and resolve it as quickly as we possibly can. And if that's the good next step. Hopefully we can, we can finish this phone call and go ahead and agree that the two of you will get together immediately.
Trump: Well, why don't my lawyers show you where you got the information. It will show the secretary of state, and you don't even have to look at any names. We don't want names. We don't care. But we got that information from you. And Stacey Abrams is laughing about you. She's going around saying these guys are dumber than a rock. What she's done to this party is unbelievable, I tell you. And I only ran against her once. And that was with a guy named Brian Kemp, and I beat her. And if I didn't run, Brian wouldn't have had even a shot, either in the general or in the primary. He was dead, dead as a doornail. He never thought he had a shot at either one of them. What a schmuck I was. But that's the way it is. That's the way it is. I would like you . . . for the attorneys . . . I'd like you to perhaps meet with Ryan, ideally tomorrow, because I think we should come to a resolution of this before the election. Otherwise you're going to have people just not voting. They don't want to vote. They hate the state, they hate the governor, and they hate the secretary of state. I will tell you that right now. The only people that like you are people that will never vote for you. You know that, Brad, right? They like you, you know, they like you. They can't believe what they found. They want more people like you. So, look, can you get together tomorrow? And, Brad, we just want the truth. It's simple.
And everyone's going to look very good if the truth comes out. It's okay. It takes a little while, but let the truth come out. And the real truth is, I won by 400,000 votes. At least. That's the real truth. But we don't need 400,000 votes. We need less than 2,000 votes. And are you guys able to meet tomorrow, Ryan?
Germany: I'll get with Chris, the lawyer who's representing us in the case, and see when he can get together with Kurt.
Raffensperger: Ryan will be in touch with the other attorney on this call, Mr. Meadows. Thank you, President Trump, for your time.
Trump: Okay, thank you, Brad. Thank you, Ryan. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. Bye.
|
|
|
Jan 04, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Antonym , Jan 4 2021 5:28 utc | 75
CNN + WaPo: "Here is the full transcript of and audio of the call between Trump and Raffensperger" reg. the Georgia elections.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/03/politics/trump-brad-raffensperger-phone-call-transcript/index.htmlThat's where NSA/FBI Deep State friends are paid for.
On Biden zilch dirt, him being the new poster geriatric.
|
|
|
Nov 28, 2020 | twitter.com
Commodore Allen Retweeted
C3 @C_3C_3 FBI knew the Dossier was FAKE CIA knew the Dossier was FAKE DOJ knew the Dossier was FAKE ODNI knew the Dossier was FAKE Media knew the Dossier was FAKE Mueller knew the Dossier was FAKE Congress knew the Dossier was FAKE BO Admin knew the Dossier was FAKE They were all in on it
|
|
|
Dec 29, 2020 | www.moonofalabama.org
Jeffrey Kaye , Dec 28 2020 21:03 utc | 16
"Human rights" agitprop has long been a staple of US imperialist propaganda. As the Grayzone website pointed out earlier this year, "HRW was founded during the height of the Cold War as Helsinki Watch, an anti-Soviet lobby group closely linked to the US government and funded by the Ford Foundation, which served as a CIA passthrough."
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/04/08/billionaire-human-rights-watch-sanctions-nicaragua-venezuela/
The hysterical propaganda against communist nations and fighters goes hand in hand with the bombs, torture and assassination that are US/British/French/NATO specialties. The modern version of "human rights" campaigning was born out of the US defeat in Vietnam, and the spate of revelations that came out of that period about US crimes (Pentagon Papers, Church Senate investigations, Winter Soldier, etc.) in an attempt to rebrand the Vietnam war criminals as some sort of humanitarians. The Helsinki Accords were a US propaganda program that the misguided leaders of the USSR, along with Tito, etc. approved with the vain hope of detente and peaceful cooperation between nations. In reality, the US never wanted such peaceful coexistence.
Thanks, b, for bucking the anti-China propaganda campaign. The Pentagon and CIA still lick their wounds from the last time they faced Chinese forces in battle. Their dream of anti-Communist conquest of China and North Korea (assisted by their supposedly docile Japanese assistants) is as dangerous as their dream of dismembering Russia and turning all of the Eurasian landmass into a colony for US (and Japanese) exploitation. There lies the fuse for WW3, and the end deaths of hundreds of millions.
Now is the time for every person of clear mind to oppose these mad dreams of conquest! The lies that have and are being told about Russia and China (only occasionally rooted in some actual injustice) are being churned out daily by the CIA and Pentagon propaganda machine. Their purpose is to rally the population for war. Soon the hammer will drop harder on the US and West Europe/Australian population, as the persecution of Julian Assange suggests, as the ruling elite tighten up the repression needed to pull off their genocidal war.
Antiwar7 , Dec 28 2020 21:19 utc | 17
Canadian Cents , Dec 28 2020 21:39 utc | 19Former senior CIA official John Stockwell discusses how the CIA would place false reports in newspapers around the world, including in the Washington Post. Stories that were complete fabrications, that were attacking their enemies, like Cuba.
John Stockwell interviewWhat a courageous man Stockwell is, to give up his career, his support network, and invite attacks from one of the most dangerous organizations around.
Red Ryder , Dec 29 2020 3:48 utc | 30Second the 15-minute clip that Antiwar7 @17 posted. Just saw that one about 3 weeks ago. It's from 1983, an interview on the University of Southern California campus. Everyone should watch it if they haven't already.
(There are also YouTube vids with German journalist Udo Ulfkotte who's been mentioned here before that are related to this.)
@antiwar7,
Met John Stockwell a few times. He's a terrific guy.
Working for the NSC in the White House, he created the false stories about the Cuban soldiers raping nuns in Angola. That was his job. He's been around in public since the '80s but never got any Media attention.He also was CIA officer in the Vietnam Highlands working with the Hmong against the government. He married a Vietnamese.
When the US pullout was ordered he was also ordered to sacrifice 150 agents in the Highlands who worked for him. The US wouldn't take them out.
His book "In Search of Enemies" is vital to read. He testified to Congress about the machinations of Henry Kissinger that were illegal, antithetical to US best interests, but no one gave a damn. Left him out on the limb.
John Stockwell is a great voice of the Truth. A good man.
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2020 | www.zerohedge.com
Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone announced on Friday that he will be filing a $25 million lawsuit against the department of Justice, along with former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, Special Counsel Robert Mueller and several other individuals, according to the Washington Examiner .
Stone was arrested in a 2019 pre-dawn raid (which CNN was alerted to in advance) and sentenced to 40 months in prison before President Trump commuted it in July, leaving stone with a fine and supervised release. Trump granted Stone a full presidential pardon on Wednesday.
" The terms of my pardon allow me to sue the Department of Justice, Robert Mueller, James Comey, John Brennan, Rod Rosenstein, Josnathan [sic] Kravis, Aaron 'Fat Ass' Zelinsky Jeannie Rhee and Michael Morando, " stone wrote on Parler . "My lawyers will be filing formal complaints for prosecutorial misconduct's with DOJ office of professional responsibility at the same time I file a 25 million dollar lawsuit against the DOJ and each of these individuals personally ."
Stone was found guilty of five separate counts of lying to the House Intelligence Committee during its own Russia investigation regarding his outreach to WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign, one count that he "corruptly influenced, obstructed, and impeded" the congressional investigation, and one count for attempting to "corruptly persuade" the congressional testimony of radio show host Randy Credico.
...
Also pardoned Wednesday were Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner's father . On Tuesday, George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan, also charged in connection with Mueller's Russia investigation, were granted full pardons . - Washington Examiner
"I have an enormous debt of gratitude to God almighty for giving the president the strength and the courage to recognize that my prosecution was a completely, politically motivated witch hunt and my trial was a Soviet-style show trial ," Stone said Wednesday evening, adding on Parler that he will add former Attorney General Bill Barr to the lawsuit - and that he would "handle his cross-examination personally."
_arrow 3
dging 1 hour ago
Lansman 3 hours agoI'm not a lawyer, but does Stone any chance in the world of getting more than 10 minutes before a judge, let a long discovery, let alone inside a court room?
known unknown 2 hours agoSomehow the court will declare that he doesn't have standing.
anduka 2 hours ago (Edited)That's right a accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt.
known unknown 2 hours agoIf the president pardons you because he thinks you are innocent, what guilt could accepting that pardon possibly admit? Pardons have no formal, legal effect of declaring guilt.
anduka 2 hours ago (Edited)It's the law. If you think you're innocent you don't accept a pardon then what exactly are you pardoning an innocent man.
known unknown 2 hours agoYou need to read up on Burdick v. United States 1915. If you think you're innocent you're free to reject the pardon and have your day in court. But if you're innocent you can also accept the pardon with no implication of guilt, to save yourself legal time and expense.
anduka 2 hours agoIn 1915, the Supreme Court indeed said, of pardons, that "acceptance" carries "a confession of" guilt. Burdick v. United States (1915) . Other courts have echoed that since.
LEEPERMAX 1 hour ago (Edited) remove linkYou're reading it wrong. Burdick was about a different issue: the ability to turn down a pardon. But pardons have no formal, legal effect of declaring guilt.
SabOObas 2 hours ago (Edited)Wikileaks just dumped all of their files online . . . Everything from Hillary Clinton's emails, McCain's being guilty, Vegas shooting done by an FBI sniper, Steve Jobs HIV letter, PedoPodesta, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Bilderberg, CIA agents arrested for rape, WHO pandemic. Happy Digging! Here you go, please read and pass it on ..
file.wikileaks.org/file/These are Clinton's emails:
The WHOLE 4 yrs Trump was in office showed up the FBI, DOJ, THE SECRET FISA COURT - ALL OF IT - A DISGRACE ON THIS NATION. The criminal activity occurring during the OBAMA smash and grab. OMG
Unfortunately even if Stone won (which I don't believe he will) the damage to the reputation and credibility of these institutions won't recover. The shame was visible on a global scale. What was done to Flynn was a national tragedy.
At least he survived, unlike LaVoy Finicum.
Obama far exceeded any standard as the worst POTUS this country has ever seen. The damage to our institutions was a tragedy on a Greek scale.
|
|
|
Dec 17, 2020 | www.moonofalabama.org
librul , Dec 16 2020 18:23 utc | 140
But somehow the Satan candidate won. "Impossible!! It must be the Russians!"
@Posted by: William Gruff | Dec 16 2020 17:51 utc | 136
There is one Russiagate shoe that I am still waiting to hear drop (maybe it already did and I missed it).
In 2003 when the CIA succeeded in misleading this country into an invasion over non-existent WMD
the finger pointing began, to explain away the lies as simply a pack of errors.One excuse that gained some traction was that it was Saddam's own fault, he had pretended to have WMD.
For Russiagate I have been waiting for the excuse makers to offer something like they did with "Saddam's own fault".
That is, the Russians - Putin -, wanted the FBI, CIA, Hillary, MSM, etc to fall for Russiagate.
Thus John Brennan did not attempt a coup (nor Comey, nor the FBI, CIA and the rest of the "17 intelligence agencies" the MSM
and the Democrats) by knowingly creating a false narrative about the Russians, it was the dastardly Russians (Putin)
themselves that are to blame. No attempted coup, simply a pack of errors seeded by the Russians themselves.As the Durham investigation appears to be heading for the historical footnotes there will be no need for the
traitors to create excuses. And I do not expect to ever hear that shoe drop.William Gruff , Dec 16 2020 18:49 utc | 143
librul @139: "I have been waiting for the excuse makers to offer something like they did with "Saddam's own fault". That is, the Russians - Putin -, wanted the FBI, CIA, Hillary, MSM, etc to fall for Russiagate."
No doubt that is on its way, but I think it would have been too difficult to pull off without full control over the government's top figurehead. Once Harris is enthroned then they will move on that, I am sure of it.
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2020 | www.rt.com
By Kit Klarenberg , an investigative journalist exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. Follow Kit on Twitter @KitKlarenberg Western journalists, rights groups and governments are concerned about the head of a foreign NGO being asked to leave Russia. However, serious discussion of the organization's background, and funding sources, is completely absent.
Last week, it was announced that Moscow had revoked the residency of Vanessa Kogan, a US national who heads the NGO Stichting Justice Initiative (SJI) in Russia. If her appeal against the decision isn't successful, she'll be forced to leave the country, where she has lived for over a decade, and has two children who are Russian nationals.
Authorities had been mounting pressure on the organization for some time -- one of its branches was deemed a foreign agent in 2019, and the group's offices in Dagestan, Moscow, and Ingushetia have been raided by officials in recent months.
ALSO ON RT.COM Moscow moves to expel Soros-linked US activist as ex-president Medvedev warns foreign NGOs trying to sow discord in RussiaCondemnation from Western media and rights groups was immediate, with the issue framed as just the latest example of an ongoing autocratic crackdown on rights activists in Russia. The censures were intriguing for what they both did and didn't say.
Perhaps predictably, references to its almost entirely foreign-borne history, composition, finances -- which includes support from George Soros' Open Society Foundation (OSF) -- and ties to dubious Washington-based regime change entities were entirely absent.
Curiouser and curiouserMainstream outlets such as the UK's Guardian newspaper universally referred to Kogan and SJI as "prominent" and/or "well-known" , a somewhat peculiar characterizations given neither she nor the organization received virtually any media attention whatsoever in its nigh-on 20 years of operation, prior to her residency being revoked. Perhaps she and SJI are only familiar to the small community of Western journalists and activists in the Russian capital.
In any event, several genuinely high-profile organizations and figures, such as Peter Stano, European Commission lead spokesperson for external affairs, slammed Kogan's expulsion on Twitter - SJI's own account on the social network is largely dormant, having accrued just 231 followers in its four-and-half years on the platform.
Conversely, the numerous mainstream articles on the move made virtually no reference to the organization's funding sources -- The Guardian perhaps went furthest, at least hinting SJI receives financial support "from abroad" .
A joint statement signed by six NGOs was similarly opaque on the former question, merely noting SJI was "one of the most active in Russia in bringing cases" to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), and had secured over 250 judgements in favor of complainants. Curiously, there was no mention of the intimate ties between SJI and two of the cosignatories, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, an oversight one might think unethical.
The sextet moreover alleged SJI "has always been open and transparent about its work" , a claim difficult to square with the paucity of information on its official website.
A section on the organization's finances sparingly notes it "raises funds from institutional and government donors" . Financial statements are provided, but only from 2010 - 2017, and aren't at all informative, merely noting SJI's yearly income, and what it was spent on. Still, they indicate the vast bulk of its budget is goes on salaries, and grants have accounted for up to 99 percent of the organization's yearly funding.
The organization's annual reports are somewhat more illuminating, although they're only available from 2006 - 2011, and the final instalment isn't even publicly listed. They reveal SJI has at least previously been funded by a number of controversial Western 'philanthropic' organizations, including Soros' aforementioned OSF.
This vehicle, which bankrolls civil society groups the world over to the tune of many millions, has been embroiled in countless controversies since its establishment in 1993.
Mounting suspicion of OSF internationally may at least partially explain why SJI has become ever-increasingly unwilling to divulge who and what is bankrolling it over time. Recent years have seen numerous governments investigate and curtail the foundation's activities, if not outright ban it from operating on their soil - among them Russia, after Moscow ruled the organization represented a threat to national security in November 2015.
SJI's fiscal opacity is assisted by being based in the Netherlands - as its name implies, it's a 'Stichting', or foundation. While not registered as a charity, it's characterised as being "without commercial enterprise" , so isn't required to file accounts under Dutch law.
'Stichtings' are openly advertised as ideal ways for wealthy individuals and corporations to minimize tax liabilities and discretely distribute funds internationally.
Murky, incestuous webThe organization's 2011 annual report reveals SJI was established in 2001 by a trio of Dutchmen, Diederik Lohman, the director of Human Rights Watch's health division, Jan ter Laak, a theologian, and Egbert Wesselink, a senior advisor at PAX, a Netherlands-based NGO.
Further underlining SJI's foreign nature, its governing board boasts only one Russian member, Alexandra Koulaeva. Previously an activist with Moscow-based civil rights group Memorial, she has since relocated to Paris to work for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).
ALSO ON RT.COM 'Merkel's surrender & worst of all possible worlds': Soros pens angry op-ed over Polish-Hungarian victory in EU budget talksFIDH likewise receives OSF funding, along with financial support from the European Union, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and a variety of Western governments. Wesselink also sits on the board -- PAX has the same correspondence address as SJI, a post office box in Utrecht, and also gets OSF funding.
The rest of the board is comprised of Ole Solvang, of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Tanya Mazur, director of Amnesty International Ukraine, and Viviana Krstecevic, of the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL).
The Council is bankrolled by numerous European states, while CEJIL has a variety of international donors, among them OSF, and the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
When covert becomes overtThe connection between NED and SJI is supremely striking for more reasons than one. Firstly, NED was banned in Russia July 2015 on the same grounds as OSF -- the move was widely lambasted at the time, but any consideration of the organization's shadowy history and activities, and the role they played in motivating Moscow's decision, was conspicuously missing.
NED was founded in November 1983 - then-Central Intelligence Agency Director William Casey and senior CIA covert operations specialist Walter Raymond Jr. were instrumental in its creation.
They sought to construct a mechanism to support groups inside foreign countries that would engage in propaganda and political action the CIA had historically organized and paid for in secret. In 1991, senior NED official Allen Weinstein acknowledged "a lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA" .
The specifics of CEJIL's activities on behalf of NED, for which it has reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars over decades, may be relevant to assessing SJI's own work.
In September 2003, the organization granted CEJIL US$83,000 to train citizens in launching legal action against Caracas via the Inter-American Commission and Inter-American Court of Human Rights, a little-known yet extremely powerful Washington and Costa Rica-based legal nexus that claims jurisdiction over the entirety of the Americas, with the agreement of the Organization of American States.
READ MORESan Francisco man arrested for vehicle theft for 14th time in 18 months as Soros-linked DA claims too many people are in jail
The grant led to a dramatic increase in frivolous claims brought against the Venezuelan government by opposition activists, all of which circumvented the country's legal system and undermined its sovereignty, granting power of judgment to a potentially sympathetic foreign body.
SJI board member Viviana Krsticevic's official biography on CEJIL's website notes she has litigated cases before both the Inter-American Commission and Inter-American Court of Human Rights, strongly suggesting she was involved in these very NED-funded anti-Chavez efforts.
SJI says its purpose is to provide legal support to residents of the North Caucasus who seek justice for alleged human rights abuses through international bodies such as the ECHR.
When Chechnya declared independence from Russia in 1991, the region became a haven for criminals, kidnappers, and Islamist warlords, and over the course of two extremely brutal wars, December 1994 – August 1996, August 1999 - May 2000), enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, torture and unfair trial became routine.
Such crimes continue intermittently to this day, and few would surely argue with the moral necessity of bringing those responsible to justice and securing redress for those affected.
Nonetheless, the risk of at least some cases being without foundation and/or politically motivated is significant, a prospect demonstrably magnified when there is a financial incentive for individuals to bring cases, and organizations specifically seek out individuals to represent in such legal actions.
For example, in February 2017 award winning British lawyer Phil Shiner, who'd played a leading role in bringing legal action against British troops for their maltreatment of Iraqis following the 2003 invasion, was struck off the solicitors' register. It had been revealed he paid middlemen to seek out claimants, and made "unsolicited direct approaches" to potential clients.
Could SJI have helped facilitate potentially vexatious claims against Russia in the ECHR? Krsticevic's position on the organization's board suggests this is a possibility, and the organization's 2010 annual report makes clear the organization specifically sought out young Russian lawyers and trained them to bring cases to the Court, and boasts of how financial rewards paid to out its claimants had almost doubled over the past decade, to an average of €60,000 - 70,000.
At the very least, the same document makes clear "forcing structural change in Russian law and policy" was a key objective of its founders from the beginning.
As such, SJI is just one example of how Western powers quietly and surreptitiously influence politics and policy in "enemy" states via NGOs, under the aegis of democracy and human rights promotion. While the aims of the foreign funded organizations in question may be benign, the goals of those bankrolling them are often far from benevolent, and all too frequently left unexamined.
Like this story? Share it with a friend!
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
francismd 1 day ago 12 Dec, 2020 09:11 AM
what surprises me is Russia allowing NGOs to operate in their country. NGO is a trojan horse. do you actually believe that these NGOs have good intentions. There is no such thing as free.DoubleKnot 1 day ago 12 Dec, 2020 09:02 AM,...Her expulsion is just Russia's auto-immune system in function.shadow1369 1 day ago 12 Dec, 2020 07:43 AMIf corporate media is rattled that is proof absolute that Kogan was doing their dirty work. Maybe she should not be expelled, but rather prosecuted for sedition. NATO routinely uses fake 'journalists' and NGOs to undermine any country which stands against US tyranny.Ohhho 1 day ago 12 Dec, 2020 12:10 PMA memo for the Russian government: if the Western MSM condemns your actions then you did the right thing. If it prizes whatever you did: repent and reverse!gswew 1 day ago 12 Dec, 2020 09:55 AMhuh? you evicted 1 person but the NGO is still open? why???? Close down all of them!!!!Jeff_P 1 day ago 12 Dec, 2020 12:22 PMI'm stunned that other countries allow foreign "NGO's" to operate in their countries. Many are naught but moles operating to undermine the countries in which they operate. Especially if that CIA front operation NED is in any way involved.AnnaMR 1 day ago 12 Dec, 2020 11:36 AMOh, poor "prominent" Kogan. How about the sadistic imprisonment/torture of the political prisoner and great journalist Julian Assange? As for Ms. Alexandra Koulaeva, a former "activist with Moscow-based civil rights group," who relocated to Paris to "work for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)," does she have a shred of decency to tell a word or two to her FIDH' bosses about the imprisonment of Julian Assange? No? Then Ms. Alexandra Koulaeva is a presstitute, a regular opportunistic hypocrite with no brains and no soul.Srinivas Injeti 15 hours ago 13 Dec, 2020 05:12 AM99% of these NGO do anti-national activities in the garb of social and welfare activities. They are also used for spying and creating unrest and sponsoring terrorist and subversive activities. They are used to create uprisings against the ruling parties which do not bow down to the diktat of the US and its western stooges. It is better to ban all these NGOs and their affiliations.NonDucorDuco 15 hours ago 13 Dec, 2020 05:07 AMWhat else could one expect from the Dutch, known for being huge hypocrites with double standards. They have their mouth full of Human Rights, but are one of the EU countries known for the highest rate of discrimination against immigrants and treating their own nationals in the Caribbean part of their kingdom as 3rd class citizens. The Dutch politicians volunteered to become a loyal sheepdog for the US regime, misusing their Caribbean territorial waters to provide cover for the destabilizing covert US regime OPS against neighboring Venezuela ~ against the will of the Caribbean natives whom have strong family ties with Venezuela. Another example is the biased report on the downing of the NH-17 flight, which was clearly a False Flag OPS.Jewel Gyn 16 hours ago 13 Dec, 2020 05:07 AMUS is so full of crap and double standards you can't take it seriously. Ditto all these state-sponsored rights group. They acted immediately when their interests are threatened but vanish and lay low when it don't suit their narratives.
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2020 | www.moonofalabama.org
Merlin2 , Dec 12 2020 22:35 utc | 15The most unfortunate aspect of these large scale disruption and regime change operations exploit actual grievances and truly indigenous civil society reform movements, thereby compromising even the most authentic efforts by the people. Not only that but this casts serious doubt on both authenticity and goals of all kind of demonstrations and civil unrest, even in more developed countries, including ostensibly First World.
Take the HK demonstrations for example - how much of it was real, genuine unrest caused by this or that more heavy handed China policy? truth is we don't know because by definition, the exploitation of such protest movements - almost always led by supposedly disaffected youth - includes a very sophisticated propaganda handbook that seeks to effectively "erase" the controlling hands behind the scenes.
Or, even the BLM movement - a lot that happened with these protests seem to jive with the instruction manuals per the ARK. Notice how these could be turned on and off - in this or that city, made to appear organic, when in fact those invisible hands from behind directed much of the action.
Another aspect that is very noticeable for both the HK and BLM movements is the way they were directed at some very specific issue that most people would have a hard time disagreeing with - on its face. Be it political "freedom", new "rules", new "taxes" and/or police brutality - there are numerous commonalities - too many to dismiss as mere coincidences.
At the same time, much care seems to have been taken to not allow these protests to be directed at the actual ruling class, the 1%, the elites, big finance and the corporatocracy. I always thought it was kind of funny the way these BLM protesters somehow were not there when Bernie sanders ran his campaign, even though Bernie had their grievances near the top of his list on the official platform (police brutality, uneven criminal justice system and prison reform were huge issues for him). Yes, there were plenty of black youths who voted with the Sanders movement in the primary (the one that was basically a fraudulent one, due to outright vote flipping, as was exposed by several credible analysts). But the BLM protests only came into being following the one GF killing and were directed mostly against police in large cities, and, of course against anything the federal government could try and do.
Now that Biden is all but declared as 'elect", those protests have died down (except for a few flare-up points like Portland, where they seem to have taken permanent residence). Funny that....must be that the "defund the police" was successful and black people no longer suffer from unequal law enforcement.....so all is well now.....
david , Dec 12 2020 23:29 utc | 18
james , Dec 12 2020 19:01 utc | 2Sometimes I thought something like this happened in Libya. Libyan army cleared this town, that city, next town, moving east to west, then just before Benghazi, we get our consent manufacturing message that Gaddafi said there would be a slaughter in Benghazi. So NATO just had to attack, to save Benghazi.
After Libya was smashed, turns out a whole gang of British "diplomats & SAS" were in Benghazi.
Jen , Dec 12 2020 19:33 utc | 6thanks b! informative... this ARK is not noahs or boris's... who is behind this grand scheme?? it seems the idea of keeping lebannon and syria in a state of tension is the goal.. whose purpose does this serve? it seems like an agenda written in tel aviv, or is it washington?? who is behind all this?? it seems clear enough that the goal is to coddle israel... take this money and make sure israel continues to dominate in the middle east and all other countries are destabilized basket cases... these are sick people behind all this.. that much is very clear... who would spend money like this??
the really shocking thing is the UK gov't is in on it, but don't want it to appear this way.. the people in the UK sure are a weird lot.. i think they are weirder then the people in the USA!
Trauma2000 , Dec 12 2020 19:09 utc | 3James @ 2:
ARK (Analysis Research Knowledge) has a website and its founder, former British diplomat Alistair Harris has a LinkedIn account you can look up on Google or whatever search engine you normally use. The company is based in Dubai.
Among ARK's various activities in Syria was managing the Facebook page and probably other PR for the White Helmets. The propaganda surrounding Bana Alabed and other Syrian children seems to be of a type similar to White Helmets propaganda - designed to appeal to people's emotions, particularly women's emotions - so there is a possibility all this rubbish was being generated by the same organisation.
In the end the target audience for all this propaganda is us, as our support is needed to justify an eventual US or NATO invasion of Syria and Lebanon.
First thing to do when 'unrest rears its ugly head' is shut down external communications and kick out any of the Five Eyes operating an emmbasy in your country. It happnens so often. Kick Out the Five Eyes (I live in one of them). Media Communications (the industry I work in) is the publicly acceptable term for Information Program, Propaganda, Information Warfare. It's all the same thing, with Event Management being the sister of and information program.
I've worked in both areas; external media communications programs and event coordination and management , often dovetailing the two and switching between roles in order to 'maximise stakeholder value' for the benefit of the client. Who is the client..? If the client isn't obvious then Follow the money. It is always the person paying the bill. Follow the money people... follow the money and you will understand the objectives of even the most obtuse communications programs.
As an aside, with all the hundreds of billions of dollars of weapons being pumped into the MENA, 'no one in Government' is able to 'shut down the wars. It's a joke, Government can track your spending down to the last cent and hit you up with a fine for 'incorrect tax return' but they 'can't follow the hundreds of billions of dollars' in weapons that gets flown around the world. Follow the money people. Follow the money and you'll catch the culprit.
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2020 | www.zerohedge.com
Color revolution tactics that have been used against foreign leaders are now being used by President Donald Trump 's opponents to oust him, a former special forces officer has warned.
"A color revolution is a tactic to affect regime change," the officer, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Epoch Times.
"What I see happening is a Marxist insurgency that's using a color revolution to affect regime change."
The 2019 Transition Integrity Project , according to the officer, is an indicator that the events of this year's presidential election were "transparently orchestrated" by "Marxist elements within the Democratic Party and their Marxist allies in foreign governments."
"It may not have fallen out just as they wanted, because anytime you carry out an operation like this, the enemy will get a vote. But the plan was we will not concede the election. The goal here was never the presidency, " the officer said.
"The goal of the opposition was to fundamentally change the country. They are attacking the efficacy of the Constitution."
To achieve their goal, the anti-Trump opposition focused their main effort on affecting the election, the officer said.
Some of the most notable color revolutions took place amid turmoil sparked by disputed elections. In 2004, mass protests in Ukraine following allegations of a fraudulent presidential election, which initially showed pro-Russia Viktor Yanukovych as the winner, led to a new vote won by Viktor Yushchenko, the candidate backed by the European Union and the United States.
The officer said the tactics used by the anti-Trump opposition can be found in the Special Forces' guide for overthrowing a government.
"What you're getting from me, this is supported in all older unconventional warfare doctrines," the officer said.
"You could go to our manuals and pull from them the information I'm telling you. This isn't from someone who's a rabid Trump supporter. This is what's happening ."
The officer then talked about how President Barack Obama used his eight years in office to "seed his political allies all through the institutions," created an "underground" or "shadow government" supported by legacy media and rioters.
"With the president being unable to get his own people into the administration, we effectively had a third administration of Obama," the officer said.
"So we come to what we have today: The underground are the elements within the government. We saw how they opposed the president, how they tried the impeachment ."
"The press is the auxiliary on the outside. The only thing we're missing is a real guerrilla force, and we would be mistaken to think that's just Antifa or Black Lives Matter. There are professional revolutionaries within those movements."
|
|
|
Dec 11, 2020 | www.zerohedge.com
We often discuss media coverage and accuracy on developing legal and political controversies. Much of this discussion recently has focused on the bias shown by the media in the last four years. I have worked for the media as a legal analyst and columnist for years, but I have never before seen this raw and open bias in major media. At the same time, academics are rejecting the very concept of objectivity in journalism in favor of open advocacy.
This morning, Fox News called out all of the networks for zero coverage of the bombshell story from Axios that Rep. Eric Swalwell may have had a close relationship with a suspected Chinese spy who fled to China a few years ago. Many of us were struck by the lack of coverage, particularly given the position of Swalwell on the House Intelligence Committee and his former bid for the presidency. It was particularly striking when the media is now reluctantly covering the Hunter Biden story after a long blackout before the election. Yet, the most stark comparison is with the exhaustive coverage given the highly analogous story involving an alleged spy, Maria Butina, who had an affair with a high-ranking figure in the National Rifle Association.
Swalwell is alleged to have had a close relationship with Chinese national, Fang Fang or Christine Fang, who not only raised money for him but placed at least one intern in Swalwell's congressional office, according to Axios . Bizarrely, Swalwell has refused to confirm or deny that he had an intimate relationship with his office claiming that such an answer could compromise classified information. Even that ridiculous comment did not prompt ABC, NBC, or CBS to cover the story. Obviously, Fang and the Chinese already know if she had a sexual relationship with Swalwell. The only people in the dark are the voters.
Swalwell himself explained why this is news.
The congressman was one of the most vocal voices calling out a June 2016 meeting that President Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., with Natalia Veselnitskaya, who was accused of being an asset for the Russian government.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1082792198096277504&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fmedia-burying-swalwell-story&siteScreenName=zerohedge&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
Swalwell declared on MSNBC in January 2019:
https://lockerdome.com/lad/13084989113709670?pubid=ld-dfp-ad-13084989113709670-0&pubo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com&rid=www.zerohedge.com&width=890
" Stated plainly, the President's son met with a Russian spy. We now have the best evidence of that in our minority report the Democrats put out that Ms. Veselnitskaya was going all over the world and bumping into Dana Rohrabacher, which is a sign of a spy, someone who tries to create a coincidence encounter, and now we know that she was working at the behest of the Russian government. "
Not even the utter hypocrisy of Swalwell's position or the lunacy of his classification claim was enough to generate minimal coverage. There is also no interest in Swalwell remaining on the intelligence committee given his ill-considered relationship.
Swalwell says that he cooperated with the FBI and cut off ties with Fang, who fled to China years ago. There is no indication that he compromised classified information, but such assets are used to often influence powerful leaders or acquire useful background information on other leaders.
MSNBC and other news outlets could not get enough of that story about Trump Jr. but has an effective blackout on the same allegation of Swalwell not just "bumping" into a spy but carrying on a long relationship and even allowing her to raise money for him and help put an intern in his congressional office.
NEVER MISS THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOSTZEROHEDGE DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX
Receive a daily recap featuring a curated list of must-read stories.
Yet, the greatest contrast is with the NRA story which was endlessly covered. Even when NRA moved to address the relationship between Butina and 57-year-old Republican activist named Paul Erickson. Hundreds of stories ran on every deal and media explored whether a Russian activist influenced powerful figures or shared information .
The FBI Director just gave a public speech on the extensive and growing espionage efforts of China. Yet, the success of planting an agent with Swalwell and a couple of other politicians has been given virtual Hunter Biden treatment. Where a host of legal expert called for charges for treason and other crimes against Trump Jr., there is nothing but crickets when a liberal Democrats members is accused of far more extensive contacts with a Chinese spy. Why?
PrintCash 6 hours ago (Edited)
Hikikomori 6 hours agoDoes a bear poop in the woods?
Its the sole purpose and desire of the ultra partisan types in the media to control the narrative, control the messaging, control your life. It's what they LIVE for.
Floki_Ragnarsson 6 hours agoSwalwell was accusing Trump of colluding with Putin while at the same time Swalwell was screwing a ChiCom spy - you couldn'tmake this up.
Lord Raglan 5 hours ago remove linkRight out of a Tom Clancy novel.
Flankspeed60 4 hours agoSwalwell was boinking the Chi-Com Honey Pot in 2015 and maybe earlier, before Trump even announced his run and yet it is all Trump's fault.
There is no lie that is too malignantly preposterous for people on the Left.
precarryus 4 hours agoThe Chinese are not actually our enemy here. When you go to Yellowstone, you're warned not to feed the bears. Same for dragons. Hang raw meat on a clothesline, and expect all the downwind carnivores and blowflies to show up. In our case, corrupt politicians made themselves readily accessible to any and every gomer with large bundles of cash. Even real-life whores are more discerning in their choice of johns than the low-life bacterium we elected to congress-it is THEY AND THEY ALONE who are to blame for selling this country out. The Chinese have nothing but contempt for these dregs, and no one should blame them for paying relative pennies for solid gold bars in return. In fact, our government does exactly the same to countless other countries, so the stampeding hypocrisy of our government in crying 'foul' simply reeks. The Chicoms would most likely shoot, and have shot their own corrupt sell-outs for far less than the crimes committed by our treasonous scumbags. And, until we adopt similar measures against our worthless SOB's, our Swamp will simply continue to get deeper and slimier............
American2 5 hours ago remove linkYet Swill-well says Adam Schiff and Pelosi were aware of his activities, implying ... ...(Surprised?
surf@jm 5 hours agoPerhaps Peter Strozk can be the defense's rock-solid moral character witness at Eric Swalwell's federal trial.
Schroedingers Cat 5 hours agoThe Chinese own Hollywood and the media.....
The Chinese were the main force for the Russia collusion horsehockey through their political whores in congress....
Son of Captain Nemo 5 hours agoHillary, Brennan, Obama, Chris Hayes, Maddow, Comey, Zucker and many other swamp state freaks are responsible for Russiagate.
The CHinese CCP are definitely up to no good but let's not excuse traitors and chalk it up to Chinese spies. Swalwell is 100% responsible for his own behavior. They ALL ARE. Chinese spies can't corrupt real American Patriots.
Willie the Pimp 6 hours ago remove linkLast I checked so was Joe and Hunter Biden along with China?...
And Hunter is doing great things with his money buying under age prostitutes in Ukraine and China making vids of it while sucking on a crack pipe... While the young ladies "suck" something else "off"!!!
John Couger 3 hours agoThe media? No such thing. CIA propaganda.
BinAnunnaki 4 hours agoThis slimy piece of excrement attacked our president for 4 years over the Russia hoax all while being compromised by the communist Chinese
Cobra Commander 4 hours ago remove linkThe Presstitute media is an extension of the Democratic Party.
OCnStiggs 6 hours agoPrecisely. Why pay money to be misinformed? Biden up by 17 in Wisconsin, Hunter laptop media blackout, panning away from ANY mention of voter and election fraud.
Cobra Commander 4 hours ago"Swallowell" is a lying, prevaricating, stupid POS.
The very first thing they do to you when you get a high security clearance is brief you on people and techniques used to compromise you. Period. Dot. This ****** either skipped the brief or ignored it. Simply associating with people who might be a compromise threat is unlawful. Ignorance is no excuse.
Just sayin'.
Penalties for Inaccurate or False Statements (security clearance)
United States Criminal Code (title 18, section 1001) provides that knowingly falsifying or concealing a material fact is a felony which may result in fines of up to $10,000, and/or 5 years imprisonment, or both.
If you have a security clearance, you agree to report all foreign contacts and relationships. When you submit your clearance request, you attest that all is true, correct, and complete to the best of your knowledge.
Intentionally submitting false information on a clearance request or renewal is subject to criminal prosecution.
Cobra!
|
|
|
Dec 10, 2020 | www.zerohedge.com
Slaytheist 1 hour ago
ominous 1 hour agoRussian collusion disappeared quicker than BLM after the election.
High Vigilante 16 minutes agoone is returning soon
LevelHeadedMan 26 minutes agoDemsheviks: "There was never Russia collusion, and we have always been in peace with Eastasia"
Francis Marximus 1 hour ago (Edited) remove linkRussia narrative was a scapegoat for the real cause. The Democrats lost the working class. They became the party of the coastal suburbanite liberal middle class. And now they are the party of fraud. lay_arrow
ominous 1 hour agoI guess all the countries that have a higher GDP then Russia the US has in their pockets. Hence...Russia has to be the fall guy.
The media and Democrats need simple minded people, people who are easily fooled and people with no conscience to exist
divide_by_zero 1 hour agowhy would Russia interfere?
we're doing a bang-up job ******* things up on our own.
NotGonnaTakeItAnymore 1 hour agoPutin should announce his candidate has won, just to **** either as Soros will run our gov otherwise
Baba Yaga 1 34 minutes agoLet's all recall that genius of the senate from CT, Chris Murphy, who took every opportunity to stand before anyone who would listen and had a camera, as repeatedly stating that Russia was involved with Trump and with Hunter's laptop.
And now he's remarkably quiet.
Hey Chris, can you show me the Russians now??? You are so going to lose you next election. We are sick of your games.
with extra foam 32 minutes ago remove linkThe American election is a farce in itself. Puppeteers from the Deep State have pushed Biden's candidacy by all means. The American people are just extras in these elections, nothing depends on them. This is the American way of democracy.
Bobby Farrell Can Dance 23 minutes ago (Edited)That moment of clarity when you realize that modern America is no different than Soviet Russia.
monty42 14 minutes agoWith much worse propaganda and a bigger budget. Meaning the fall will be harder.
Ms No 1 hour ago (Edited)Worse in some ways. The devil that poses as an angel of light is actually more dangerous.
youshallnotkill 1 hour agoI have to pat the CIA on the back. This has dual purpose.
Both China and Maduro are accused of meddling in this election. They got Russia last time. Amidst it all, thinking people are demoralized by the assholes who actually believe any of that absurdity. It's a hideous and cruel weapon.
Well played.
ouluoulu 24 minutes ago remove linkAccording to Rudy is was Chavez, don't cha know. Guy apparently just faked his death ... /s
Bobby Farrell Can Dance 18 minutes agoI am watching the death throes of the news business, newspapers, television and magazines. Blogs, newsletters and individuals releasing their own videos will finally kill it off.
Investigative reporting is nonexistent, replaced by fake news that answers to the "Big Club" that George Carlin referred to when he said "It's a big club and you ain't in it, you and I are not in it."
Western MSM is all paid shilling, fully compromised by 5 Eyes + Mossad intel agency staffers. The last place I would want to learn about the way the world works, but the first place I would look to see their projections.
|
|
|
Dec 10, 2020 | www.zerohedge.com
US Election "Success"... And Hey Presto "Russian Interference" Disappears by Tyler Durden Sun, 12/06/2020 - 00:00 Twitter Facebook Reddit Email Print
Via The Strategic Culture Foundation,
The United States' election victory of Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden has yet to be officially confirmed. That requires the 500-plus Electoral College comprising the 50 federal states to cast the final vote when the constitutional body meets on December 14. Biden holds a commanding lead of over 300 delegates in the Electoral College, more than 70 above Donald Trump's quota and decisively more than the 270 threshold required for election to the White House.
Nonetheless, already one thing is indisputably clear. Biden's nominal victory from the popular vote tallies is glaring proof that Russia did not interfere in the American presidential ballot. Not in 2020. And not, we may discern, in 2016, nor in any other election. Yet the silence in US media over this obvious conclusion is deafening.
Four years of frenetic and unsubstantiated allegations of "Russian interference" have disappeared overnight, it seems. Poof! Gone! As if by a magic conjuring trick. Now you see it, now you don't, so to speak.
The New York Times has declared the recent presidential contest a "great election.. a resounding success free of fraud" . The Department of Homeland Security pronounced the election to be the "most secure in American history." Other US media outlets have jettisoned supposed political neutrality and can barely contain their elation at Biden's electoral victory.
But hold on a moment.
In the months and weeks leading up to the November election, there was a fever pitch in US media among politicians, national security chiefs, pundits and anonymous intelligence sources that Russia was allegedly stepping up "interference efforts" to get Trump re-elected.
Those evidence-free claims were predicated on the equally absurd assertion that Trump was a Manchurian candidate for the Kremlin. That "Russiagate" fable was first spun in 2016 and for the past four years elaborated into a tangled web to "explain" how a maverick former reality TV star had been elected to the White House.
Suddenly, however, the Democrats and supportive US media are now asserting that the voting process was impeccable and unblemished by any malfeasance. Of course they would say that in order to bolster legitimacy of Biden's win against the Republican White House incumbent Donald Trump. But the thundering takeaway which the US political class and media are bizarrely ignoring is that Russia did not interfere not in the 2020 race nor in any other election. Russia has always categorically said it is not meddling in US politics and its electoral process. Turns out that Russia is de facto vindicated in its protestations against American slander.
https://lockerdome.com/lad/13084989113709670?pubid=ld-dfp-ad-13084989113709670-0&pubo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com&rid=www.zerohedge.com&width=890
The "Russiagate" nonsense was hatched by Democrats, their supportive media and intelligence agencies because they could not come to terms with the reality of why Trump beat the then establishment-ordained candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. Could it have been because Clinton and the Democrat party was repudiated by popular sentiment due to perceived corruption and overseas wars? No, another "explanation" had to be found. And the US political establishment came up with the "Russian interference" narrative.
No matter that the Mueller investigation found after 22 months of probing and hundreds of millions of taxpayer-dollars spent that there was no evidence of "Russia collusion" with the Trump campaign. Nevertheless, Mueller and the Democrats, their media and intelligence backers, persisted in the spurious notion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election and, allegedly, was continuing to meddle, purportedly with even more sophisticated, nefarious techniques.
How can US politicians, intelligence officials and media credibly claim that Russia interfered in 2016 and in mid-term congressional elections in 2018, but now in 2020 it evidently did not? The most logical explanation is simply that Russia never did.
Four years of hysterical American accusations against Russia have transpired to just that: bogus hysteria . US politicians, media and so-called intelligence gurus should be held to account for fabricating what is perhaps the biggest hoax ever played on the American public.
Though, one can be sure that they won't be held accountable in a formal way. Venal power doesn't work like that. And the US political system has built-in layers of self-protection for the political class never to be prosecuted. But in an informal no less real way, the system is being held to account by the wider public who are increasingly holding it in contempt and distrust. The political class and their plaything media are losing the moral authority to govern. This goes beyond mere Trump Derangement Syndrome. The systematic lying and deception over alleged Russian interference perpetrated on such a grand scale has fatally damaged the credibility of American institutions. Not just in the US, but around the world too.
Equally lamentable is the corrosive, damaging effect that the bogus hysteria has had on bilateral US-Russia relations and international tensions. Relations are at a dangerous all time low comparable to the depth of the Cold War. This has in turn sabotaged diplomatic efforts to strengthen arms controls and global security. The anti-Russia hysteria has led to the US abandonment of key nuclear weapons treaties, the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty and soon the New START.
The Russophobia that has been whipped up as a political weapon against Trump over the past four years is not something that can be easily put aside. It has engendered deep-seated hostility against Russia. During the presidential debates, Joe Biden vowed that the would take a tough stand against Russia for "interfering" in US politics. The incoming administration is being mentally held hostage by its own Russophobia which was cultivated on entirely false grounds.
NEVER MISS THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOSTZEROHEDGE DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX
Receive a daily recap featuring a curated list of must-read stories.
It is disturbing how the US nation has been dragged into an obsession about alleged Russian malign activities, an obsession which turns out to be a mirage. Not for the first time either. Recall the Cold War Red Scares and McCarthyite witch-hunts which poisoned American society.
The implications are daunting. How can bilateral relations with Russia be restored? How can an intelligent dialogue be conducted with a nation whose leaders are so self-deluded and irrational?
Moreover, this is a nation whose leaders presume to have the prerogative to use overwhelming military force whenever they deem so. It is not unlike the driver of a juggernaut vehicle on a precipice who is hurtling along while out of his brain on misconceptions.
|
|
|
Dec 06, 2020 | turcopolier.typepad.com
lux , 05 December 2020 at 02:51 PM
There is a future out there on the time beam ... I somewhat agree with Turley, that Russiagate vs Swampgate, I seem to forget how I labeled the other side of the pole over the years--Obama-Clinton-Gate???---should be investigated--:
Appointment Of Special Counsel Leaves Biden and Democrats In A Muddle
Can or should Barr also appoint a special counsel into Hunter-Gate?
|
|
|
Dec 05, 2020 | www.rt.com
The Russian government is set to expel a prominent human-rights activist, with former president Dmitry Medvedev claiming there's a co-ordinated campaign by international organizations to stoke unrest in the world's largest state.
Vanessa Kogan, the director of the Stichting Justice Initiative project, told Britain's Guardian newspaper that Russian authorities had notified her of the revocation of her residency permit. She will now have two weeks to leave the country, where she has lived for more than ten years. She also has two children with a Russian national.
The Stichting Justice Initiative is an NGO which, it says, provides legal support to Russians in cases of perceived human rights abuses. It has been less open about its funding in recent years, but in 2010 and 2011, it was bankrolled by the Dutch government and the Hungarian billionaire George Soros. via his 'Open Society' pressure group, which has been banned in Russia and declared "undesirable."
ALSO ON RT.COM Prosecutors ban Soros Foundation as 'threat to Russian national security'Kogan's work has previously focused on the North Caucasus region, where her group has represented people alleging victimization at the hands of authorities. Its activity in the majority Muslim area has reportedly brought tensions with local leaders, such as Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Republic of Chechnya.
Now the Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council, Medvedev, who has also served as Russia's prime minister, told reporters on Thursday that well-funded foreign groups were using networks in Russia to "exacerbate the internal political situation in certain regions, including through Russian non-profit groups they associate with."
He went on to add that these NGOs "depend on internet media, and use various far-fetched reasons for rewriting the events of our national history." He called this a "large-scale information campaign, being conducted to discredit the leadership of some specific territories and Federal Subjects."
In November, the country's State Duma debated new legislation that would expand the definition of foreign agents, enabling the label to be applied not only to NGOs and media organizations, but also to ordinary citizensIn 2018, the United States imprisoned a Russian citizen, Maria Butina, claiming that she was a foreign agent operating on behalf of Moscow. Authorities allege that she had infiltrated conservative-leaning organizations to promote better ties between Washington and the Kremlin. She served five months in prison, some of it in solitary confinement, before being deported back to Russia.
Zeta029 43 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:01 PM
This is a most dangerous situation. Being unable to openly defeat Russia on a battlefield (not that they didnt try, most recently in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria), the Empire is focusing on certain NGO and people like Navalny to weaken the leadership of Russian Federation. This is the undisputed truth and so these measures should be swift and harsh, for National Security sake.cangoroo Zeta029 16 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:28 PMAnd those NGOs are funded with "printed money" in the Empire. Now Australia has joined the money-printing party of their big-brother US; at the rate of $5billion a week. Money-printing means PIRATING money from the holders of their money, including foreign CentralBnks like China's. It was SEA-PIRACY on which the Empire Britannia was built during the reign of QE1 in the 16th century. Genes, I guess.Count_Cash Zeta029 18 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:26 PMIt's a multifaceted interference in Russia. The biggest play is economic , the next play is internal friction based on wealth disparity, the third is to create perception that westerners have better rights. The medium is external media, internal media, external courts, attacks on internal courts and political institutions - But there is one thing the western strategists haven't figured - nuclear weapons and their deterrent is aimed at preventing not only military attacks but also other attacks that attempt to politically and economically dominate Russia. While the west think all this activity has no cost, as was shown in the places you reference, there can be a military cost for the western games of interference and pushed far enough it could be a nuclear one. Nuclear Weapons their not just for countering military threats!TheFishh 40 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:04 PMFunded by Soros and Dutch government? There you have it. I wonder what Netherlands and the US would do, if some organizations operating there were getting money from Moscow. They'd lock up everyone involved in it. They wouldn't just be told to go back to Russia.Nonenity TheFishh 16 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:28 PMThey ought to be in OP and making their reports on the war crimes and human rights abuses there - ongoing since before 1948...Madbovineuk 1 hour ago 3 Dec, 2020 12:58 PMExpel all NGOs from Russia especially those with American tiesWhoWantsAIDS Madbovineuk 13 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:31 PMAs an American if Putin wants to send Soros workers or sympathizers home in a box he would be doing the world a favor. 💯🔮Count_Cash Madbovineuk 25 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:19 PMYes just boot her and the rest out. They are just trouble makers, if they were straight up they would be running to Iraq or Afghanistan to help people abused by the US.Timothy-Allen Albertson 1 hour ago 3 Dec, 2020 12:56 PMSoros, the nazi, needs to be hanged for Crimes Against Humanity. Too bad the Russian Federation did not imprison this Soros agitator for a long term at hard labor.Zeta029 Timothy-Allen Albertson 41 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:03 PMShe should work all her life, and still I dont think she would repay the harm she did.Badgecub 1 hour ago 3 Dec, 2020 01:25 PMKogan, if you are worried about human rights abuses go to the UK and help Julian AssageNonenity Badgecub 18 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:26 PMAnd all of those many, many US folks in prison for long periods, mostly for minor offences, because it was their third time stealing a slice of pizza. You don't hear/read/see it on the MSM, but these prisoners are all but slave labor and usually for multinational companies like S...bucks... Indeed in at least two states they are slave labor because they do not even get the cents (well under a dollar) per hour that prisoners in most states do. And should the prisoners refuse to do this labor, they often end up in solitary confinement - well known to be psychological torture...And there are political prisoners as well (not called that, of course, given who and where they are)...not to mention Guantanamo and the various Black Sites around the world and controlled by the CIA.... Stephen Kinzer's book on The Poisoner in Chief...a good read about the post war decades and the human rights abuses by the exceptionalist nation...TheFishh Badgecub 35 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:09 PMYes. And these sorts of contradictions is what gives away these so-called western human rights organizations as a bunch of nefarious fakes.DoubleKnot 1 hour ago 3 Dec, 2020 01:14 PMNGO - Non-Gentile OrganizationTheFishh DoubleKnot 37 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:07 PMBING!Marko Podganjek 15 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:29 PMI thought that such organizations and people were expelled from Russia long ago. Because on west they want to imprison people that were just on trip in Russia. Not to say if somebody would get money from Russia. The relations and approaches here has to be comparable on both sides.Smanz 20 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:24 PMAnything linked to Soros generally only exists to create chaos and ruin the country it is in.dunkie56 8 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:36 PMi will say it again...throw the West and it's agents provocateurs out of Russia...all Western companies must leave forthwith and restrict who comes into Russia and tighten the borders! Preferably raise up the iron curtain once again!SrJustice 5 minutes ago 3 Dec, 2020 02:39 PMPoliticians in the US think that improving relations with other countries is a bad thing because they need enemies, enemies are better than friends to have for Washington, very twisted minds. They just want to scare their people so they can suck more tax money and spend on the weapons manufacturers, where most of those politician invest their money.
|
|
|
Dec 01, 2020 | www.washingtonexaminer.com
P resident-elect Joe Biden's pick to run the Office of Management and Budget has a history of defending British ex-spy Christopher Steele's discredited anti-Trump dossier.
Years of controversial claims about the Trump-Russia controversy, particularly about the dossier funded in part by Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, presents one of several obstacles for Neera Tanden, a longtime Democratic operative, to achieve Senate confirmation next year.
A significant question that remains is how the two Senate runoff races in Georgia shake out in January, with control of the upper chamber hanging in the balance. Tanden is sure to meet stiff opposition from Republicans, who will be led by Sen. Mitch McConnell, whom Tanden derisively tweeted in August 2019, "Stacey Abrams just called McConnell 'Moscow Mitch.' Love it."
In selecting Tanden on Monday, Biden described the president of the left-wing Center for American Progress as "a leading architect and advocate of policies designed to support working families." Tanden worked on Bill Clinton's successful run in 1992 and Barack Obama's successful presidential run in 2008. She was also an adviser on Hillary Clinton's successful Democratic primary effort in 2016 and the failed general election run that November.
Not mentioned in her Biden transition team biography was the role Tanden played in promoting unsubstantiated claims throughout the Trump-Russia controversy.
Tanden launched the "Moscow Project" in 2017, and after Buzzfeed published Steele's dossier in January 2017, Tanden's think tank released a statement saying, "The intelligence dossier presents profoundly disturbing allegations; ones that should shake every American to the core." Tanden went on to defend the Steele dossier repeatedly on Twitter, attacking those who critiqued the FBI for relying on its claims to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authority against former Trump campaign associate Carter Page and implying that critics of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation were doing Russia's bidding.
"Make Chris Steele the next James Bond," Tanden tweeted in January 2017.
In a tweet about Rep. Devin Nunes's FISA memo in February 2018, which criticized the FBI's surveillance of Page and its use of the dossier, the Washington Examiner's Byron York noted that "no FISA warrant would have been sought from the FISA Court without the Steele dossier information." Tanden responded by saying, "Even if this is true, hasn't the dossier been mostly proven to be true? It's amazing how comfortable the likes of Byron York are happy to run interference for Russians intervening in our elections." Tanden followed up with another tweet claiming that the "dossier has been mostly established as right."
Tanden's "Moscow Project" also released a flawed critique of the Republican FISA memo, with Tanden defending the FBI's surveillance. In addition, Tanden tweeted in April 2018 that the dossier was "started with funding by a GOP megadonor."
Although the conservative Free Beacon had hired the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, it said in October 2017 that it "had no knowledge of or connection to the Steele dossier." It later emerged that Steele was not commissioned by Fusion GPS (and did not begin compiling his dossier) until Clinton campaign lawyer Marc Elias hired Fusion.
"What parts of the dossier have been disproven?" Tanden tweeted in January 2019. "I will wait."
DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz's December 2019 report and subsequent declassifications undermined Steele's claims in the dossier. Horowitz said the Trump-Russia investigation concealed exculpatory information from the FISA court, and he criticized the Justice Department and FBI for at least 17 "significant errors and omissions" related to the FISA warrants against Page and for the bureau's reliance on Steele. Declassified footnotes show the FBI knew Steele's dossier may have been compromised by Russian disinformation . Horowitz said FBI interviews with Steele's main source, U.S.-based and Russian-trained lawyer Igor Danchenko, "raised significant questions about the reliability of the Steele election reporting."
FBI Director Christopher Wray called the FISA findings "utterly unacceptable" this year and concurred with the DOJ's conclusions that at least two of the four FISA warrants against Page amounted to illegal surveillance.
Nearly all the FISA signatories -- Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates , Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein , fired FBI Director James Comey , and fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe -- indicated under oath they wouldn't have signed off on the surveillance if they knew then what they know now, and a declassified FBI spreadsheet showed the lack of corroboration for Steele's claims.
Other Russia-related claims Tanden has made could present sticking points during her confirmation process.
She tweeted on Oct. 31, 2016, that President Trump was a Russian "puppet" in part because there was a "Trump server connected to Russian bank" and tweeted again in December 2016 that Trump may have gotten "talking points from the server at Trump Tower connected to Russia."
The claim that a Russian Alfa Bank server was secretly communicating with a server at Trump Tower, also pushed by Steele, emerged in 2016, but Horowitz noted the FBI "concluded by early February 2017 that there were no such links," and the Senate Intelligence Committee's August report did not find "covert communications between Alfa Bank and Trump Organization personnel." Jake Sullivan, Biden's pick for national security adviser, also pushed the refuted Alfa Bank claim in 2016.
The week after Trump's victory, following reports that Russian cyberactors had targeted a number of state election systems, Tanden mused, "Why would hackers hack in unless they could change results?" The next day, she pushed back against criticism she received, tweeting, "Funny, I don't remember saying Russian hackers stole Hillary's victory." There is no evidence that Russian hackers changed any votes in 2016.
"Mueller found Russian interference in the election. He also found Trump coordinated with Russia. These are facts," Tanden tweeted in October.
Although Mueller's investigation concluded in 2019 that the Russian government interfered in a "sweeping and systematic fashion," the report "did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."
After the report's release, Tanden tweeted that "Mueller has failed the country" and "Adam Schiff > Robert Mueller." Earlier this year, Schiff released dozens of House Intelligence Committee witness interviews that showed Obama's top national security officials testified they hadn't seen direct evidence of Trump-Russia collusion.
|
|
|
Cyaxares_425bc 21 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 12:37 PMNov 30, 2020 | www.rt.com
Szilard Demeter, a ministerial commissioner and head of the Petofi Literary Museum in Budapest, used highly provocative language to describe Hungarian-American financier George Soros and his purported influence over EU policy."Europe is George Soros' gas chamber," the government-appointed cultural commissioner wrote in an op-ed. "Poison gas flows from the capsule of a multicultural open society, which is deadly to the European way of life."
He went on to characterize Soros as "the liberal Fuhrer," insisting that the businessman's "liber-aryan army deifies him more than did Hitler's own."
bristolwind shadow1369 19 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 02:07 PM
Now look at the US of Zimbabwe, banana republic with Mugabe level stolen election, fascist brown shirts (BLM, ANTIFA) beating people on the streets, burning places of worship and private business, eliminating Trump black supporters execution style. Plutocrats, authoritarian to the core, control Uniparty, MSM and social media forbidding any dissent. And, as even not much trusted, Gingerich said : IT IS VERBOTEN to mention one person name (Soros) even on treasonous fox news!! In the future USA will be longing to have fair and transparent election as people of Belarus or Venezuela. At this point Russia and Hungary are beacons of free world. Simple because they throw out former Nazi quislinJ_P_Franklin 23 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 10:36 AM"Europe is George Soros' gas chamber," the government-appointed cultural commissioner wrote in an op-ed. " Poison gas flows from the capsule of a multicultural open society , which is deadly to the European way of life."Cryptoid
What RT DID NOT mention, is that as a teenager during World War II, Soros aided the Gestapo in Budapest, by pointing out the homes & apartments of wealthy jews. And then he helped inventory the loot - as well as load the furniture, paintings, carpets, and heirlooms onto trucks. On CBS's program "60 minutes" he states that these 'were the best years of his life'.Ohhho 22 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 11:49 AM
George Soros (aka Georgy Schwartz) is just a tool: he keeps the funds that the British-American elites channeled from he British budget into his "private" account in that famous "British Pound speculation"! Now for years he is financing all kind of covert and not so covert operations by MI6 and CIA without any control or supervision from the state: nice!EnkisDaughter 22 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 11:32 AM
Gyorgy Schwartz (his real name) and his father (Theodore Schwartz ) made money by selling their own people (Soros is Jewish by birth) to the Nazis; these people then went to the concentration camps. The Hungarians were allies of the Nazis and the Schwartz family certainly made money from them.CA_Sue 16 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 04:57 PM
I think the Hungarian commissioner had every right to say what he did. Soros hides behind his NGO's and other organizations and has funded mayhem and horrible violence in America. If Poland and Hungary want to protect their culture, so be it, it's THEIRS to protect.Bianca882008 21 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 11:57 AM
And how creepy is it that EU conditions its COVID aid! So if these two countries do not pass legislation on transgender rights, and few other gender-choice related issues, they are deprived if aid in the middle of pandemic! That is militant liberalism. This is not about rights, it is about SUPREMACY. It is to prove that liberal agenda can shove anything down a nation's throat -- when a country is weak and needs money. It is about bringing to power those that will champion the new "values". And kick out of power the conservatives, the nationalist old guard. There us a method to this militant Soros madness. Perfect name -- liber-aryans!veneziano49454 20 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 01:23 PM
I think that Hungary People has many reasons. Mr Open Society has ruined the World and again he is ruining the USA. He is behind the Dominion Voting through his UK friend CEO of Smartmatic Software. He is continuing to ruine the Italy after the Italian currency speculation in the 1992. We Italians hate him. He is continuing to invade the Italy by immigrants. Through the ONG paid from Open Society. And now warning american people. Because he is thinking to a Monetary war against the USD. He want create a Global Currency. The Great Reset begin with fraud against the USA President. This is an obstacle to eliminate.HandyGlock17 20 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 12:52 PM
Bravo Hungary, you are putting principles OVER filthy profit. You love your nation, people, and culture more than dirty money. You put all other countries who are ruled by traitors to shame.rolvik 22 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 11:29 AM
"Poison gas flows from the capsule of a multicultural open society, which is deadly to the European way of life." this is 100% correct. EU puppets should arrest that criminal terrorist soros . only Hungary and Poland dare to speak. "Israeli Embassy in Budapest expressed similar outrage." is soros citizen of Israel?? of not, what should Israel have to have with soros?? beside they are complete terrorist criminal country, adn they are last to give anybody morale lessons . "There is no place for connecting the worst crime in human history, or its perpetrators, to any contemporary debate, no matter how essential," the Israeli diplomatic mission wrote in a tweet. that is biggest lie in history, and even if that lie is true it is definitely not biggest crime. and soros crime is way bigger then Hitler's. terrorist soros sponsor genocide of whole European continent, and criminals including Israel support thatmumbojumbo272 22 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 11:25 AM
Open society, two nice words hiding horrible goals . Just like dissecting humanbeings in the whomb of women under terms like: pro-choice and other terms eluding the true facts .Robin Olsen 21 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 12:36 PM
The Jewish response is indeed curious seeing as though Soros built his fortune by stealing the 'left behind' wealth of deported Jews during WW2 while hiding out posing as a Nazi. One could almost define that as a act of genocidal treason right? But Hungry and Poland are funny...big problem with E.U and Soros but no problems accepting thousands of Soros supporting American troops to fight off 'the Russian bogey man' . Flip flopping around like a Tuna caught out of the water.Dirk45 18 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 03:58 PM
Mr Demeter is referring to the deliberate liberal policy of promoting mass immigration from the Third World, and thereafter using incessant indoctrination and legal coercion to promote mass integration. The aim of Mr Soros , the EU, and Western governments can only be to destroy the racial and consequently cultural identity of the entire native population of Europe. Relating this to the extermination of millions of Jews is therefore entirely appropriate, and should in no way be considered as somehow devaluing or depreciating it. To contrast the two situations is pointless. The fate suffered by millions of Jews in Nazi camps was immediate and brutal; the fate suffered by hundreds of millions of Europeans spread across an entire continent from the Urals to the Atlantic is less so, but the intention of the perpetrators in both cases is identical.SheepNotHuman 12 hours ago 30 Nov, 2020 01:06 AM
George Soros runs America through his many fake politicians, DA, Judges, NGO's funded by him. Actually he represents the Rothchild house for the Royals Global Cartel. No surprise that Israel cover for him being the Rothchild is father of Israel. They are the destroyers of humanity who use the MSM that they own to manufacture consent in your mind. Lone wolf, hear your calling and do your duty for humanity.Morsi_X 1 day ago 29 Nov, 2020 12:10 PM
Poison gas flows from the capsule of a multicultural open society, which is deadly to the European way of life." multiculturalism and over population is a hindering within the United States and stopping these younger progressives from getting some of their socialist policies through because they can't look around and grasp that socialism doesn't work with an eternal population that is approaching (or maybe already there) 350 million then onto 400 million with a bunch of multi cultural people, like Armenians which never seen an American flag in their lives, along with a bunch of other non-indigenous and non-founding immigrants but they constantly yelling in the street and can't even pass a civics class.sukmiwangyak 23 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 01:44 PM
Soros is far more evil than Hiltler, it's not even close by a long shot. For Israel to defend Soros is like Judas running a trust fund. I always wondered why didn't Israel take action against Soros who confessed he helped to Nazi's to catch Jews, then he would steal their wealth; he said " it was his best memory's" ! Hitler wasn't as bad as the Bushes, or the Clintons, he knew the Jews was like wild animals that's the reason he tried to give them to the USA or other states, but they choice to turn their backs on them. Even if we hung Soros today, he still would've gotten away with so much. Just like Hillary he is both Mossad & CIA, protected by the Jesuits. We need to first condemn the color revolutions which is paid for with the " Open Society Foundation " Secondly we need to close all secrete foundations and make them accountable to the Rule of Law. Thirdly lets exterminate people like Soros's, Rockefeller's, Rothschild's, Clinton's, Biden's, Bush's from this world for mankind's sake. Lastly we need more people like Szilard Demeter.Lloyd Hart 16 hours ago 29 Nov, 2020 08:55 PM
Soros was a member of the SS during the war & still is. He only pretends to be liberal but his immigrant policies have more to do with breaking unions with cheap migrant and insecure labour. So he is still a nazi in my book. Crushing uncooperative poorer nation's currencies is his institutional nazism.
|
|
|
Nov 30, 2020 | www.moonofalabama.org
vk , Nov 30 2020 0:20 utc | 60
Human Rights are not intrinsic. They are a post-war invention (1948) by the UN, something created so everybody could sleep better at night (or be invaded, if you're a fan of post-Cold War History).
Clueless Joe , Nov 30 2020 1:02 utc | 70
Don Bacon , Nov 30 2020 3:54 utc | 81Natural rights are just as much the figment of some people's imagination as human rights.
None of these have any existence or any objective, scientific, physical basis, they are just intellectual notions, like money, gods and other fancy ideas. The majority of people might agree on them from time to time, but they surely aren't eternal, and any system based on these has a limited lifespan.@ CJ 70
Natural rights are just as much the figment of some people's imagination as human rights.No. We all have the right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Those rights are codified by the UN in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights .
...included...Article I - All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2 - Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3 - Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person... here
|
|
|
Nov 28, 2020 | www.strategic-culture.org
The United States' election victory of Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden has yet to be officially confirmed. That requires the 500-plus Electoral College comprising the 50 federal states to cast the final vote when the constitutional body meets on December 14. Biden holds a commanding lead of over 300 delegates in the Electoral College, more than 70 above Donald Trump's quota and decisively more than the 270 threshold required for election to the White House.
Nonetheless, already one thing is indisputably clear. Biden's nominal victory from the popular vote tallies is glaring proof that Russia did not interfere in the American presidential ballot. Not in 2020. And not, we may discern, in 2016, nor in any other election. Yet the silence in US media over this obvious conclusion is deafening.
Four years of frenetic and unsubstantiated allegations of "Russian interference" have disappeared overnight, it seems. Poof! Gone! As if by a magic conjuring trick. Now you see it, now you don't, so to speak.
The New York Times has declared the recent presidential contest a "great election.. a resounding success free of fraud". The Department of Homeland Security pronounced the election to be the "most secure in American history." Other US media outlets have jettisoned supposed political neutrality and can barely contain their elation at Biden's electoral victory.
But hold on a moment. In the months and weeks leading up to the November election, there was a fever pitch in US media among politicians, national security chiefs, pundits and anonymous intelligence sources that Russia was allegedly stepping up "interference efforts" to get Trump re-elected. Those evidence-free claims were predicated on the equally absurd assertion that Trump was a Manchurian candidate for the Kremlin. That "Russiagate" fable was first spun in 2016 and for the past four years elaborated into a tangled web to "explain" how a maverick former reality TV star had been elected to the White House.
Suddenly, however, the Democrats and supportive US media are now asserting that the voting process was impeccable and unblemished by any malfeasance. Of course they would say that in order to bolster legitimacy of Biden's win against the Republican White House incumbent Donald Trump. But the thundering takeaway which the US political class and media are bizarrely ignoring is that Russia did not interfere not in the 2020 race nor in any other election. Russia has always categorically said it is not meddling in US politics and its electoral process. Turns out that Russia is de facto vindicated in its protestations against American slander.
The "Russiagate" nonsense was hatched by Democrats, their supportive media and intelligence agencies because they could not come to terms with the reality of why Trump beat the then establishment-ordained candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. Could it have been because Clinton and the Democrat party was repudiated by popular sentiment due to perceived corruption and overseas wars? No, another "explanation" had to be found. And the US political establishment came up with the "Russian interference" narrative.
No matter that the Mueller investigation found after 22 months of probing and hundreds of millions of taxpayer-dollars spent that there was no evidence of "Russia collusion" with the Trump campaign. Nevertheless, Mueller and the Democrats, their media and intelligence backers, persisted in the spurious notion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election and, allegedly, was continuing to meddle, purportedly with even more sophisticated, nefarious techniques.
How can US politicians, intelligence officials and media credibly claim that Russia interfered in 2016 and in mid-term congressional elections in 2018, but now in 2020 it evidently did not? The most logical explanation is simply that Russia never did.
Four years of hysterical American accusations against Russia have transpired to just that: bogus hysteria. US politicians, media and so-called intelligence gurus should be held to account for fabricating what is perhaps the biggest hoax ever played on the American public.
Though, one can be sure that they won't be held accountable in a formal way. Venal power doesn't work like that. And the US political system has built-in layers of self-protection for the political class never to be prosecuted. But in an informal no less real way, the system is being held to account by the wider public who are increasingly holding it in contempt and distrust. The political class and their plaything media are losing the moral authority to govern. This goes beyond mere Trump Derangement Syndrome. The systematic lying and deception over alleged Russian interference perpetrated on such a grand scale has fatally damaged the credibility of American institutions. Not just in the US, but around the world too.
Equally lamentable is the corrosive, damaging effect that the bogus hysteria has had on bilateral US-Russia relations and international tensions. Relations are at a dangerous all time low comparable to the depth of the Cold War. This has in turn sabotaged diplomatic efforts to strengthen arms controls and global security. The anti-Russia hysteria has led to the US abandonment of key nuclear weapons treaties, the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty and soon the New START.
The Russophobia that has been whipped up as a political weapon against Trump over the past four years is not something that can be easily put aside. It has engendered deep-seated hostility against Russia. During the presidential debates, Joe Biden vowed that the would take a tough stand against Russia for "interfering" in US politics. The incoming administration is being mentally held hostage by its own Russophobia which was cultivated on entirely false grounds.
It is disturbing how the US nation has been dragged into an obsession about alleged Russian malign activities, an obsession which turns out to be a mirage. Not for the first time either. Recall the Cold War Red Scares and McCarthyite witch-hunts which poisoned American society.
The implications are daunting. How can bilateral relations with Russia be restored? How can an intelligent dialogue be conducted with a nation whose leaders are so self-deluded and irrational?
Moreover, this is a nation whose leaders presume to have the prerogative to use overwhelming military force whenever they deem so. It is not unlike the driver of a juggernaut vehicle on a precipice who is hurtling along while out of his brain on misconceptions.
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2020 | www.globalresearch.ca
The scheme was cooked up by Obama/Biden regime Russophobes John Brennan, Hillary and the DNC -- to smear Russia and discredit Trump at the same time.
It aimed to maintain and escalate US hostility toward the Russian Federation – for its sovereign independence, advocacy for world peace, opposition to Washington's imperial agenda, and having foiled its aim to transform Syria into another US vassal state.
It also relates to Sino/Russian unity – representing the only obstacle to Washington's aim for unchallenged global dominance.
Probes by special counsel Robert Mueller, as well as House and Senate committees found no evidence of Russian US meddling.
Nor did the US intelligence community. Claims otherwise without corroborating evidence were and remain baseless.
In US criminal judicial proceedings, evidence beyond a reasonable doubt is required for convictions.
Without it, fairly and impartially adjudicated cases would be dismissed.
Time and again, Russia was falsely accused of US election meddling, notably in the run-up to Trump v. Hillary in 2016.
To this day, no credible evidence ever proved accusations because none exists.
The Russiagate hoax remains one of the most shameful political chapters in US history, exceeding the worst of McCarthyism because despite its exposed Big Lies, it's still around.
Yet in 2018 testimony before House Intelligence Committee members, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (2010 – 2017) said the following:
"I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting (or) conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election."
"I do not recall any instance when I had direct evidence of the content of" alleged Trump team-Russia collusion.
Remarks like the above, along with failure of probes by Mueller, House and Senate members to present evidence of Russian US election meddling should have ended the Russiagate witch-hunt once and for all.
While largely dormant in the run-up to and aftermath of US Election 2020, it could resurface any time in old or new form.
In following NYT reports on other issues, most recently with regard to Trump v. Biden/Harris, I haven't seen a Russiagate report in its online editions for some time.
Belatedly I discovered an August 2020 mini-book-length article in the NYT Magazine (online), a publication I don't follow.
It discusses a classified National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) of various geopolitical issues, this one prepared in July 2019.
The Times: "According to multiple officials who saw it, the document discussed Russia's ongoing efforts to influence US elections: the 2020 presidential contest and 2024's as well (sic)."
Its so-called "interest" is much the same as in other nations.
"Interest" has nothing to do with meddling. No credible evidence ever surfaced to show US election interference by any nations.
It's in sharp contrast to credible evidence of US meddling in scores of elections abroad throughout the post-WW II period and earlier.
According to "key judgments" of US intelligence officials, "Russia favored the current president: Donald Trump," adding:
Ahead of the summer 2020 party national conventions, "Russia worked in support of the (Dem) presidential candidate Bernie Sanders," said the Times, based on the NIE report.
It wasn't "genuine" support for Sanders, just an effort "to weaken that party and ultimately help the current US president (sic)."
The Times: "Just as this article was going to press," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) claimed the following:
Moscow "is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former (Joe) Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia 'establishment (sic).' "
The ODNI accused Moscow of "sophisticated election-disrupting capabilities (sic)."
An unnamed intelligence community source familiar with the NIE was quoted, saying it's "100 percent reliable (sic)."
Left unexplained by the Times was that from inception to the present day, Russiagate was and remains a colossal hoax.
No evidence ever surfaced to suggest Kremlin US election meddling, nor by any other foreign country.
What the NIE allegedly called "100 percent reliable" defied reality. It's part of longstanding Russia bashing.
In January 2017, a US intelligence community report titled "Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections: The Analytic Process and Cyber Incident Attribution" -- claiming Trump v. Hillary election meddling -- included no evidence proving it.
None existed then or now to present day.
When Vladimir Putin was asked if he wanted Trump to win in 2016 -- at a joint Helsinki, Finland news conference with DJT in July 2018 -- he replied: "Yes, I did."
His preference for Trump over Hillary was unrelated to election meddling.
If other foreign leaders expressed a preference for one US presidential candidate over another, the same logic holds.
One thing has nothing to do with the other. Implying otherwise is an act of deception, a longstanding US intelligence community and Times specialty.
Trump was justifiably skeptical about accusations of Russian US election meddling that favored him over Hillary in 2016 or over Biden/Harris this month.
According to the Times, Trump's objections to claims about alleged Russia US election meddling "alarm(ed) the intelligence community."
Former acting CIA director/Hillary campaign advisor Michael Morell was quoted calling Trump "an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation."
He's a political novice, geopolitical know-nothing, first ever US reality TV president.
He's no witting or unwitting Russian agent.
Separately, Morell defied reality, claiming:
Election 2016 was "the only time in American history when we've been attacked by a foreign country and not come together as a nation," adding:
"In fact, it split us further apart."
"It was an inexpensive, relatively easy to carry out covert mission." It deepened our divisions."
"I'm absolutely convinced that those Russian intelligence officers who put together and managed the attack on our democracy (sic) in 2016 all received medals personally from Vladimir Putin (sic)."
The above claims and others about a DJT/Russia connection et al are pure rubbish.
The lengthy Times magazine piece was all about smearing Russia, falsely claiming Kremlin US election meddling, and demeaning Trump for defeating media darling Hillary.
No evidence was included to back any of the above claims. None exists.
In the run-up to and aftermath of US election 2020, Russiagate simmers largely below the surface.
If Trump's legal action against brazen election fraud to deny him a second term succeeds -- what's highly unlikely but possible -- will a phony DJT/Russia connection again make headline news?
Will there be claims of Kremlin involvement in backing litigation to discredit Biden/Harris?
No matter how often the Russiagate Big Lie was debunked before, it may never die.
It may be around as long as the Russian Federation and China remain Washington's favorite national security threats.
Real ones don't exist so they're invented as pretexts to advance US imperial interests.
*
Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.
Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected] . He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)
His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
|
|
|
Nov 23, 2020 | scheerpost.com
40 Comments on Chris Hedges: The Ruling Elite's War on Truth American political leaders display a widening disconnect from reality intended to mask their complicity in the seizure of power by global corporations and billionaires. By Chris Hedges / Original to ScheerPostJoe Biden's victory instantly obliterated the Democratic Party's longstanding charge that Russia was hijacking and compromising US elections. The Biden victory, the Democratic Party leaders and their courtiers in the media now insist, is evidence that the democratic process is strong and untainted, that the system works. The elections ratified the will of the people.
But imagine if Donald Trump had been reelected. Would the Democrats and pundits at The New York Time s , CNN and MSNBC pay homage to a fair electoral process? Or, having spent four years trying to impugn the integrity of the 2016 presidential race, would they once again haul out the blunt instrument of Russian interference to paint Trump as Vladimir Putin's Manchurian candidate?
Trump and Giuliani are vulgar and buffoonish, but they play the same slimy game as their Democratic opponents. The Republicans scapegoat the deep state, communists and now, bizarrely, Venezuela; the Democrats scapegoat Russia. The widening disconnect from reality by the ruling elite is intended to mask their complicity in the seizure of power by predatory global corporations and billionaires.
... ... ...
The two warring factions within the ruling elite, which fight primarily over the spoils of power while abjectly serving corporate interests, peddle alternative realities. If the deep state and Venezuelan socialists or Russia intelligence operatives are pulling the strings no one in power is accountable for the rage and alienation caused by the social inequality, the unassailability of corporate power, the legalized bribery that defines our political process, the endless wars, austerity and de-industrialization. The social breakdown is, instead, the fault of shadowy phantom enemies manipulating groups such as Black Lives Matters or the Green Party.
"The people who run this country have run out of workable myths with which to distract the public, and in a moment of extreme crisis have chosen to stoke civil war and defame the rest of us – black and white – rather than admit to a generation of corruption, betrayal, and mismanagement," Matt Taibbi writes.
These fictional narratives are dangerous. They erode the credibility of democratic institutions and electoral politics. They posit that news and facts are no longer true or false. Information is accepted or discarded based on whether it hurts or promotes one faction over another. While outlets such as Fox News have always existed as an arm of the Republican Party, this partisanship has now infected nearly all news organizations, including publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post , along with the major tech platforms that disseminate information and news. A fragmented public with no common narrative believes whatever it wants to believe.
... ... ...
The flagrant partisanship and discrediting of truth across the political spectrum are swiftly fueling the rise of an authoritarian state. The credibility of democratic institutions and electoral politics, already deeply corrupted by PACs, the electoral college, lobbyists, the disenfranchisement of third-party candidates, gerrymandering and voter suppression, is being eviscerated.
Silicon Valley billionaires, including Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz and ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, donated more than $100 million to a Democratic super PAC that created a torrent of anti-Trump TV ads in the final weeks of the campaign to elect Biden. The heavy infusion of corporate money to support Biden wasn't done to protect democracy. It was done because these corporations and billionaires know a Biden administration will serve their interests.
The press, meanwhile, has largely given up on journalism. It has retreated into competing echo chambers that only speak to true believers. This catering exclusively to one demographic, which it sets against another demographic, is commercially profitable. But it also guarantees the balkanization of the United States and edges us closer and closer to fratricide.
When Trump leaves the White House millions of his enraged supports, hermetically sealed inside hyperventilating media platforms that feed back to them their rage and hate, will see the vote as fraudulent, the political system as rigged, and the establishment press as propaganda. They will target, I fear, through violence, the Democratic Party politicians, mainstream media outlets and those they demonize as conspiratorial members of the deep state, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci. The Democratic Party is as much to blame for this disintegration as Trump and the Republican Party.
The election of Biden is also very bad news for journalists such as Matt Taibbi, Glen Ford, Margaret Kimberley, Glenn Greenwald, Jeffrey St. Clair or Robert Scheer who refuse to be courtiers to the ruling elites. Journalists that do not spew the approved narrative of the right-wing, or, alternatively, the approved narrative of the Democratic Party, have a credibility the ruling elite fears.
The worse things get – and they will get worse as the pandemic leaves hundreds of thousands dead and thrusts millions of Americans into severe economic distress –the more those who seek to hold the ruling elites, and in particular the Democratic Party, accountable will be targeted and censored in ways familiar to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, now in a London prison and facing possible extradition to the United States and life imprisonment.
Barack Obama's assault on civil liberties, which included the repeated misuse of the Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers, the passage of Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to permit the military to act as a domestic police force and the ordering of the assassination of U.S. citizens deemed to be terrorists in Yemen, was far worse than those of George W. Bush. Biden's assault on civil liberties, I suspect, will surpass those of the Obama administration.
The censorship was heavy handed during the campaign. Digital media platforms, including Google, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, along with the establishment press worked shamelessly as propaganda arms for the Biden campaign. They were determined not to make the "mistake" they made in 2016 when they reported on the damaging emails, released by WikiLeaks, from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta. Although the emails were genuine, papers such as The New York Times routinely refer to the Podesta emails as "disinformation." This, no doubt, pleases its readership, 91 percent of whom identify as Democrats according to the Pew Research Center. But it is another example of journalistic malfeasance.
Following the election of Trump, the media outlets that cater to a Democratic Party readership made amends. The New York Times was one of the principal platforms that amplified Russiagate conspiracies, most of which turned out to be false. At the same time, the paper largely ignored the plight of the disposed working class that supported Trump. When the Russiagate story collapsed, the paper pivoted to focus on race, embodied in the 1619 Project. The root cause of social disintegration -- the neoliberal order, austerity and deindustrialization -- was ignored since naming it would alienate the paper's corporate advertisers and the elites on whom the paper depends for access.
Once the 2020 election started, The New York Times and other mainstream outlets censored and discredited information that could hurt Biden, including a tape of Joe Biden speaking with former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, which appears to be authentic. They gave credibility to any rumor, however spurious, which was unfavorable to Trump. Twitter and Facebook blocked access to a New York Post story about the emails allegedly found on Hunter Biden's discarded laptop.
Twitter locked the New York Post out of its own account for over a week. Glenn Greenwald, whose article on Hunter Biden was censored by his editors at The Intercept, which he helped found, resigned. He released the email exchanges with his editors over his article. Ignoring the textual evidence of censorship, editors and writers at The Intercept engaged in a public campaign of character assassination against Greenwald. This sordid behavior by self-identified progressive journalists is a page out of the Trump playbook and a sad commentary on the collapse of journalistic integrity.
The censorship and manipulation of information was honed and perfected against WikiLeaks. When WikiLeaks tries to release information, it is hit with botnets or distributed denial of service attacks. Malware attacks WikiLeaks' domain and website. The WikiLeaks site is routinely shut down or unable to serve its content to its readers. Attempts by WikiLeaks to hold press conferences see the audio distorted and the visual images corrupted. Links to WikiLeaks events are delayed or cut. Algorithms block the dissemination of WikiLeaks content. Hosting services, including Amazon, removed WikiLeaks from its servers. Julian Assange, after releasing the Iraqi war logs, saw his bank accounts and credit cards frozen. WikiLeaks' PayPal accounts were disabled to cut off donations. The Freedom of the Press Foundation in December 2017 closed down the anonymous funding channel to WikiLeaks which was set up to protect the anonymity of donors. A well-orchestrated smear campaign against Assange was amplified and given credibility by the mass media and filmmakers such as Alex Gibney. Assange and WikiLeaks were first. We are next.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told CNN during this campaign that Russian disinformation efforts are "more problematic" than in 2016. He warned that "this time around, the Russians have decided to cultivate U.S. citizens as assets. They are attempting to try to spread their propaganda in the mainstream media."
This will be the official mantra of the Democratic Party, a vicious redbaiting campaign without actual reds, especially as the country spirals out of control. The reason I have a show on Russia-funded RT America is the same reason Vaclav Havel could only be heard on the US-funded Voice of America during the communist control of Czechoslovakia. I did not choose to leave the mainstream media. I was pushed out. And once anyone is pushed out, the ruling elite is relentless about discrediting the few platforms left willing to give them, and the issues they raise, a hearing.
"If the problem is 'American citizens' being cultivated as 'assets' trying to put 'interference' in the mainstream media, the logical next step is to start asking Internet platforms to shut down accounts belonging to any American journalist with the temerity to report material leaked by foreigners (the wrong foreigners, of course – it will continue to be okay to report things like the 'black ledger')," writes Taibbi , who has done some of the best reporting on the emerging censorship. "From Fox or the Daily Caller on the right , to left-leaning outlets like Consortium or the World Socialist Web Site, to writers like me even – we're all now clearly in range of new speech restrictions, even if we stick to long-ago-established factual standards."
Taibbi argues that the precedent for overt censorship took place when the major digital platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Google, Spotify, YouTube – in a coordinated move blacklisted the right-wing talk show host Alex Jones.
"Liberal America cheered," Taibbi told me when I interviewed him for my show, " On Contact ":
They said 'Well this is a noxious figure. This is a great thing. Finally, someone's taking action.' What they didn't realize is that we were trading an old system of speech regulation for a new one without any public discussion. You and I were raised in a system where you got punished for speech if you committed libel or slander or if there was imminent incitement to lawless action, right? That was the standard that the Supreme Court set, but that was done through litigation. There was an open process where you had a chance to rebut charges. That is all gone now.
Now, basically there's a handful of these tech distribution platforms that control how people get their media.
They've been pressured by the Senate, which has called all of their CEOs in, and basically ordered them, 'We need you to come up with a plan to prevent the sowing of di
Was Jan. 6 the end of an era – or start of a dangerous new one?