I used to like Matt Taibbi's take on things, especially the financial shenanigans around the 2008 mortgage/banking crisis. But I can't stand his refusal to stand against Israel's genocide and I no longer follow him.
I smelled a stench a while ago. He was always a pro Israeli parasite...he was bought and paid for by the Israeli's early on..before Oct 2023... always listen to the small rumblings of your intuition.
Matt Taibbi is an opportunist (always was) or a survivalist (depending on how you look at it). In fact, there are hundreds - if not thousands - of such journalists, including Glenn Greenwald, Jimmy Dore, Tucker Carlson, and so many others (across the whole political spectrum - left and right). You have pro-imperialists and (fake) anti-imperialists (many of these I would put in the pro-Russia/pro-China camp).
There are very few journalists that happen to stay true to their principles to the very end (in my experience).
Being apolitical in a time of heavy political events is certainly a choice, but it's one thing to be apolitical and quite another thing to openly mock others for actually caring. The way Hetfield mocks Macklemore for caring about Palestinians says more about Hetfield than it does Macklemore. And in a world of James Hetfields, we need more Macklemores.
Macklemore didn’t say Free Palestine at his and Sheeran’s concert because he was an artist but because he’s a human being and, as a human being, understands the full import of the slaughter in Gaza. He understands what is happening today is not “bullshit” — it’s a crime every bit as horrible as every other genocide in history.
Taibbi, in his latest article, ignores the fact people by the thousands are marching to halt this onslaught and with his usual snarky wit acts like they’re engaging in some kind of fad. He’s turned out to be shallow and willfully blind to the reality anyone with eyes can see.
For my part, many years working in the theatre (it can either be an engaging, thought-provoking experience, or it can be "Mamma Mia") and many years teaching Grades 9 - 12 (in which Admin said a thousand times "keep your politics out of the classroom, Peter," and my students took to Brecht and Pinter and Shakespeare like they were dying of thirst and the work was a clear, cool lake)....
Nothing is inseparable from politics. The ONLY thing the ruling class cares about is what you think of them. They expend enormous energy monitoring your worldview. The modern surveillance state is evidence of this. What are they afraid of ? The same thing every ruling class has been afraid of since time immemorial: Revolution.
The more brutal, exploitative and murderous the ruling class becomes the more their surveillance of us increases. Will we follow our ancestors into the streets and overthrow the fascists or join them ? With the exception of ameriKKKa it looks like the former.
"Pretend everything’s fine and capitalism is working out great for everyone. Here you go, you empty-headed human livestock, sedate yourself with some catchy rhythms while our rulers turn our world into a desert planet so a few billionaires can become trillionaires.”
Yeah, that's the sort of "art" our oligarch-masters want. They want us tuned in and turned off and dropped out. That way we're not in their way when they need to start yet another war to steal resources or need to fund a genocide so they can help their ally empty a land of all its indigenous people.
Make art--but remember all art is political. It deals with human beings and that automatically makes it "political". (And I stopped following Matt Taibbi on Substack over a year ago. The guy is a total sell out to the status quo and quite irritating.)
Western "corporate media" has erased any semblance of legitimate journalism from the landscape.
With propaganda and political vomit being spewed as "News", Journalistic Malpractice is the new norm. There is little to no journalistic integrity remaining in the west as displayed by the overtly Zionist propaganda machine called the New York Times.
Art has always been political.
But now more than ever, humanity must look to artists to reflect upon the world's dire situation and our collective humanity. Those who wish to ignore and dismiss, are only part of the problem and should be shamed and exposed for the gutless cowards they are at every opportunity. We are at war with an evil that is unprecedented in human history, and we must fight it with every breath.
What happened to them? They wrote some of the best protest songs - just look at the Covers of Master and Justice, let alone the content inside. Then came the Black Album and fuckin 'Don't Tread on Me" (not to mention the making-of videos, with Hetfield complaining he missed his sons first birthday because he was over in Russia murdering a bear). Again, just what the hell happened? Maybe they had a drink with Bono...
Matt Taibbi is showing signs of buyers remorse. I don’t know exactly what he bought, or what he sold, but his writing, and his thinking, are sinking so quickly that an organic explanation seems unlikely. This moral collapse is the result of something external, rather than internal. I think whatever deal he made is killing his spirit and his talent. And like Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, or a hundred other deflated liberals, the stretch marks are starting to show. You can fool most of the people most of the time, but you can never really fool yourself.
So has art (broadly speaking) always been: it either serves the wealthy and powerful, or it does not. Fascists don't create much in the way of authenticity, whether it's art, science, useful political movements, or anything else. In my lifetime (yeah, I'm old--74 next week) I've seen this happen over and over and over again. I'm not a historian, mostly just a history nerd, but I've read many times about the cultural destruction that fascism brings in its wake. To see this happen (again) in my lifetime comes close to breaking me. Your essays give me hope, however. Keep up the good work!
Truly hilarious, taking this sort of standpoint while singing pieces the likes of "for whom the bell tolls" or even "master of puppets", for that matter.
I used to like Matt Taibbi's take on things, especially the financial shenanigans around the 2008 mortgage/banking crisis. But I can't stand his refusal to stand against Israel's genocide and I no longer follow him.
Same.
I smelled a stench a while ago. He was always a pro Israeli parasite...he was bought and paid for by the Israeli's early on..before Oct 2023... always listen to the small rumblings of your intuition.
Matt Taibbi is an opportunist (always was) or a survivalist (depending on how you look at it). In fact, there are hundreds - if not thousands - of such journalists, including Glenn Greenwald, Jimmy Dore, Tucker Carlson, and so many others (across the whole political spectrum - left and right). You have pro-imperialists and (fake) anti-imperialists (many of these I would put in the pro-Russia/pro-China camp).
There are very few journalists that happen to stay true to their principles to the very end (in my experience).
killed it!
Being apolitical in a time of heavy political events is certainly a choice, but it's one thing to be apolitical and quite another thing to openly mock others for actually caring. The way Hetfield mocks Macklemore for caring about Palestinians says more about Hetfield than it does Macklemore. And in a world of James Hetfields, we need more Macklemores.
Everything is political. Everything.
Tell me about it. Try going on a date night once a week.
Macklemore didn’t say Free Palestine at his and Sheeran’s concert because he was an artist but because he’s a human being and, as a human being, understands the full import of the slaughter in Gaza. He understands what is happening today is not “bullshit” — it’s a crime every bit as horrible as every other genocide in history.
Taibbi, in his latest article, ignores the fact people by the thousands are marching to halt this onslaught and with his usual snarky wit acts like they’re engaging in some kind of fad. He’s turned out to be shallow and willfully blind to the reality anyone with eyes can see.
Excellent piece. Well put.
For my part, many years working in the theatre (it can either be an engaging, thought-provoking experience, or it can be "Mamma Mia") and many years teaching Grades 9 - 12 (in which Admin said a thousand times "keep your politics out of the classroom, Peter," and my students took to Brecht and Pinter and Shakespeare like they were dying of thirst and the work was a clear, cool lake)....
Nothing is inseparable from politics. The ONLY thing the ruling class cares about is what you think of them. They expend enormous energy monitoring your worldview. The modern surveillance state is evidence of this. What are they afraid of ? The same thing every ruling class has been afraid of since time immemorial: Revolution.
The more brutal, exploitative and murderous the ruling class becomes the more their surveillance of us increases. Will we follow our ancestors into the streets and overthrow the fascists or join them ? With the exception of ameriKKKa it looks like the former.
Music has always been political. Claiming it isn’t when it suits the band, is just taking the side of the oppressor
"Pretend everything’s fine and capitalism is working out great for everyone. Here you go, you empty-headed human livestock, sedate yourself with some catchy rhythms while our rulers turn our world into a desert planet so a few billionaires can become trillionaires.”
Yeah, that's the sort of "art" our oligarch-masters want. They want us tuned in and turned off and dropped out. That way we're not in their way when they need to start yet another war to steal resources or need to fund a genocide so they can help their ally empty a land of all its indigenous people.
Make art--but remember all art is political. It deals with human beings and that automatically makes it "political". (And I stopped following Matt Taibbi on Substack over a year ago. The guy is a total sell out to the status quo and quite irritating.)
Western "corporate media" has erased any semblance of legitimate journalism from the landscape.
With propaganda and political vomit being spewed as "News", Journalistic Malpractice is the new norm. There is little to no journalistic integrity remaining in the west as displayed by the overtly Zionist propaganda machine called the New York Times.
Art has always been political.
But now more than ever, humanity must look to artists to reflect upon the world's dire situation and our collective humanity. Those who wish to ignore and dismiss, are only part of the problem and should be shamed and exposed for the gutless cowards they are at every opportunity. We are at war with an evil that is unprecedented in human history, and we must fight it with every breath.
What happened to them? They wrote some of the best protest songs - just look at the Covers of Master and Justice, let alone the content inside. Then came the Black Album and fuckin 'Don't Tread on Me" (not to mention the making-of videos, with Hetfield complaining he missed his sons first birthday because he was over in Russia murdering a bear). Again, just what the hell happened? Maybe they had a drink with Bono...
Matt Taibbi is showing signs of buyers remorse. I don’t know exactly what he bought, or what he sold, but his writing, and his thinking, are sinking so quickly that an organic explanation seems unlikely. This moral collapse is the result of something external, rather than internal. I think whatever deal he made is killing his spirit and his talent. And like Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, or a hundred other deflated liberals, the stretch marks are starting to show. You can fool most of the people most of the time, but you can never really fool yourself.
Your bio says Taibbi follows you...i doubt he'll see your post but I can dream...lol
Maher has always been a rotten piece of toxic waste
Greenwald has never had solid integrity.. Colbert does not belong in the list with them...even if he's a bit deflated
"No man was ever yet a great poet, without being at the same time a profound philosopher."
~Samuel Coleridge, #BiographiaLiteria
So has art (broadly speaking) always been: it either serves the wealthy and powerful, or it does not. Fascists don't create much in the way of authenticity, whether it's art, science, useful political movements, or anything else. In my lifetime (yeah, I'm old--74 next week) I've seen this happen over and over and over again. I'm not a historian, mostly just a history nerd, but I've read many times about the cultural destruction that fascism brings in its wake. To see this happen (again) in my lifetime comes close to breaking me. Your essays give me hope, however. Keep up the good work!
Taibbi and Gabbard turned into the biggest fucking grifters. So embarrassing to have ever trusted them
Truly hilarious, taking this sort of standpoint while singing pieces the likes of "for whom the bell tolls" or even "master of puppets", for that matter.
What a disappointment, Mr.hetfield...