When The Media Says ______, they mean _______.

A lot of people don’t follow the news because it’s easy to get lost in the details. To make matters worse, those working in the news business tend to develop jargon that is unfamiliar to the rest of us. And of course, there are those in think tanks who like to use particular terms in order to get the desired response from consumers of information. With that thought in mind, I have decided to translate newspeak for the average person in order to help them understand what’s going on in the world.

Let’s start with a simple phrase you may have been hearing a lot lately: “Blue No Matter Who”. To the uninitiated, this might be a little confusing. But if we put it through the translator, we come up with “You’re not going to get the candidate you want. We’re going to give you’re a pro-war, pro-corporatist candidate and we want you to be rabidly excited about it.” See how that works?

Here's another one: When they say special analyst for CNN, they mean CIA agent. Same translation applies to special analyst for MSNBC. Got it? Good, let’s try some others. Remember, when they say _____, what they really mean is _____.

Regime ->Any government not doing the bidding of the U.S.

Extreme Left -> New Deal Democrats

Democrat ->Republican

Centrist ->Rightwing

Republican ->Facist

Journalist ->Propagandist

Traitor ->Journalist

Dead Traitor ->Principled journalist (Arjen Kamphuis, Gary Webb, Daphne Caruana Galizia)

Russian Bot ->Anyone arguing against oligarchy or war

Russian Talking Point ->Peace

Putin Puppet -> Anyone who refuses to be a puppet for the Military Industrial Complex

Hack ->Leak

Bombshell -> A shell without a bomb

Terrorism ->Violence committed by Palestinians

Response ->Violence committed by Israel.

Preemptive Response ->Violence with an added adjective.

Measured Response ->An Israeli rocket lobbed at a Palestinian kid throwing rocks.

Provocation ->Standing too close to an Israeli fence.

Proof ->Assertions from anonymous sources within intelligence agencies

Conspiracy Theory ->Logical questions to illogical narratives

Socialist -> Anyone who who is inconvenient to the oligarchy

Socialist Dictator ->A leader of a foreign nation who believes the resources of that nation belong to the people rather than transnational corporations

Sanctions ->Siege warfare

Purist ->Anyone opposed to bombing children in other countries or corporations owning our government

Moscow Mitch ->Corporate Mitch

Failed State -> Country we’ve sanctioned into starvation

I imagine there are a lot more that could be translated. Feel free to share yours in the comments.

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Reflections On 9/11, 18 Years Later

I would like to wish a happy 18th birthday to anyone who was born on September 11, 2001. This now makes you eligible to serve in the war that was in effect started on this day. I pray that you will one day know a world at peace.

Anniversaries are occasions for reflections. On this day 18 years ago, we all were in a bit too much shock to have any kind of perspective as to what happened. Long before a year had passed, we had already achieved the greatest successes we were to achieve, save the killing of Osama Bin Laden in 2011. The Taliban had been taken out of power in no time and Al-Qaeda were on the run. But it seemed the success came too easy, it was all over before we felt properly avenged.

The first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks gave us no time for reflection. By that time we were already being emotionally stirred up in preparation for an invasion of Iraq. We had already taken our eye off the ball at this point. Had we truly wished to root out radical Islamic terrorists, we would have done something to curtail Saudi Arabia’s influence, as not only were Osama Bin Laden and 15 of the 19 terrorists from there, so was the extremist theology that helped shape Bin Laden’s mission.

The invasion of Iraq did nothing to fight Al-Qaeda, nor did it advance our reputation in the eyes of the world. When the Twin Towers were brought down, we had the sympathy and support of the entire planet. When we decided to invade Iraq—and let us not forget it was under false pretenses that were fairly obvious to the rest of the world—people all over the world were forced to confront the fact that they did not know us they way they thought they did. Until that time, I truly believed the world saw The United States as the city upon a hill, the country all other countries sought to emulate. Our position as moral leaders of the planet—earned or unearned—was lost.

On every anniversary since then, we have not really had the time to reflect upon what the September 11th terrorist attack meant to us. Remember, yes, but not really reflect. Instead, we were told by the media to remember the attack, the destruction and the loss of lives. And when they told us to remember, they supplied their own meaning as to what the anniversary of September 11 meant. To them it was a justification for anything we happened to be doing at that point. It justified supporting the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, and it justified attempting the same thing in Syria shortly thereafter. And somewhere amid this enthusiasm for overthrowing governments, we found Al-Qaeda and other groups sympathetic to their cause to be useful allies.

For 18 years now, we have avoided reflecting upon the events and importance of 9/11 and looking with fresh eyes at what it means to us as a nation and us as citizens of the world. Time makes us wiser, distancing ourselves from the trauma of the event allows us to look with our intellects rather than with our hearts.

No, the distance is not so great as it is with Pearl Harbor, but 18 years after Japan attacked us, we were able to view its importance in an entirely different manner. For one thing, Japan was no longer our enemy but an ally. 15 years after they attacked us, the dreaded enemy we could call all sorts of names and vent our anger at had joined us in the United Nations, an organization devoted to world peace.

Let’s compare this to Afghanistan. Whereas we were at war with Japan for 4 years, we have been at war in Afghanistan for 18. Whereas Japan’s air force surprised our Pacific fleet and inflicted crippling damage on it, Afghanistan never really had an air force to start with. And yet as late as this month, the United States government was engaging in peace talks with the Taliban, the very people we went to war to overthrow 18 years ago. Not only were we attempting to make peace with the Taliban, rather than demanding total surrender as we had in World War two, the Taliban felt themselves in such a position of strength that they engaged in suicide attacks that claimed the life of an American soldier as well as 11 others, forcing us to abandon our hopes for compromise.

How are we so incapable of bringing an end to the war against terrorism? And how is it that we have strengthened their grip in the Middle East despite our vastly increased presence there? How can it be that a member of Congress can feel compelled to sponsor a bill that makes it illegal to arm terrorists, and how is it possible that such a bill could gain no traction among our elected officials? I’m just trying to be objective about this, but why is it that most everything we’ve done in the last 18 years has only served to embroil us more deeply in a war that seems to have no end?

It’s easy to say the enemy are inhuman monsters that must be stamped out. This is what we said about the Germans and Japanese during the war, but within a short amount of time we were quite peacefully sharing a planet and trading goods with one another. The Soviet Union was invaded by Hitler’s Germany, and as a result lost over 20 million soldiers and civilians to the Nazi aggression. But on the day Germany surrendered, Traumerei was played across the Soviet Union. Think of it, a song composed by a German composer was played in the country that had 20 million people killed in order to show that the time for hatred was over and the time for reconciliation had begun.

When can we declare victory? Do we even know what that would look like? And when will the reconciliation begin, when will a new commitment to peace and co-existence once again seem like the only logical alternative to bloodshed, destruction and hatred? Let us never forget what happened on September 11, 2001, but let us reflect upon it as well, rather than allow our memories to be mere emotional responses that are manipulated by those who profit from a never-ending war. The only logical rationalization for war I have ever heard was that in the end it would lead to a greater peace. 18 years, later, I do not see it on the horizon, nor do I hear even the greatest advocates for war make such a claim.

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Random Political Thoughts Part 14

Corporate media is wringing its hands over the conspiracy theories popping up over the death of Jeffrey Epstein, but imagine how they’d be covering it if he had a Russian surname and ties to important Russians.

Until such time as unified and organized change is possible, individual shows of courage and sacrifice are required. You are neither off the hook because others are not doing their part nor are you helpless. Your individual actions will be the catalyst required to inspire organized action.

I’m willing to bet O.J. finds his wife’s killer before there’s a break in the Seth Rich murder case.

There is perhaps no greater indication of our fall as a nation than to see patriotic merchandise with a Made In China label.

The difference between Republican fascism and Democratic fascism is that Republicans bow before the authority of strong men while Democrats bow before the authority of institutions.

Charlie Daniels said “Benghazi’s not going away.” Guess what, it did. It was just a political ploy and now that there’s a Republican President, nobody mentions it. Just like the deficit.

Democrats hope farmers suffer from the tariffs so that they turn on Trump. That’s their plan. No plan to win them over, no plan to help them. They were suffering under Obama and the Democrat’s only hope is that they suffer more under Trump.

Climate change is the issue by which the Republican Party will eventually be destroyed. And perhaps all of humanity, as well.

How horrible would your life have to be to leave your own country to find work in a chicken processing plant? And how miserable would your life have to be to blame such people for your own unhappiness?

NATO is like the UN except it is based on force rather than cooperation, democratic principles, and a commitment to peaceful resolutions of disagreements.

Corporate media will have you repeating arguments that, had you thought of them yourself, you’d never dare utter for fear of being thought a fool. And if you did utter such ideas in front of others, without the full support of the media to back you up, you would be laughed at.

The lesson to be learned about Julian Assange is that if you lie about war you will be rewarded, and if you tell the truth you will be stuck in the deepest dungeon.

I have no desire to Make America Great Again, I want to Make America Good Again. Great nations fall, while nations that adhere to timeless moral principles endure. It is the difference between vanity and morality.

Until such time as unified and organized change is possible, individual demonstrations of courage and sacrifice are required. You are neither off the hook because others are not doing their part nor are you helpless. Your individual actions will be the catalyst required to inspire organized action.

 The difference between Edward Snowden and Mark Zuckerberg is that one chose to work for the American people, the other, for their rulers.

I can’t believe anyone would prefer to leave a billion dollars to their children rather than a healthy planet inhabited by all the wonderful creatures God or nature created. All of us, Republicans and Democrats alike, would like to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, yet even more important than that is keeping power out of the hands of those incapable of preserving what is so vital to all of us. And what else can you call such an attitude other than a profound mental sickness?

A bully who gets beat down by a bigger bully looks for a dog to kick. The bully is the Democratic Party, the bigger bully is Trump, and the poor dog is Susan Sarandon.

What’s the difference between a Trump supporter and a liberal? A Trump supporter doesn’t miss George W. Bush or hate Susan Sarandon.

Russiagate And The Salem Witch Hunt

I remember talking to someone at work about a year and a half ago who was sounding me out on politics. I cleared the first hurdle when he asked me if I was a Trump supporter and I said no.

Then he asked me what I thought about the whole Russiagate thing and I was politely dismissive. “There’s got to be something to it,” was his reply. I knew just what he meant: with all the non-stop talking about it on every media outlet, there had to be some truth to the matter. After all, where there’s smoke, there’s bound to be fire.

Where there’s smoke there’s fire is generally a good rule to go by, but for every rule there’s the exception. I would clarify by saying where there’s smoke, there’s fire, except when someone’s blowing smoke up your ass. Whether there was any fire (there wasn’t), you have got to realize by now that a whole bunch of people have been blowing smoke up the ass of the American public bigtime for the last 2-plus years.

It’s hard to imagine how such a nonsensical narrative can spin out of control the way Russiagate has, but the truth is it was never about Russia at all. It was merely a story that happened to serve the interests of several different, extremely powerful, components of our nation. Had it only been of use to one, its impact would have been limited, but it nicely dovetailed so that the Democratic Party, the military industrial complex, the intelligence agencies, and the media all saw ways to advance their agenda. Let me briefly break it down for you:

--The Democratic Party found in Russiagate an excuse for why they lost the election to Donald McDonald.

--The military industrial complex found in it a tool to steer Trump away from his campaign promise to decrease tensions with Russia.

--Intelligence agencies and the deep state found an excuse to do what they’ve been trying to do for a long time: censor speech on the internet that runs contrary to the official narrative.

--The media found a story that would sell that would involve no actual journalism. For two years all they’ve had to do is wait to be spoon-fed information by the intelligence agencies and think tanks, spew it back out for their audience, and make wild conjectures about what Putin is up to. No other era of journalism has ever had it so easy, nor made so much money from the wreck our nation’s democratic institutions.

--Also, mainstream liberals needed an excuse to stay asleep and continue the pleasant dreams they had been dreaming, nestled in the comfy bed of righteous empire. This was the easiest explanation, requiring no effort, just trust in the institutions to put things right.

Those who reject this explanation see in it a conspiracy theory that would involve too many parts, but in fact the complete opposite is true. I’m not saying these four powerful components of our nation are engaged in an implausible conspiracy theory, I’m saying they’re each pitching one, each in order to serve their own interests. Which is not to say that these four different interest groups are not linked in many different ways, just that each has more or less their own reasons for pushing the Russiagate yarn. If they were working closely together to push this story, it might almost have appeared to be coherent.

Take, for example, the Salem Witch Trials. There was one wildly false narrative, around which many different people in the community decided they would buy into in order to serve their own interests. There was no grand conspiracy created by a cabal that determined how everything would play out, there were just a bunch of self-serving parties that recognized an opportunity for personal gain through the advancement of a witch hunt. A depressing but undeniable tendency of human nature. Church leaders sought to squelch dissent, while individual members of the community wished to get rid of people they didn’t like. Some people just loved the feeling of power they got from holding listeners spellbound by their stories, while others found ways to curry favor by backing up outrageous claims with even more outrageous claims. There were undoubtedly varying levels of true belief, but that didn’t make the assertions any more justifiable.

And then you had a bunch of fearful innocents who trusted those in power more than they should have. But I guess you’re not that innocent if you’re willing to surrender your personal responsibility as a member of the community to those who wish to rule over you.

I shouldn’t have to give you proof that those who burned witches at the stake were wrong in their assertions and their behavior, unless of course you want to argue that witchcraft was actually taking place. I assume we can agree that there were various stupid, selfish, even evil reasons for why such a wild narrative spun so wildly out of control.

I am, however, more than willing to give you evidence of how the Russiagate narrative served the interests of those powerful groups I’ve mentioned. I’ve already explained to you what each stood to gain, now let me show you how each got what they wanted.

--The Democrats didn’t have to change a God damned thing, or at least they are under the impression they don’t. Rather than taking into account the troublesome progressive wing of their party, the one that rejects corporate control and war, they have labeled them useful idiots of Putin every time they say something damaging to corporate Democrats.

--The military industrial complex has managed to get the Trump administration to supply arms to the fascistic government in Ukraine, bomb Russia’s ally Syria, roll out yet more crippling sanctions against Russia’s ally Venezuela, increase troop presence on Russia’s borders, and scrap existing arms deals. They made out really well.

--The deep state and the intelligence agencies have justified telling Facebook and other social media platforms what they will and will not accept. The amount of censorship going on of the alternative media is profound, and we are yet merely at the starting point. All done in the name of Russiagate.

--Corporate media has had the opportunity to stab at the heart of alternative media, setting themselves up as THE OFFICIAL voice for REAL journalism, even as their reporting reaches all-time lows. Corporate media will never tolerate work done by alternative media, because nobody can be expected to applaud their executioner. The mainstream media knows it is in an existential battle with truths that, once excepted by the average citizen, will destroy them. Russiagate was a godsend and they seized upon the opportunity eagerly.

--Mainstream liberals have been asked to make no sacrifices. They only have to blame Russia, stupid racist Trump supporters, and Susan Sarandon. Their world need not ever change. Democrats, MIC, CIA, and Rachel Maddow will set things to right. Beat Trump in 2020 and it’s back to Sunday brunch.

Yeah, it’s hard to awaken from a comforting dream, harder still to take responsibility for participating in such a harmful and untruthful mania. I’m sure it took those living in Salem a long time to come to terms with the damage they’d done. Hell, I’m sure it took generations to work through. But we don’t have that option now. We’ve unleashed more than the killing of a few innocents, we’ve pushed ourselves further into confrontation with a nuclear-armed nation, a decision that might yet have incalculable costs. Oh, and we’ve abandoned absolutely every issue that is dear to the Left in order to do it.

“Time to move on”, you say. Fair enough, we’ll agree to forget the whole burning people at the stake episode. On one condition: Wake the fuck up to the fact that the Democratic Party, the military industrial complex, the intelligence agencies, and the media are not your friends! Then we can move on.