The real measure of how free is a society is not how its mainstream, well-behaved ruling class servants are treated, but the fate of its actual dissidents.
Glenn, Jim Acosta is more intrepid than Julian Assange. Jim had a microphone LITERALLY taken from his heroic hands by an SS trooper during a White House press briefing. Jim has had to deal with a torrent of online meanies: don't you suppose scrolling through these Russian bot messages would ruin his time in the green room getting his hair and makeup? Jim's access credentials were temporarily revoked: how is he supposed to grandstand on behalf of his CIA handlers from home?
Oh boy -- this is insane, Jim Acosta hagiography now.... See GG – Dec. 28
"The hysterical Trump-as-despot script was all melodrama, a ploy for profits and ratings, and, most of all, a potent instrument to distract from the neoliberal ideology that gave rise to Trump in the first place by causing so much wreckage.
Positing Trump as a grand aberration from U.S. politics and as the prime author of America’s woes — rather than what he was: a perfectly predictable extension of U.S politics and a symptom of preexisting pathologies — enabled those who have so much blood and economic destruction on their hands not only to evade responsibility for what they did, but to rehabilitate themselves as the guardians of freedom and prosperity and, ultimately, catapult themselves back into power.
As of January 20, that is exactly where they will reside."
It's extremely hard to execute satire via text online between people who do not know one another since there's always someone out there so far beyond the pale they may say such things in all earnestness.
I'd say Voltaire and Sinclair Lewis got and get the middle class quite well, but what do I know since I am at heart both a knuckle dragger and a satirist...Cheerio old boy............................
I, too am obviously fond of satire, dragging my knuckles more frequently than I should with the callusses to prove it. I also fall in the "middle class," according to various pundits, but damned if I can reliably define what that is a lot of the time. It seems to change from pundit to pundit depending on the agenda they're pushing. Voltaire and Sinclair? I'm not so sure they can, either, but what the hell.
Perhaps you should look to see if the author of the post himself liked the comment before you start throwing around words like imbecile, which you apparently can’t even spell.
I’ve been consuming the ruling narrative on Assange and Snowden without question. No more. Im unsure if any other journalist makes me re-evaluate my assumptions so well. Thank you Glenn.
"No longer" as since the run-up to the second Iraq war the propaganda was SO THICK IN THE AIR you could "cut it with a knife."
I'm not old enough to know what it was like pre-television, but early TV wasn't as explicitly exploited for its propaganda value nearly as much as it is today. In fact, Walter Cronkite famously turned against the Vietnam war and it was the cue to LBJ to not run for re-election, leading, unfortunately, to the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. ... The real point being that THE leading figure in television news could and did, on the air, express his dissent on THE most important question of the day.
I posit that's impossible today. Whoever did so would never work in media again, and would never think of doing so in any event.
President Eisenhower's warning about the military-industrial-complex in 1961 should have told people everything they needed to know, but it didn't.
The specific atrocities (including actual, repeated military failures) of the Vietnam war, and how easily the establishment's lies about those atrocities were exposed, and the brutality of the suppression of the protest movement, the burning of dozens of cities by race rioters were the underlying causes.
Cronkite was a liberal functionary of the establishment for most of his career, not any kind of radical until after it had become glaringly obvious to any rational person* that the war was a practical disaster.
---
* anecdote that I personally heard from a senior commander and USAF combat vet: "the politicians would not let us win the war".
What that meant was that the USAF could have obliterated civilization in north Vietnam in a few weeks/months (forcing a peace treaty in which the north would have to allow a pro-USA regime to stay intact in the south). But Nixon/Kissinger thought that "bombing the north Vietnamese back to the stone age" would inevitably draw the USSR and Chinese communists directly into the conflict, probably starting nuclear WW3.
Since you "disagree with almost all of it" are you in awe of form and articulation? You don't consider it true, just an inspiration for you to maybe try formulate your contrary ideas as eloquently? I'd be curious to read such an attempt.
I did not say Greenwald was untruthful...just that I disagreed. And, were I able to formulate as eloquently as Greenwald, you'd be subscribing to MY SubStack.
Wow. Scathing. Glenn’s acerbic writing style makes me think on first glance he is overreaching, but when I look for specifics of what I disagree with in the piece I can only come up with trivialities. His overall point is correct. And while he doesn’t hammer on it in this particular piece, the thing that disgusts me the most is not the IC. It is the media. The US media - right, left and center - should be speaking with one voice denouncing this. There is a literal army of pundits that tweet 100 times a day. Many have cushy jobs at legacy media outlets. With a few exceptions, they are silent as the grave on the Assange case and it is an absolute embarrassment. I can only speculate on their motivations. My suspicion is that due to the unrelated Wikileaks releases during the 2016 election, they can’t bring themselves to defend Assange.
Assange is imprisoned. He is not serving a sentence. He has not been convicted of a crime. He is not a US citizen and has never consented to US jurisdiction. The indictment against him is an absurd overreach on the merits. The “bail jumping” conviction was retribution for him seeking (and being granted) asylum. Retaliation with criminal penalties against an asylum seeker is so patently absurd on its face that a country that does so cannot seriously claim to believe in human rights.
I wouldn’t ask anyone to judge Assange’s character or assess his motives. He may or may not be a good guy. But what we should all be able to agree on is that he is a human being who has basic human rights. Those rights are being violated every day he sits in jail. US citizens such as myself should all be horrified by this, as it is being done by a government that supposedly represents us. Assange should be released immediately.
Except that a few years ago, Obama made it "legal" to use government propaganda against Americans. Do you think it's a coincidence that all these MIC "experts" are always on the show, talking about how wonderful they are.
The answer is staring you in the face. We no longer have a media, we have a propaganda machine.
Excellent article, as most of what you write is. I'm old and disabled now, but still on the correct side and it feels great to read what you write. Most so-called "progressives" are so stupidly brainwashed and without a broader philosophy that what they write is incredibly stupid --- but maybe Da Russians DID do it" :) .
re: Most so-called "progressives" are so stupidly brainwashed and without a broader philosophy that what they write is incredibly stupid...
-----
comment: yes, and predictably, a moronic "progressive", !Art! the F!art!, chimed in with his standard, vacuous idiocy about how you "must be confused" about how shitty left/progressive ideology is because only neoliberalism is a crappy ideology.
Your third sentence clearly is referencing neo-liberals, not progressives. It's easy to get confused about this because of many reasons, largely including that the media endlessly mis-describes progressivism and tries to conflate it with liberalism, and because neo-liberals like Hillary pander to Progressives by claiming they are progressives, thus confusing a lot of people.
... My bet is you probably don't actually know any real progressives - you'd probably like us as we're the people that brought you the 5 day work week, the 8 hour work day and other features of life I'd bet you appreciate. And, we've got a long agenda of more improvements ahead which, interestingly enough, we have super majorities for among the electorate, such as for single-payer health care. ... We could use your help!
That's what the propagandistic media has been doing for many decades, perhaps centuries. I happen to prefer to stick with original meanings and resist the propaganda. Sorry if you think that's "redefining words" - that's exactly what I'm fighting against. ... If you disagree, I recommend some homework reading. .... I can help if you want.
!Art! is back, filling up the comments with his standard, idiotic intellectual flatulence about how "left" or "progressive" ideology is somehow devoid of human imperfections, which it isn't.
It's not merely that the US depicts itself as a democratic freedom-loving exemplar of all that is good (although it does that), it also claims to be the *arbiter* of what constitutes democracy, freedom, and political goodness generally.
Somewhat ironically, this is a position it also unwillingly shares with some of its rivals and enemies, those fellow members of the UN Security Council that do not meet the US' high standards of international deportment and/or domestic self-restraint. But the foundational principle at issue is shared by all of those members, and it is this:
Might Makes Right.
The US, as unquestionably the most powerful empire during the post-war Pax Americana, sits uncomfortably atop this pinnacle of power and as above, only those who challenge its power (militarily, economically, or journalistically - the first two are nigh inseparable in our post-industrial age) are afforded the status of rival and therefore, enemy. The UK, for example, has a "special relationship" with her former colony and is "led" by tame Washington sycophants who know where their bread is buttered.
Yet as Shakespeare noted, "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown".
Never has there been a nation so powerful, so wealthy, so blessed with material and political and social capital, and yet so afraid.
What is being done to Assange is a crime against humanity, a crime against every one of us who value the human virtue of truth. The United States has become a very unfunny parody of itself. All talk and no walk, shallow platitudes and lip service.
Note that CIA front operatives from Bellingcat are trolling this seminal overview of persecution of the publisher Julian Assange.
One of the reasons -- pardoning of Julian Assange would fundamentally threaten the 3-year long stupid and dangerous Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine impeachment "entertainment". This is a fundamental threat to incoming administration and to the entire "rehabilitated" clique which led to the election of incompetent Trump.
Clearly Bellingcat has been activated by DNC/Obama-Hillary/CIA structure sensing the possibility of catastrophic danger. Assange might even commit "suicide" -- like Epstein.
The Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine-impeachment “entertainment” was concocted by deeply corrupt Obama/Hillary/Biden/Pelosi clique and their intelligence and DNC executives on behalf of their Wall Street and military industry donors, i.e., the imperial War party.
Always remember Tulsi's epic response after Hillary brazenly accused her of being a Russian asset:
"Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton . You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why.
Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly".
Killer piece. The contention you make in the first two sentences is strong and well supported by the rest of the piece. If people like Assange are not free, I don’t think any of us really are.
Fucking brilliant. We are such a hypocritical nation. This man reported things that should make us ashamed of our leaders and he sits in his own shit while the elitists pricks who he reported on are back working for Biden. It’s a pill to big to swallow. Trump needs to pardon both Assange and Snowden as it could be a big legacy issue for him. He was smeared and taken out by these same people. He needs to step up. Great work GG.
Good comments. Sadly, whether through apathy, or ignorance (not used pejoratively), the vast majority of Americans are ignorant of their hypocrisy. Sigh.
Well said Art. We also all hate monsters, but disagree who those monsters are. For me, those the powerful and unaccountable who punish Assange for exposing corruption and criminality at the highest levels are the monsters.
What's harder for me to understand are those who believe he is the monster for exposing the corruption and criminality of our "leaders."
Seems unlikely. Trump's "base" are neoconfederate patriots, conspiratards and bumpkins, they do not have much natural affinity for a creepy hacker-cultist like Assange.
He is a journalist. He put out info that any liberal paper would have put out if they had it. Just like they all put out Snowden docs. You seem angry for an early Née Years day. Lighten up fella.
Because what you said is fucking idiotic and retarded and you can't rationally absorb facts that do not fit your narrative. Put your dick back in your underwear, fasten it securely to your leg with duct tape and get some psychiatric treatment.
This quote alone makes you wonder what he's on about:
Andrew O’Hagan
"Here we are now — what a basic level of stupidity and desperation. Richard Nixon is Aristotle compared to Donald Trump. It’s abominable. How could we live in a world that goes from Obama to Trump being elected president back to back?
We’re already in the footholds of an impeachment. Trump cannot survive his levels of carelessness. I learned from the years pavement-pounding writing The Secret Life’s stories that one of the things that binds these figures is their carelessness."
I don't like some of that kind of speculation, but his basic point is correct. Trump is a giant mess, and has inspired a number of national embarrassments, such as this ultra bizarre bullshit:
(2) We have also learned that the Globalists like George Soros & the Elitists like Bill Gates were involved. CIA too (no surprise - military industrial complex).
It all seemed so clear we overlooked one of the main participants in the theft of the election:
THE REPUBLICANS.
--------------------------------
Lin Wood
@LLinWood
Replying to
@LLinWood
(3) These groups aspire to the goals of Communism. A ruling elite & an oppressed class of people who exist to serve those in power.
When arrests for treason begin, put Chief Justice John Roberts, VP Mike Pence
If Pence is arrested, @SecPompeo will save the election. Pence will be in jail awaiting trial for treason. He will face execution by firing squad. He is a coward & will sing like a bird & confess ALL.
That’s right. So why hasn’t he? Wonderful Trump who is so mistreated. Why hasn’t he done anything about ending the witch hunts of Snowden or Assange? Is it not possible because maybe Assange isn’t going to want a pardon due to it making him seem guilty when he’s not? I don’t see any way to get him safe without one, the way things go with conservative Democrats typically seeming to go overboard with their justice departments. Like what happened to Aaron Swartz and Barrett Brown. And the prosecutions of whistle blowers started under Bush. Republicans are no better than the Democrats but the Democrats are certainly not going to be an answer to expect a kinder and gentler Justice Department.
Trump hasn’t shown an inkling of caring one whit about anything but pardoning cronies. If he was going to pardon Snowden or Assange, he could’ve started by holding back his own justice department dogs from their witchhunts. It’s his justice department currently. And he hasn’t done anything about it at all. He could care less about anything other than cronies and deals that will advantage him in the future, it seems to me.
I hope I’m wrong and he does something before he leaves about Snowden and Assange. i’m not holding my breath.
Neither Snowden nor Assange are playing the politics properly. Let me assist:
The way to get a pardon or, get a favor / important post in an administration (e.g. Ambassador to say, Morocco) you must make a political contribution. Typically 6 figures does the trick, $US currency of course. If you tick that one box, even a car dealer can become a US ambassador in the Middle East.
Glenn, congratulations on this most lucid and thoroughgoing exposition of the reality of press and speech freedom under neoliberal regimes. This piece is not only an outstanding example of robust journalism, but is also a conscientious advocacy of a thoroughly wronged and vilified publisher of what press freedom is ideally supposed to mean to a purported free society.
What you trenchantly describe happens to those who out or repudiate prevailing orthodoxies and establishment propaganda is something that many, like myself (see screenshot), have experienced at the hands of high-tech monopolist oligarchs and self-appointed social-media gatekeepers who censor and ban realistically-critical, consciousness-raising information that contradicts or demystifies the status quo.
[Screenshot that doesn't show here is a FB Dangerous Individual or Organization Disabled Notice]
My access to all of my accounts on Facebook has been permanently disabled.
Many thanks for all your efforts to expose the insidious hypocrisies that undermine and thwart public consciousness of the political reality we are immersed in.
Thank you Glenn - once again. The total silence of corporate media on the persecution of Assange (and Snowden) is deafening and telling. Now (n January), that Trump has defeated himself, fully "rehabilitated" Assange persecutors will be back in power...
There is one basic fact: The entire anti-Russian 3-year narrative is and has been a deliberate fabrication. The first priority will be to maintain it.
Clapper, Brennan & Hayden trio were among former 50 intelligence officials stating that Hunter-laptop is classical “Russian disinformation”.
- They were also key promoters of the three-year Russia-gate hoax.
- They were also key intelligence executives in Obama/Biden/Hillary government – the government which hunted Snowden (forcing Bolivian plane with Bolivia’s president to land to search it) and armed Al Qaeda (including “white helmets” hoax) and staged all chemical attacks in Syria to remove its government.
Trump’s utter incompetence in handling Covid-19 created the human and economic catastrophe will be called - Trump-virus; he brought into government religious extremism and racism.
The Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine-impeachment “entertainment” was concocted by Obama/Hillary/Biden/Pelosi, etc. and their intelligence and DNC executives on behalf of their Wall Street and military industry donors, i.e., the imperial War party
Thank you -- think Pompeo "rupture fundamentalist", Ben Carson - bible idiot (St. Joseph built pyramids to store wheat), Betsy DeVos, to name few... Of course, they are also grifters and "ideologues" totally blinded by -- socialism as "godless" threat to capitalism
I reread your article suspecting I might have missed mention of the fact that Julian Assange is an Australian citizen, who has been indicted by the United States for actions taken, so far as I am able to ascertain, while he was outside of the United States. Beyond the threat it poses to press freedom the persecution of Assange also indirectly threatens American sovereignty, the very thing those who are pushing it purport to defend: The precedent established by the American prosecution of Assange could easily be used by other governments to justify extraterritorial application of their laws governing the handling of state secrets to Americans, as for example the Chinese issuing indictments against Americans who have never set foot in China for publishing leaked documents related to the origins of the current pandemic, then seeking to have them extradited (or kidnapped) from a third country.
Very astute comments. I'm troubled by extraterritorial prosecutions, especially against someone with virtually no connection to the US, primarily because I question whether it is legitimate. But your point is probably an even greater concern
If a mentally ill Australian hacker-cultist that copied stolen Chinese MILITARY SECRETS to gain support from cult followers then tried to justify such as "journalism" the world would probably laugh when the Chinese retaliated (more likely there would be a quiet assassination made to look like an "accident").
(If the USA govt wanted to acquire such information for intelligence purposes, it presumably wouldn't do so via a unstable, self-destructive cultist.)
Glenn, Jim Acosta is more intrepid than Julian Assange. Jim had a microphone LITERALLY taken from his heroic hands by an SS trooper during a White House press briefing. Jim has had to deal with a torrent of online meanies: don't you suppose scrolling through these Russian bot messages would ruin his time in the green room getting his hair and makeup? Jim's access credentials were temporarily revoked: how is he supposed to grandstand on behalf of his CIA handlers from home?
Quit erasing Jim's pain.
Oh boy -- this is insane, Jim Acosta hagiography now.... See GG – Dec. 28
"The hysterical Trump-as-despot script was all melodrama, a ploy for profits and ratings, and, most of all, a potent instrument to distract from the neoliberal ideology that gave rise to Trump in the first place by causing so much wreckage.
Positing Trump as a grand aberration from U.S. politics and as the prime author of America’s woes — rather than what he was: a perfectly predictable extension of U.S politics and a symptom of preexisting pathologies — enabled those who have so much blood and economic destruction on their hands not only to evade responsibility for what they did, but to rehabilitate themselves as the guardians of freedom and prosperity and, ultimately, catapult themselves back into power.
As of January 20, that is exactly where they will reside."
It would be insane if the post wasn't caustic.
Yeah, these middle class people do not get satire,amazing.............
It's extremely hard to execute satire via text online between people who do not know one another since there's always someone out there so far beyond the pale they may say such things in all earnestness.
It's only fair, considering that these satirical people don't get the middle class, either. I wouldn't call it amazing, though.
I'd say Voltaire and Sinclair Lewis got and get the middle class quite well, but what do I know since I am at heart both a knuckle dragger and a satirist...Cheerio old boy............................
I, too am obviously fond of satire, dragging my knuckles more frequently than I should with the callusses to prove it. I also fall in the "middle class," according to various pundits, but damned if I can reliably define what that is a lot of the time. It seems to change from pundit to pundit depending on the agenda they're pushing. Voltaire and Sinclair? I'm not so sure they can, either, but what the hell.
A Happy and Prosperous New Year to you, Sir(?)
"Sarcaustic," perhaps? I think we might have a new word here. I like it!
Well done. Cant think of a more clownish excuse for a "journalist"
NYT: "Oh yeah? Hold my latte, and watch this."
I had to read it three times before I understood Scheid's intent. Either it's past my bed time, or I need to move to St Olaf, Minnesota.
"heroic hands"
"online meanies"
"green room"
How many hints do you need?
Perhaps you should look to see if the author of the post himself liked the comment before you start throwing around words like imbecile, which you apparently can’t even spell.
Looks like someone's Sarcasm Detection Meter needs to go the shop for repairs/calibration.
I’ve been consuming the ruling narrative on Assange and Snowden without question. No more. Im unsure if any other journalist makes me re-evaluate my assumptions so well. Thank you Glenn.
Same as you, and now I feel like I’m in the twilight zone
In the famous words of George Carlin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo-QIY7ys-k
Operation Mockingbird is still in full effect. Those on MSM should no longer be referred to as journalists, but as propagandists.
"No longer" as since the run-up to the second Iraq war the propaganda was SO THICK IN THE AIR you could "cut it with a knife."
I'm not old enough to know what it was like pre-television, but early TV wasn't as explicitly exploited for its propaganda value nearly as much as it is today. In fact, Walter Cronkite famously turned against the Vietnam war and it was the cue to LBJ to not run for re-election, leading, unfortunately, to the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. ... The real point being that THE leading figure in television news could and did, on the air, express his dissent on THE most important question of the day.
I posit that's impossible today. Whoever did so would never work in media again, and would never think of doing so in any event.
The Vietnam war taught the Deep State/MIC that it needed to take over the mass media.
President Eisenhower's warning about the military-industrial-complex in 1961 should have told people everything they needed to know, but it didn't.
The specific atrocities (including actual, repeated military failures) of the Vietnam war, and how easily the establishment's lies about those atrocities were exposed, and the brutality of the suppression of the protest movement, the burning of dozens of cities by race rioters were the underlying causes.
Cronkite was a liberal functionary of the establishment for most of his career, not any kind of radical until after it had become glaringly obvious to any rational person* that the war was a practical disaster.
---
* anecdote that I personally heard from a senior commander and USAF combat vet: "the politicians would not let us win the war".
What that meant was that the USAF could have obliterated civilization in north Vietnam in a few weeks/months (forcing a peace treaty in which the north would have to allow a pro-USA regime to stay intact in the south). But Nixon/Kissinger thought that "bombing the north Vietnamese back to the stone age" would inevitably draw the USSR and Chinese communists directly into the conflict, probably starting nuclear WW3.
As it was 10 million Vietnamese died...
Church Commission....
THIS...is the stuff of my subscription. I disagree with almost all of it...but the perspective is brilliantly formed and articulated. My thanks.
Since you "disagree with almost all of it" are you in awe of form and articulation? You don't consider it true, just an inspiration for you to maybe try formulate your contrary ideas as eloquently? I'd be curious to read such an attempt.
I did not say Greenwald was untruthful...just that I disagreed. And, were I able to formulate as eloquently as Greenwald, you'd be subscribing to MY SubStack.
"The color of this jacket is black"
"I disagree with that. I'm not saying it is not true, I just disagree"
retarded
Wow. Scathing. Glenn’s acerbic writing style makes me think on first glance he is overreaching, but when I look for specifics of what I disagree with in the piece I can only come up with trivialities. His overall point is correct. And while he doesn’t hammer on it in this particular piece, the thing that disgusts me the most is not the IC. It is the media. The US media - right, left and center - should be speaking with one voice denouncing this. There is a literal army of pundits that tweet 100 times a day. Many have cushy jobs at legacy media outlets. With a few exceptions, they are silent as the grave on the Assange case and it is an absolute embarrassment. I can only speculate on their motivations. My suspicion is that due to the unrelated Wikileaks releases during the 2016 election, they can’t bring themselves to defend Assange.
Assange is imprisoned. He is not serving a sentence. He has not been convicted of a crime. He is not a US citizen and has never consented to US jurisdiction. The indictment against him is an absurd overreach on the merits. The “bail jumping” conviction was retribution for him seeking (and being granted) asylum. Retaliation with criminal penalties against an asylum seeker is so patently absurd on its face that a country that does so cannot seriously claim to believe in human rights.
I wouldn’t ask anyone to judge Assange’s character or assess his motives. He may or may not be a good guy. But what we should all be able to agree on is that he is a human being who has basic human rights. Those rights are being violated every day he sits in jail. US citizens such as myself should all be horrified by this, as it is being done by a government that supposedly represents us. Assange should be released immediately.
Except that a few years ago, Obama made it "legal" to use government propaganda against Americans. Do you think it's a coincidence that all these MIC "experts" are always on the show, talking about how wonderful they are.
The answer is staring you in the face. We no longer have a media, we have a propaganda machine.
Excellent article, as most of what you write is. I'm old and disabled now, but still on the correct side and it feels great to read what you write. Most so-called "progressives" are so stupidly brainwashed and without a broader philosophy that what they write is incredibly stupid --- but maybe Da Russians DID do it" :) .
"... but still on the correct side."
Beware dualistic interpretations.
re: Most so-called "progressives" are so stupidly brainwashed and without a broader philosophy that what they write is incredibly stupid...
-----
comment: yes, and predictably, a moronic "progressive", !Art! the F!art!, chimed in with his standard, vacuous idiocy about how you "must be confused" about how shitty left/progressive ideology is because only neoliberalism is a crappy ideology.
lololol
Your third sentence clearly is referencing neo-liberals, not progressives. It's easy to get confused about this because of many reasons, largely including that the media endlessly mis-describes progressivism and tries to conflate it with liberalism, and because neo-liberals like Hillary pander to Progressives by claiming they are progressives, thus confusing a lot of people.
... My bet is you probably don't actually know any real progressives - you'd probably like us as we're the people that brought you the 5 day work week, the 8 hour work day and other features of life I'd bet you appreciate. And, we've got a long agenda of more improvements ahead which, interestingly enough, we have super majorities for among the electorate, such as for single-payer health care. ... We could use your help!
Live by redefining and making up words, die by redefining and making up words.
That's what the propagandistic media has been doing for many decades, perhaps centuries. I happen to prefer to stick with original meanings and resist the propaganda. Sorry if you think that's "redefining words" - that's exactly what I'm fighting against. ... If you disagree, I recommend some homework reading. .... I can help if you want.
Thank you, no. But I do enjoy your comments, whether I disagree with them or not.
That's kind, thanks. :-)
!Art! is back, filling up the comments with his standard, idiotic intellectual flatulence about how "left" or "progressive" ideology is somehow devoid of human imperfections, which it isn't.
Ideology is garbage. Art's brain is garbage.
!Art!
you just proved his point about how most progressives (leftists) are stupid as shit
F!art!
It's not merely that the US depicts itself as a democratic freedom-loving exemplar of all that is good (although it does that), it also claims to be the *arbiter* of what constitutes democracy, freedom, and political goodness generally.
Somewhat ironically, this is a position it also unwillingly shares with some of its rivals and enemies, those fellow members of the UN Security Council that do not meet the US' high standards of international deportment and/or domestic self-restraint. But the foundational principle at issue is shared by all of those members, and it is this:
Might Makes Right.
The US, as unquestionably the most powerful empire during the post-war Pax Americana, sits uncomfortably atop this pinnacle of power and as above, only those who challenge its power (militarily, economically, or journalistically - the first two are nigh inseparable in our post-industrial age) are afforded the status of rival and therefore, enemy. The UK, for example, has a "special relationship" with her former colony and is "led" by tame Washington sycophants who know where their bread is buttered.
Yet as Shakespeare noted, "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown".
Never has there been a nation so powerful, so wealthy, so blessed with material and political and social capital, and yet so afraid.
Afraid of distant goat-herders.
Afraid of Russian cyber-spies.
Afraid of the weather.
Afraid of being called racist/sexist/xxx-phobic.
Afraid of getting sick.
Afraid of reporters.
Afraid of everything, and everyone, all the time.
It must be exhausting.
And it is obviously maddening.
I don't fear anything on that list, but I do fear the US Government.
What is being done to Assange is a crime against humanity, a crime against every one of us who value the human virtue of truth. The United States has become a very unfunny parody of itself. All talk and no walk, shallow platitudes and lip service.
Free Asange Now!
The truth is that Assange was always a mentally ill hacker/cultist and a social parasite.
https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/6/6/15729360/julian-assange-andrew-ohagan-secret-life
Any other CIA talking points you want to parrot while you have the chance?
infantile conspiratard drivel
another incredible compelling argument you are making here /s
more mental flatulence
cultist
Hi Glen I must say, don't always agree, but you sure do make me think!
Note that CIA front operatives from Bellingcat are trolling this seminal overview of persecution of the publisher Julian Assange.
One of the reasons -- pardoning of Julian Assange would fundamentally threaten the 3-year long stupid and dangerous Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine impeachment "entertainment". This is a fundamental threat to incoming administration and to the entire "rehabilitated" clique which led to the election of incompetent Trump.
Clearly Bellingcat has been activated by DNC/Obama-Hillary/CIA structure sensing the possibility of catastrophic danger. Assange might even commit "suicide" -- like Epstein.
The Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine-impeachment “entertainment” was concocted by deeply corrupt Obama/Hillary/Biden/Pelosi clique and their intelligence and DNC executives on behalf of their Wall Street and military industry donors, i.e., the imperial War party.
Always remember Tulsi's epic response after Hillary brazenly accused her of being a Russian asset:
"Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton . You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why.
Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly".
I SO loved how she called out Clinton. Every time I see that quote I smile.
I didn't remember that quote, but it's a great one! Thanks!
Killer piece. The contention you make in the first two sentences is strong and well supported by the rest of the piece. If people like Assange are not free, I don’t think any of us really are.
Fucking brilliant. We are such a hypocritical nation. This man reported things that should make us ashamed of our leaders and he sits in his own shit while the elitists pricks who he reported on are back working for Biden. It’s a pill to big to swallow. Trump needs to pardon both Assange and Snowden as it could be a big legacy issue for him. He was smeared and taken out by these same people. He needs to step up. Great work GG.
Good comments. Sadly, whether through apathy, or ignorance (not used pejoratively), the vast majority of Americans are ignorant of their hypocrisy. Sigh.
Use of "ignorance" is a pejorative only for those who don't realize that everyone is ignorant, just about different things.
Well said Art. We also all hate monsters, but disagree who those monsters are. For me, those the powerful and unaccountable who punish Assange for exposing corruption and criminality at the highest levels are the monsters.
What's harder for me to understand are those who believe he is the monster for exposing the corruption and criminality of our "leaders."
this more gross cultish stupidity.
in times of war and espionage many rules of civilized behavior and social practice are suspended.
none of your lamentations contain any hint of an actual solution or reform agenda.
I agree with all those points, thanks!
this more gross cultish stupidity.
in times of war and espionage many rules of civilized behavior and social practice are suspended.
none of your lamentations contain any hint of an actual solution or reform agenda.
Seems unlikely. Trump's "base" are neoconfederate patriots, conspiratards and bumpkins, they do not have much natural affinity for a creepy hacker-cultist like Assange.
Assange is a social parasite:
https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/6/6/15729360/julian-assange-andrew-ohagan-secret-life
He is a journalist. He put out info that any liberal paper would have put out if they had it. Just like they all put out Snowden docs. You seem angry for an early Née Years day. Lighten up fella.
Assange is a mentally ill cultist pretending to be a journalist. OR, at best he is 1/2 and 1/2.
You are a buffoon and a moron that is incapable of rational, objective thought outside of your echo chamber.
How would you know what my echo chamber is you half wit. If you want to live in the dark that’s cool but get of my dick.
Because what you said is fucking idiotic and retarded and you can't rationally absorb facts that do not fit your narrative. Put your dick back in your underwear, fasten it securely to your leg with duct tape and get some psychiatric treatment.
This quote alone makes you wonder what he's on about:
Andrew O’Hagan
"Here we are now — what a basic level of stupidity and desperation. Richard Nixon is Aristotle compared to Donald Trump. It’s abominable. How could we live in a world that goes from Obama to Trump being elected president back to back?
We’re already in the footholds of an impeachment. Trump cannot survive his levels of carelessness. I learned from the years pavement-pounding writing The Secret Life’s stories that one of the things that binds these figures is their carelessness."
I don't like some of that kind of speculation, but his basic point is correct. Trump is a giant mess, and has inspired a number of national embarrassments, such as this ultra bizarre bullshit:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/pro-trump-lawyer-lin-wood-insists-he-is-not-insane-after-tweeting-that-mike-pence-should-face-execution-by-firing-squad/ar-BB1cpNJm
-----
https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1345065245497323523
excerpt:
Lin Wood
@LLinWood
Jan 1
(2) We have also learned that the Globalists like George Soros & the Elitists like Bill Gates were involved. CIA too (no surprise - military industrial complex).
It all seemed so clear we overlooked one of the main participants in the theft of the election:
THE REPUBLICANS.
--------------------------------
Lin Wood
@LLinWood
Replying to
@LLinWood
(3) These groups aspire to the goals of Communism. A ruling elite & an oppressed class of people who exist to serve those in power.
When arrests for treason begin, put Chief Justice John Roberts, VP Mike Pence
@VP
@Mike_Pence
, & Mitch McConnell
@senatemajldr
at top of list.
9:51 AM · Jan 1, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
--------------------------------------------
https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1345067881319587840
Lin Wood
@LLinWood
If Pence is arrested, @SecPompeo will save the election. Pence will be in jail awaiting trial for treason. He will face execution by firing squad. He is a coward & will sing like a bird & confess ALL.
10:02 AM · Jan 1, 2021
Good article. Trump should pardon him and snowden before he leaves.
That’s right. So why hasn’t he? Wonderful Trump who is so mistreated. Why hasn’t he done anything about ending the witch hunts of Snowden or Assange? Is it not possible because maybe Assange isn’t going to want a pardon due to it making him seem guilty when he’s not? I don’t see any way to get him safe without one, the way things go with conservative Democrats typically seeming to go overboard with their justice departments. Like what happened to Aaron Swartz and Barrett Brown. And the prosecutions of whistle blowers started under Bush. Republicans are no better than the Democrats but the Democrats are certainly not going to be an answer to expect a kinder and gentler Justice Department.
Trump hasn’t shown an inkling of caring one whit about anything but pardoning cronies. If he was going to pardon Snowden or Assange, he could’ve started by holding back his own justice department dogs from their witchhunts. It’s his justice department currently. And he hasn’t done anything about it at all. He could care less about anything other than cronies and deals that will advantage him in the future, it seems to me.
I hope I’m wrong and he does something before he leaves about Snowden and Assange. i’m not holding my breath.
Neither Snowden nor Assange are playing the politics properly. Let me assist:
The way to get a pardon or, get a favor / important post in an administration (e.g. Ambassador to say, Morocco) you must make a political contribution. Typically 6 figures does the trick, $US currency of course. If you tick that one box, even a car dealer can become a US ambassador in the Middle East.
Yup President Clinton sure proved that
Glenn, congratulations on this most lucid and thoroughgoing exposition of the reality of press and speech freedom under neoliberal regimes. This piece is not only an outstanding example of robust journalism, but is also a conscientious advocacy of a thoroughly wronged and vilified publisher of what press freedom is ideally supposed to mean to a purported free society.
What you trenchantly describe happens to those who out or repudiate prevailing orthodoxies and establishment propaganda is something that many, like myself (see screenshot), have experienced at the hands of high-tech monopolist oligarchs and self-appointed social-media gatekeepers who censor and ban realistically-critical, consciousness-raising information that contradicts or demystifies the status quo.
[Screenshot that doesn't show here is a FB Dangerous Individual or Organization Disabled Notice]
My access to all of my accounts on Facebook has been permanently disabled.
Many thanks for all your efforts to expose the insidious hypocrisies that undermine and thwart public consciousness of the political reality we are immersed in.
John de Clef Piñeiro, Esq.
Thank you Glenn - once again. The total silence of corporate media on the persecution of Assange (and Snowden) is deafening and telling. Now (n January), that Trump has defeated himself, fully "rehabilitated" Assange persecutors will be back in power...
There is one basic fact: The entire anti-Russian 3-year narrative is and has been a deliberate fabrication. The first priority will be to maintain it.
Clapper, Brennan & Hayden trio were among former 50 intelligence officials stating that Hunter-laptop is classical “Russian disinformation”.
- They were also key promoters of the three-year Russia-gate hoax.
- They were also key intelligence executives in Obama/Biden/Hillary government – the government which hunted Snowden (forcing Bolivian plane with Bolivia’s president to land to search it) and armed Al Qaeda (including “white helmets” hoax) and staged all chemical attacks in Syria to remove its government.
Trump’s utter incompetence in handling Covid-19 created the human and economic catastrophe will be called - Trump-virus; he brought into government religious extremism and racism.
The Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine-impeachment “entertainment” was concocted by Obama/Hillary/Biden/Pelosi, etc. and their intelligence and DNC executives on behalf of their Wall Street and military industry donors, i.e., the imperial War party
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/were-in-a-permanent-coup
I'm not sure about your assertion of religious extremism and racism but solidly agree on all other points.
Thank you -- think Pompeo "rupture fundamentalist", Ben Carson - bible idiot (St. Joseph built pyramids to store wheat), Betsy DeVos, to name few... Of course, they are also grifters and "ideologues" totally blinded by -- socialism as "godless" threat to capitalism
Mr. Greenwald,
I reread your article suspecting I might have missed mention of the fact that Julian Assange is an Australian citizen, who has been indicted by the United States for actions taken, so far as I am able to ascertain, while he was outside of the United States. Beyond the threat it poses to press freedom the persecution of Assange also indirectly threatens American sovereignty, the very thing those who are pushing it purport to defend: The precedent established by the American prosecution of Assange could easily be used by other governments to justify extraterritorial application of their laws governing the handling of state secrets to Americans, as for example the Chinese issuing indictments against Americans who have never set foot in China for publishing leaked documents related to the origins of the current pandemic, then seeking to have them extradited (or kidnapped) from a third country.
Very astute comments. I'm troubled by extraterritorial prosecutions, especially against someone with virtually no connection to the US, primarily because I question whether it is legitimate. But your point is probably an even greater concern
Absurd. The connection is that Assange copied (or facilitated the copying of) USA military secrets to an open internet server.
garbled, twisted narrative.
If a mentally ill Australian hacker-cultist that copied stolen Chinese MILITARY SECRETS to gain support from cult followers then tried to justify such as "journalism" the world would probably laugh when the Chinese retaliated (more likely there would be a quiet assassination made to look like an "accident").
(If the USA govt wanted to acquire such information for intelligence purposes, it presumably wouldn't do so via a unstable, self-destructive cultist.)
Again, cult narrative.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-mad-sad-and-bad-claims-ghost-writer-andrew-o-hagan-9146457.html