Media Madness

I've been enjoying the speaker chaos this week. It is nice to see someone, anyone, challenging the system. In congress they called out the uniparty and the corporate capture of congress critters. Although McCarthy managed to pull it out, my bet is he will be weakened and ineffectual Jimmy Dore's "force the vote" concept has been validated by the Republicans. I think it was Saagar who was talking this week about the last time this happened in 1923. He said the difference this time is that there was not a common demand by the rebels. I don't see this speaker conflict as a failure, but a success. As Jimmy pointed out had this been 2020 and the democrats proceeded with force the vote, then MSM would have spent a week talking about their demand for a Medicare for ALL vote.

After Selling 'Soul to Sedition Caucus,' McCarthy Finally Elected Speaker

After nearly a week of chaotic voting on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy of California was elected Speaker of the House of the 118th Congress just after midnight early Saturday morning after finally securing enough votes in the 15th ballot.

I must admit I enjoyed the mayhem.

The house rebels did get some concessions...including perhaps cuts to defense spending.
Far Right DEMANDS HUGE CUT In War Spending!

Whatever deals wound up being cut to finally allow the House of Representatives to elect Kevin McCarthy Speaker will probably not be clear for a while, if ever. But one proposed agreement demanded and won by the far right GOP holdouts is a significant cut in Pentagon spending. Difficult as it is for many to imagine, this firm demand for reduced military spending puts these ostensibly far right Republicans significantly to the left of many Democrats, including members of The Squad and Bernie Sanders, all of whom consistently vote for ever-increasing Ukraine War funding.

It is easy to mislead the ill-informed. Perhaps the root of the collective west problems is the massive media manipulation. The Twitter files have provided documentation of the depth of censorship conducted by the three letter government agencies. We all know this doesn't just happen at twitter, but across all social and digital media platforms. (7 min)

PROOF Twitter Censored Anyone CIA & FBI Told Them To!
When Viktor Shokin, a former Prosecutor General of Ukraine and notable target of onetime Vice President Joe Biden, wrote a book about his experiences in office, there were powerful individuals within the U.S. Government who didn’t want people reading this book, or even becoming aware it existed. And that’s why government agents insisted Twitter censor accounts promoting Shokin’s book, along with countless others in the tsunami of demands for censorship from government agencies that were flooding into the social media company prior to the 2020 election.

More from Matt and Aaron
Dems DEMANDED Twitter Find Phony Russiagate Evidence! (15 min)
Some of the revelations to come out of the so-called “Twitter Files” are pretty shocking, especially in the way they describe an intimate partnership of censorship between government agencies and social media platforms. In the latest data dump, journalist Matt Taibbi discusses the remarkable discovery that following the 2016 election Democratic Senator Mark Warner had actively badgered Twitter representatives to drum up examples of Russian bots on the platform spreading pro-Trump propaganda.

Why Corporate Media HATES The “Twitter Files” w/ Matt Taibbi (6 min)
The so-called “Twitter Files” information dump continues, with the latest round from journalist Matt Taibbi detailing more of the uncomfortably close ties between the social media giant and various government agencies and individuals demanding censorship of various people and perspectives. Yet the mainstream, corporate media still tried to depict these revelations as a “nothingburger."

Twitter Obeyed Gov Orders To Censor Critics As “Russian Disinformation” w/Matt Taibbi (10 min)
In the latest installment of the blockbuster “Twitter Files” release, journalist Matt Taibbi details ways the US State Department sought to label a wide range of critics of United States government policies as promoting “Russian disinformation” and to compel Twitter to ban or otherwise censor these accounts. And guess what – despite some initial hesitation, Twitter essentially went along with it.

Matt had many interviews this week here's one more on the Zero Hour.
Matt Taibbi: Why I Reported on 'The Twitter Files' (35 min)
He was even on Tucker's show...
Twitter files publisher: 'Every conceivable wing' of federal enforcement sent censorship requests

Capsule Summaries of all Twitter Files Threads to Date, With Links and a Glossary

It is not a surprise, but it is nice to have proof positive of the manipulation BY the government in a clear violation of the first amendment. Looks like more revelations to follow. Wish we had the same sort of data for YouTube, Facebag, Amazon, and more.

Media is a major problem...it is used to divide and compartmentalize us and our politics.

Whitney is back again this week revealing deep state behavior.

Deep State mafia JUST snuffed out a major Epstein connection (16 min)
Journalist Whitney Webb joins us to breakdown the stunning SBF "not guilty" plea and Epstein prosecutor losing her job after filing suit against JP Morgan Chase. The deep state mafia scored two important wins to silence information and keep names out of the public.

Another interesting conversation about media.

(32 min)
Nolan Higdon and Mickey Huff join The Chris Hedges Report to discuss their new book, Let's Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy.
Nolan Higdon is a lecturer in media studies and history at California State University, East Bay. Higdon sits on the boards of the Action Coalition for Media Education and Northwest Alliance for Alternative Media and Education. He also cohosts the Along the Line podcast. He is the author of several books, including The Anatomy of Fake News and The Media and Me.
Mickey Huff is the director of Project Censored, president of the Media Freedom Foundation, co-editor of the annual Censored book series from Seven Stories Press (since 2009), co-author of United States of Distraction (City Lights, 2019), professor of social science and history at Diablo Valley College, and lecturer in communications at California State University, East Bay.

Consider the absurdity of the US recognizing Juan Guaido as Venezuela's president...even after he's been removed from the opposition party.

What a joke... Alex and Alexander explain.
Juan Guaidó, another failed regime change reaches its conclusion (13 min)

U.S. Puppet Juan Guaidó OUT As Pretend Venezuelan President (29 min)
U.S. puppet and fake Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó is out, victim of a vote by his fellow opposition party representatives to remove him from (non) power and dissolve the shadow government that sought to challenge legitimate President Nicolas Maduro’s administration. Guest host Aaron Maté speaks with journalist Anya Parampil, author of the forthcoming book Corporate Coup, about Guaidó’s pretend reign and US efforts to prop him up, all while waging economic warfare against the Venezuelan state.

US trial of Venezuela’s Alex Saab exposes diplomatic espionage
The US Department of Justice has accused the Venezuelan diplomat of conspiracy to commit money laundering, painting him as a corrupt business asset of a socialist government Washington aims to topple. But Saab and his advocates insist his only crime was violating sanctions to provide affordable food and medicine for a population suffering under a crushing US economic blockade. Saab’s trial is therefore a critical test of the legitimacy of the US sanctions regime targeting nations from Venezuela to Iran.

There's possible peace brewing in Syria...
Turkey, Syria coming together. Bolton fumes, wants Turkey out of NATO
Alex and Alexander explain (13 min)

Have no fear, destabilization and chaos is being spread elsewhere
Vijay Prashad on Peru's Coup
00:00 Intro
03:19 What just happened in Peru?
10:04 Why is there violence in Peru right now?
12:52 Why should the West stay out of Ukraine and Russia
19:18 Why is being anti-war conflated with being pro Putin?
25:17 Why seeing through false narratives driven by mainstream media is so important
34:14 What is going on at Democracy NOW!
37:35 What is the latest in Brazil?
44:00 Why are there such massive protests in Peru?
1:00:57 A cringey Tik-toker's trip through Peru
Can the Left Disagree Without Being Disagreeable?
by Vijay Prashad

Cuba Says Biden Applies Blockade Even More Aggressively Than His Predecessors
The current U.S. government, the one of Joseph Biden, of all those that the Cuban Revolution has known, is the one that has most aggressively and effectively applied the economic blockade,” Carlos Fernández de Cossío, vice minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, declared in a speech on December 14. “It is the one that punishes the most, the one that causes the most damage to the daily life of Cubans and the economy as a whole.”

Ukraine....

The big spin in western media this week has been the missile strike by Ukraine on Russian barracks.

A Ukrainian missile attack on a site that housed both soldiers and ammunition has reportedly killed dozens of Russian soldiers, thought to be among the most lethal assaults by the Ukrainian military to date. The exact death toll and other circumstances surrounding the attack are still being sorted out, but both sides agree the bombing represents a serious blow to Russia and is raising questions about why troops and munitions were positioned within range of a Ukrainian missile attack.

Guest host Aaron Maté speaks with Marine Corps veteran and weapons inspector Scott Ritter about the nature of the attack and whether it represents a turning point in the war. (10 min)

Aaron and Scott continue their discussion...
Soldier-turned-journalist Jack Murphy revealed in a recent blog post that his sources in the intelligence community suggest that CIA assets operating within Russia have been conducting sabotage operations on bridges, ammunition depots and other critical targets. But are Murphy’s sources accurate? Or does the idea of engaging in such risky activities with nuclear annihilation a possible outcome make any sense? Guest host Aaron Maté and former Marine and weapons inspector Scott Ritter discuss the varying risks and rewards involved in potentially exposing a CIA sleeper cell within Russia with sabotage attacks. (17 min)

War-Crazed Former CIA Head Wants U.S. Troops In Ukraine (11 min)
Former CIA Interim Director Mike Morell recently appeared on Face the Nation where he discussed the question of whether an invasion of Crimea might be a “red line” for Russia in the Ukraine War. Morell, however, was more interested in discussing red lines NATO might impose on Russia and how the U.S. should be willing to put troops on the ground in Ukraine and threaten Russia with nuclear annihilation if Putin and company consider deploying nukes of their own in Ukraine. Guest host Aaron Maté speaks and Marine Corps veteran and former weapons inspector Scott Ritter discuss Morell’s comments and why he may not understand what the words coming out of his mouth mean.

Much like Guiado's absurd appearance in congress in the clip above with Aaron and Anya...
If there’s a global political situation that can’t be described in terms of World War II, the mainstream media hasn’t encountered it. The latest example: the near unanimity of American media and political figures recently in describing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as this generation’s version of Winston Churchill. The Churchill who led Britain during the war, that is, not the Churchill who also was responsible for starving millions of Bengalis in India during the war. Guest host Aaron Maté and former U.S. Marine and weapons inspector Scott Ritter discuss Zelensky’s recent visit to the United States and less-than-memorable speech to Congress. (8 min)

$110 BILLION For Ukraine War Is 100% Corruption
The usual line on why NATO has to support Ukraine with untold billions of dollars revolves around the freedom-loving people of Ukraine, but hard-line old school cold warrior Oliver North doesn’t bother with that, explaining to a Fox News host that the $110 billion dumped on Ukraine is “money well spent” because it’s helping to debilitate the Russian army while also funneling many of those billions into the pockets of red, white and blue-bleeding American weapons manufacturers. Just like St. Ronald Reagan used to do! Guest host Aaron Maté and former U.S. Marine and weapons inspector Scott Ritter discuss North’s open shilling for military contractors at the taxpayers’ expense. (10 min)

I thought Aaron did a great job guest hosting Jimmy's show.

So another busy week with lots of news. Please add any missed stories below, or any thoughts, insights, or ideas you have. Hope you have a great Sunday and week!