Seeking Truth in a World of Propaganda. Links do not necessarily indicate agreement with stories or perspectives.
“Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses.” - Plato
For the past several months, Democrats have based their "Resist 45" movement on unsubstantiated assertions that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russian intelligence officials to undermine the 2016 Presidential Election thereby 'stealing' the White House from Hillary Clinton. Day after day we've all suffered through one anonymously sourced, "shock" story after another from the New York Times and/or The Washington Post with new allegations of the 'wrongdoing'.
I have said it before, and I will say it again, and I will keep saying it and saying it until it becomes mainstream conventional wisdom: it is the US intelligence community’s job to lie to you.
In an article for The Nation dated July 11, the internationally renowned US-Russia relations expert Stephen F. Cohen warned of possible attempts by peace-hating beltway stalwarts to sabotage the Helsinki peace talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that is scheduled for this coming Monday.
“There is a long history of sabotaging or attempting to sabotage summits and other détente-like initiatives,” wrote Cohen. “Indeed, a few such attempts have been evident in recent months and more may lie ahead.”
And, lo and behold, right before the summit we are seeing two major news stories loudly promoting Russia hysteria blasted onto the front pages on the very same day.
An indictment of 12 Russians has finally been issued by the Robert Mueller Special Counsel on various charges of conspiracy against the United States, an action the counsel has been sitting on for months. The indictment contains no evidence and will likely never be defended in any court of law, the correct response to which, in a post-Iraq invasion world, is always to dismiss the story and file it under “Noises US government officials sometimes make with their face holes.”
New on MoA: No Evidence In Mueller's Indictment Of 12 Russians - Release Now May Sabotage Upcoming Summit https://t.co/dmPiAqw9OP
— @MoonofA
The complete absence of evidence has of course failed to deter establishment propagandists and Capitol Hill war whores from loudly and aggressively advancing the galaxy-brained narrative that these new claims ought to either cancel peace talks between two nuclear superpowers, or at least make them much more hostile and contentious.
“President Trump must be willing to confront Putin from a position of strength and demonstrate that there will be a serious price to pay for his ongoing aggression towards the United States and democracies around the world,” said Senator John McCain in a statement, more determined than ever to start World War Three before he finally fucking dies. “If President Trump is not prepared to hold Putin accountable, the summit in Helsinki should not move forward.”
“POTUS should either publicly demand extradition of these 12 Russian officials to stand trial or call off his summit,” tweeted Congressman Joe Kennedy III. “@realDonaldTrump should not lend legitimacy to an adversary that attacks our democracy.”
“There are now criminal indictments confirming #RussianHacking and efforts to disrupt the ballot box,” tweeted virulent Russiagater and California Representative Eric Swalwell. “If @realDonaldTrump is unwilling to confront Putin over this on Monday, he should cancel his trip.”
These and many other pleas against peace have been emanating at maximum volume from both sides of the political aisle in DC, and by both sides of the political divide in the mass media as well. Fox News has been just as busy promoting the hawkish demands of neoconservative Republicans like McCain and Lindsey Graham as outlets like MSNBC and the Washington Post have been promoting the same demands from Democrats. As we learned in the lead up to the Iraq invasion, whenever you see all mass media outlets converge upon a single narrative, it’s time to crank your skepticism levels up to eleven.
Whenever you see Fox News joining in with Dem-aligned media to promote the same foreign policy narrative, it's time to to kick your skepticism levels into high gear.
— @caitoz
On the same day as all this drama erupted, Dan Coats (who replaced the lying, Russophobic Russiagate architect James Clapper as America’s top intelligence officer at the beginning of this administration) has declared that the warning signs of future Russian cyberattacks are akin to the warnings received prior to the September 11 attacks. Because if history has taught us anything, it’s that there’s absolutely nothing to worry about when US government officials start invoking 9/11 to warn us about a nation that had nothing to do with it.
The always sleazy New York Times reports the following:
The nation’s top intelligence officer said on Friday that the persistent danger of Russian cyberattacks today was akin to the warnings the United States had of stepped-up terror threats ahead of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
That note of alarm sounded by Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, came on the same day that 12 Russian agents were indicted on charges of hacking the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Mr. Coats said those indictments illustrated Moscow’s continuing strategy to undermine the United States’ democracy and erode its institutions.
“The warning lights are blinking red again,” Mr. Coats said as he cautioned of cyberthreats. “Today, the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack.”
Coming just days ahead of President Trump’s meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Coats’s comments demonstrate the persistent divisions within the administration on Russia — and on how hard a line senior administration officials should take with Moscow on its cyberspace activities.
Ken Dilanian is an actual, literal CIA asset who maintains a prestigious career in mainstream news media despite this known fact. These are the types who are pushing "Russia! Russia!" narratives. https://t.co/9e7B7rstSz https://t.co/ZV7te6wqhV
— @caitoz
So once again Trump is being pressured by all his political enemies, and even his ostensible allies in conservative media, to escalate tensions with Russia in a way that just so happens to advance intelligence community agendas against that nation which have been in place since the fall of the Soviet Union. And all of the evidence being used to substantiate the claims used to create that pressure? Why, they just so happen to come from that same intelligence community.
Stephen Cohen isn’t psychic, he’s just been watching trends and behavioral patterns in US-Russia relations for decades, and noticing the headlines in plutocrat-owned media about the approaching peace talks. These headlines include this one from London’s The Times, which I swear I am not making up: “Fears grow over prospect of Trump ‘peace deal’ with Putin”. That header gets better every time you read it; eventually you’re just flipping back and forth between the words “fear” and “peace” and marveling at your skull’s remarkable ability to keep your head from exploding. Other brilliant headlines include “In Meeting With Putin, Experts Fear Trump Will Give More Than He Gets” by the New York Times, “Trump hopes he and Putin will get along. Russia experts worry they will” by the Washington Post, and “Trump Will Finally Meet With Putin Next Month. That Should Terrify You” by Mother Jones.
Just serious people pushing for NATO war against Russia. Nothing to see here. https://t.co/EBy6d1O6ZV
This notion that we should all be worried, terrified and literally shaking that two nuclear superpowers might ease tensions between one another is so Rick and Morty alternate dimension bass ackwards it’s amazing that it’s been able to stick to the extent that it has, but that just shows you the power of mass media propaganda. The social engineers are so adept that self-identified progressives can be made to cheer for the FBI, self-identified nationalists can be made to cheer for neoconservative regime change agendas against Iran, and self-identified liberals can literally be made to fear a movement away from the possibility of nuclear holocaust.
Since cold wars per definition depend on non-military maneuverings, a much greater emphasis is necessarily placed on psyops and mass media propaganda than in a conventional hot war. Remain skeptical of everything you hear about Russia at all times, because I will say it again: it is the US intelligence community’s job to lie to you.
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The names and bank details of European donors to the anonymous browser Tor and its associated operating system Tails are now with the German Federal police after coordinated raids on four homes and a lawyers office in Dresden. German police produced a warrant to investigate the privacy activist group RiseUp after a left-wing blog called “Krawalltouristen” (ruckus tourists) used their anonymous email and VPN services to organise a protest of the far-right AfD party. Police were supposedly concerned that the protest could become violent.
Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,
The former Navy sailor pardoned by President Donald Trump after serving a year in federal prison for taking photos of classified sections of his submarine filed a lawsuit on Monday against Obama administration officials. The ex-sailor is alleging that he was subject to unequal protection of the law and cites Comey and Obama’s willingness to not prosecute Hillary Clinton.
Barack Obama and former FBI director James Comey let Hillary off the hook before the election, while Kristian Saucier served hard time. Saucier says that that action was “unfair” and “unequal” compared to the corruption and criminal activity of Hillary Clinton. Saucier told Fox News he was scapegoated by Obama officials who found themselves under fire for not aggressively responding to Clinton’s handling of classified information through her private email servers.
According to Fox News, Saucier’s federal lawsuit alleges that the United States government was “overzealous” in prosecuting him for “mishandling classified information” while going easy on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for more serious violations of the same law. Saucier’s lawsuit names as defendants former President Barack Obama, former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and Peter Strzok, the FBI agent who led the inquiry into Clinton’s email account.
“I could have just taken the pardon by President Trump and gone on with my life,”Saucier said to Fox News, adding that he feels an obligation to get to the truth of what he sees as a double standard that let Clinton get off scot-free. “The U.S. Constitution clearly states that all citizens are born with inalienable rights to be free from persecution by the government,” Saucier said. “My conviction and subsequent sentence for a minor military infraction compared to the treatment of politically connected individuals is a glaring example of a violation of the rights of all Americans to have equal protection under the law.”
The former Navy sailor is acting as his own attorney after the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court New York barred his lawyer, Ronald Daigle, from practicing for one year. The court’s move came just as Daigle was helping Saucier prepare to file the lawsuit, prompting the navy sailor to accuse New York officials of trying to hinder his court fight against Obama, Comey, and others. –Fox News
Saucier said that he realizes he had erred in taking the photos of the submarine, which he said he wanted to show only to his family so that they could see where he worked. He has also lashed out at Obama officials, saying that his prosecution was politically motivated, prompted by sensitivity about classified information amid the scandal involving Clinton’s emails.
President Trump pardoned a father and son from Oregon on Tuesday who were imprisoned after setting fire to federal land during what were intended to be controlled burns. The imprisonment - which followed a multi-decade feud with the federal government, resulted in approximately 100-150 armed militia members taking control of a closed wildlife park headquarters in a 41-day standoff led by three brothers from the Cliven Bundy family. Read more about the case here.
76-year-old Dwight Hammond and his son Steven Hammond, 49, were convicted of arson in 2012 for fires burned on federal land in 2001 and 2006 and originally sentenced to three months and one year respectively.
In October 2015, however, an appellate judge ruled that the sentences were too short based on federal minimum sentencing laws of five years, and re-sentenced to serve out the longer terms.
The Hammond Family
The resentencing sparked protests led by the cattle ranching Bundy family and others, who took up arms and occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near the Southeastern Oregon ranch owned by the Hammonds from Jan 2 to Febn 11, 2016.
During the standoff, FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita reportedly began firing off shots during the arrest of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum. The agent was later accused of falsely denying he fired the shots at Finicum or his truck, and pleaded not guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice and three counts of making a false statement.
Finicum was killed in the incident.
“The Hammonds are multi-generation cattle ranchers in Oregon imprisoned in connection with a fire that leaked onto a small portion of neighboring public grazing land,” the White House said in a statement. “The evidence at trial regarding the Hammonds’ responsibility for the fire was conflicting, and the jury acquitted them on most of the charges.”
"Justice is overdue for Dwight and Steven Hammond, both of whom are entirely deserving of these Grants of Executive Clemency," the statement also reads.
Dwight has so far served about three years in prison and Steven has served about four years. They have also paid $400,000 to the United States to settle a related civil suit. -Fox News
This marks Trump's 7th and 8th pardon or commutation since taking office - the first being Arizona sheriff Joseph Arpaio. Other recipients of a pardon or commutation include; "Scooter" Libby, Dinesh D'Souza, and Kristian Mark Saucier - a former US Navy sailor who was convicted of unauthorized retention of national defense information and sentenced to one year in prison for taking photographs of classified engineering areas of nuclear attack submarine USS Alexandria (SSN-757).
(SP) — Journalist Glenn Greenwald traveled to Moscow for a panel discussion on “fake news.” A clip of comments he made to an RT crew afterward was shared widely. He also visited NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, and for all of the above, he was viciously attacked by MSNBC intelligence analyst Malcolm Nance, who has a massive following […]