"To accept the persecution of Julian Assange is to accept the idea that all media everywhere must function as propaganda organs of the US government."
Money quote. And that is why the MSM maintain at most a sheepish silence. Because they know where they stand, and they know that, like smirking hand puppets, they will never utter so much as a syllable that their corporate imperialist masters would not approve of.
"It’s to accept that we will never live in a truth-based society guided by facts and information, and must forever resign ourselves to living in a society dominated by the whims of the powerful."
It's not even necessary to fire anyone. You don't need to be Nostradamus to figure out what kinds of stories will win you prizes, plaudits, off-record disclosures from high-placed sources, and plum assignments, and what kinds of stories will get you relegated to investigating allegations of corruption in latrine construction bidding in Alaska.
"But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. "
Yes and the apparatus is becoming more covert to counter independent journalism. I suspect there are fake ‘independent’ podcasts popping up that are covertly funded by the mass media apparatus. There may also controlled opposition designed to gain trust then be used to discredit any opposition to the mainstream narratives. They mix solid analysis with crazy talk or suddenly are exposed as sexual predators. It’s a neat trick. We need to be watching
Both, but the covert is even more effective to demoralize a following. Imagine if Caitlin was ‘outed’ as a Russian spy. It would destroy her credibility and demoralize those following her writings. Russel Brand is a prime example
It can be difficult when a man who is not supportive of the status quo is outed as a sexual offender. Women are often not believed in any situation where a man is accused of sexual violence. It is not always easy or maybe not even possible to know in these situations who is being straightforward.
However it seems strange these women have only now come forward? Supposedly this happened some time ago (and I know things have changed) but I still find it odd?
I think, generally, accusations from multiple people will damage credibility of the accused Regardless if true or not. What I’m getting at is the possibility that some of these exposures are covert psyops to demoralize followers of antiestablishment narratives. Option 1: it’s all true & there’s just many coincidences. Option 2: the accusers are part of the psyop to discredit an honest voice. Option 3: The accusers AND the accused are part of the psyop (knowing there won’t be any legal ramifications) and the ‘attack’ was planned to hit once critical following was reached. Option 4: the accused is guilty & the propagandists knew he was scum & simply waited for the right time to expose him for maximum impact.
Yes. There have long been people ready to punch on through and pin-prick the narrative balloon, and now they have the needle. (At least as long as the needle is available.)
Julian is unjustly imprisoned. Good investigative journalists are getting killed all over the world. To be an investigative journalist in Mexico is practically suicide.
The interesting thing about this case is that there is a prosecution and a defense, and one of them has committed an enormous number of serious crimes. And it's not the defendant.
“,…. Your position on the Assange case is therefore your position on what kind of society we should hope to live in, and what kind of future we should hope to have. In a very real way, it’s your position on humanity itself.…,”
Well there is the problem though: the vast majority of people take the same position as the sheep in Animal Farm.
So actually they are NOT going to save democracy. Quite the opposite: they will gladly help undermine it. As long as it takes.
Probably no point in waiting for them to magically wake up and save their own fate.
Great piece of writing. So true! I love that Julian's wife, Stella, is now publishing what Wikileaks revealed on twitter (still using that name). Maybe the world will be embarrassed into letting Julian Assange go free. What's being done to him is criminal.
“…. The basic strategy is to redefine “disinformation” to include even factual criticism of the U.S. military or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and then to exert “coordinated action to pressure social media and digital market actors” to “moderate” such speech.…”
and then the likes of online censorship bills to throttle dissent from all quarters is the progression from that horrendous prosecution of a NON-U.S. citizen! it CAN HAPPEN HERE. IT IS HAPPENING HERE!
I totally agree about Assange, I liked Trump until his first day in office he did not pardon Assange or Snowden. I don't know whether he is too stupid or pretending he is an outsider but I support JFKjr or Vivek, I think they are the real deal.
Does the MSM still matter? This is not a rhetorical question, or an effort at a humorous quip. If the MSM does not contain interesting material, people will stop reading or looking at it. Besides the punishment of whistleblowers, the fact that the government has been involved in attempts to censor social media in the absence of any real danger to anyone seems to indicate some kind of reasonable fear of an economic and political threat, in this case a decline in public interest and influence, which I believe is now widely recognized not only by people in the business but the general public.
I hope you are correct Starry Gordon. I go on WAPO regularly mainly to look at the comments. I believe a huge number of people are not aware these newspapers are censored.
I'm in Canada and so many people here have an absolute love affair with CBC (Canadian Broadcasting System).
I prefer reading news to listening to it, so I check the CBC website to see what the world is being told, but take what is being said with a grain of salt. I have a few news sources I trust and, to me, they're gold.
We have to be very discerning about our news sources if we want to have any kind of accurate idea about what's going on in the world.
I have lived in Canada all my life. At least now, there is some recognition of the fact that we are a colonizing country and there are now many who are in solidarity with indigenous people. When I was small, indigenous people were called "Indians"; residential schools were never mentioned, the harm that Europeans have caused was never discussed.
It's not just the US empire - the US and her obedient vassal states are pimping their defense forces for the benefit of empire - in the end it's the combined total of all the vassal states and their spineless wimpish politico in high office who've sold out.
All our supposedly democratic institutions have been compromised.
Same goes for [un]intelligence agencies and offense urm defense forces.
The MSM is owned and controlled by a handful of transnational corporations.
All wars are bankers wars however I get into trouble exposing them just like I do when I criticize a well known middle Eastern sadistic apartheid state.
The ICC remains a toothless tiger which only ever goes after third world despots - even though the last chief prosecutor was considering investigating US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan until they were threatened by John Bolton - who was President Trump’s National Security Advisor at the time - threatened the ICC to the extend that a judge at the ICC resigned and ms Fatou Bensouda was forced to drop her investigation into US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq which was made possible due to the Wikileaks revelations.
The new chief prosecutor at the ICC has dropped the investigation started by his predecessor.
Consider the possibility that when the likes of John Bolton are able to get away with threatening the ICC then it's not a giant leap to do the same to the British judicial system.
It wasn't the first time either that John Bolton has threatened someone in high office - so now there's a pattern which is suggesting that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
We have to call the bluf of these fascist bastard and push back like never before.
Agreed whole heartedly as this is an important case. But we need to remember that journalists, such as Shireen Abu Akleh, are often extra-judicially killed for reporting inconvenient truths as well as to intimidate and frighten other journalists not adhering to 'official' narratives.
The persecution of Julian Assange is the persecution of truth, of integrity, of honesty – and ultimately of freedom – all the values that the "West" supposedly holds dear. It is a crime against humanity. And those who do not speak out against it are complicit – criminals themselves.
A well written article Caitlin. But it is not government that is responsible. Nor the media. Nor the deep state. It is all those who support them with silence. Ordinary people.
Perhaps if everyone would contribute to a non-profit organization that would purchase a movie theater in London and offer a free showing of V for Vendetta every day, then at the end of the show, have a rally with articulate speakers like yourself to remind people of Assange's incarceration and what it means, it could change the world.
"To accept the persecution of Julian Assange is to accept the idea that all media everywhere must function as propaganda organs of the US government."
Money quote. And that is why the MSM maintain at most a sheepish silence. Because they know where they stand, and they know that, like smirking hand puppets, they will never utter so much as a syllable that their corporate imperialist masters would not approve of.
I'll see you and raise a C note:
"It’s to accept that we will never live in a truth-based society guided by facts and information, and must forever resign ourselves to living in a society dominated by the whims of the powerful."
So much money, and I can't spend any of it. :)
It's not irrelevant that people who write the wrong thing can lose their jobs. It's not necessary to explicitly lock people up.
It's not even necessary to fire anyone. You don't need to be Nostradamus to figure out what kinds of stories will win you prizes, plaudits, off-record disclosures from high-placed sources, and plum assignments, and what kinds of stories will get you relegated to investigating allegations of corruption in latrine construction bidding in Alaska.
"But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. "
I think Chomsky well describes himself with that.
Right. There are many things that will stop one from being able to speak/write freely. However we lose those voices, we lose.
You've written many fine pieces before, Caitlin. Longer and more detailed, too.
But this is one of your finest.
There's no doubt that Julian will read this, and that it will give him hope in these hard times.
We will be lied to with greater and greater lies and with greater and greater frequency if we do not push back.
There is a Revolution of Thought happening on the Internet. Journalists and writers are punching holes in the Narrative.
Yes and the apparatus is becoming more covert to counter independent journalism. I suspect there are fake ‘independent’ podcasts popping up that are covertly funded by the mass media apparatus. There may also controlled opposition designed to gain trust then be used to discredit any opposition to the mainstream narratives. They mix solid analysis with crazy talk or suddenly are exposed as sexual predators. It’s a neat trick. We need to be watching
"Covert" or "overt"?
I note that the EU is ramming through more aggressive censorship response to the Fico victory in Slovakia.
Both, but the covert is even more effective to demoralize a following. Imagine if Caitlin was ‘outed’ as a Russian spy. It would destroy her credibility and demoralize those following her writings. Russel Brand is a prime example
Jeremy Corbyn (Labour Leader) was another case of this.
Bernie Sanders..
Essentially, we need be cautiously optimistic about anti war voices due to the fact they are even allowed to get a message out to a broad audience
It can be difficult when a man who is not supportive of the status quo is outed as a sexual offender. Women are often not believed in any situation where a man is accused of sexual violence. It is not always easy or maybe not even possible to know in these situations who is being straightforward.
Susan you are correct I know this myself.
However it seems strange these women have only now come forward? Supposedly this happened some time ago (and I know things have changed) but I still find it odd?
I think, generally, accusations from multiple people will damage credibility of the accused Regardless if true or not. What I’m getting at is the possibility that some of these exposures are covert psyops to demoralize followers of antiestablishment narratives. Option 1: it’s all true & there’s just many coincidences. Option 2: the accusers are part of the psyop to discredit an honest voice. Option 3: The accusers AND the accused are part of the psyop (knowing there won’t be any legal ramifications) and the ‘attack’ was planned to hit once critical following was reached. Option 4: the accused is guilty & the propagandists knew he was scum & simply waited for the right time to expose him for maximum impact.
Yes. There have long been people ready to punch on through and pin-prick the narrative balloon, and now they have the needle. (At least as long as the needle is available.)
Julian is unjustly imprisoned. Good investigative journalists are getting killed all over the world. To be an investigative journalist in Mexico is practically suicide.
What does Mexico have to do with this?
The point I was making is that a good journalist can't only be unjustly imprisoned but also killed.
Some of the gun camera footage provided to Julian Assange by Bradley/Ashley Manning showed the killing of a journalist by an Apache Helicopter crew.
Capish?
The point I was making is that a good journalist can't only be unjustly imprisoned but also killed.
Some of the gun camera footage provided to Julian Assange by Bradley/Ashley Manning showed the killing of a journalist by an Apache Helicopter crew.
Capish?
The interesting thing about this case is that there is a prosecution and a defense, and one of them has committed an enormous number of serious crimes. And it's not the defendant.
“,…. Your position on the Assange case is therefore your position on what kind of society we should hope to live in, and what kind of future we should hope to have. In a very real way, it’s your position on humanity itself.…,”
Well there is the problem though: the vast majority of people take the same position as the sheep in Animal Farm.
So actually they are NOT going to save democracy. Quite the opposite: they will gladly help undermine it. As long as it takes.
Probably no point in waiting for them to magically wake up and save their own fate.
Set him free now! It shows that Britains is just as corrupt! But then we knew that!
Great piece of writing. So true! I love that Julian's wife, Stella, is now publishing what Wikileaks revealed on twitter (still using that name). Maybe the world will be embarrassed into letting Julian Assange go free. What's being done to him is criminal.
While the governments of empire are locking up real journalists…they are busy
- muzzling others, including average citizens who are simply telling the truth
- spreading lies massively in replacement of the truth. See this:
https://mronline.org/2023/10/05/british-government-funded-a-plan-for-international-censorship-of-critiques-of-nato/
“…. The basic strategy is to redefine “disinformation” to include even factual criticism of the U.S. military or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and then to exert “coordinated action to pressure social media and digital market actors” to “moderate” such speech.…”
and then the likes of online censorship bills to throttle dissent from all quarters is the progression from that horrendous prosecution of a NON-U.S. citizen! it CAN HAPPEN HERE. IT IS HAPPENING HERE!
I totally agree about Assange, I liked Trump until his first day in office he did not pardon Assange or Snowden. I don't know whether he is too stupid or pretending he is an outsider but I support JFKjr or Vivek, I think they are the real deal.
Does the MSM still matter? This is not a rhetorical question, or an effort at a humorous quip. If the MSM does not contain interesting material, people will stop reading or looking at it. Besides the punishment of whistleblowers, the fact that the government has been involved in attempts to censor social media in the absence of any real danger to anyone seems to indicate some kind of reasonable fear of an economic and political threat, in this case a decline in public interest and influence, which I believe is now widely recognized not only by people in the business but the general public.
I hope you are correct Starry Gordon. I go on WAPO regularly mainly to look at the comments. I believe a huge number of people are not aware these newspapers are censored.
Do such as WaPo and the NYT filter their comments? If not (doubtful) they might offer an opportunity for subversion.
They do but how much I don't know.
I have suggested that people here on substack should start commenting.
I'm in Canada and so many people here have an absolute love affair with CBC (Canadian Broadcasting System).
I prefer reading news to listening to it, so I check the CBC website to see what the world is being told, but take what is being said with a grain of salt. I have a few news sources I trust and, to me, they're gold.
We have to be very discerning about our news sources if we want to have any kind of accurate idea about what's going on in the world.
I lived in Canada for a few years in the early 1970s. Canada seemed less colonized then.
I have lived in Canada all my life. At least now, there is some recognition of the fact that we are a colonizing country and there are now many who are in solidarity with indigenous people. When I was small, indigenous people were called "Indians"; residential schools were never mentioned, the harm that Europeans have caused was never discussed.
It's not just the US empire - the US and her obedient vassal states are pimping their defense forces for the benefit of empire - in the end it's the combined total of all the vassal states and their spineless wimpish politico in high office who've sold out.
All our supposedly democratic institutions have been compromised.
Same goes for [un]intelligence agencies and offense urm defense forces.
The MSM is owned and controlled by a handful of transnational corporations.
All wars are bankers wars however I get into trouble exposing them just like I do when I criticize a well known middle Eastern sadistic apartheid state.
The ICC remains a toothless tiger which only ever goes after third world despots - even though the last chief prosecutor was considering investigating US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan until they were threatened by John Bolton - who was President Trump’s National Security Advisor at the time - threatened the ICC to the extend that a judge at the ICC resigned and ms Fatou Bensouda was forced to drop her investigation into US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq which was made possible due to the Wikileaks revelations.
The new chief prosecutor at the ICC has dropped the investigation started by his predecessor.
Consider the possibility that when the likes of John Bolton are able to get away with threatening the ICC then it's not a giant leap to do the same to the British judicial system.
It wasn't the first time either that John Bolton has threatened someone in high office - so now there's a pattern which is suggesting that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
We have to call the bluf of these fascist bastard and push back like never before.
Free Julian Assange !!!!
Agreed whole heartedly as this is an important case. But we need to remember that journalists, such as Shireen Abu Akleh, are often extra-judicially killed for reporting inconvenient truths as well as to intimidate and frighten other journalists not adhering to 'official' narratives.
Yes, free Julian Assange, because it's the right thing to do. Anyone with nothing to hide knows this. Secrets are only valuable to liars.
The persecution of Julian Assange is the persecution of truth, of integrity, of honesty – and ultimately of freedom – all the values that the "West" supposedly holds dear. It is a crime against humanity. And those who do not speak out against it are complicit – criminals themselves.
A well written article Caitlin. But it is not government that is responsible. Nor the media. Nor the deep state. It is all those who support them with silence. Ordinary people.
Perhaps if everyone would contribute to a non-profit organization that would purchase a movie theater in London and offer a free showing of V for Vendetta every day, then at the end of the show, have a rally with articulate speakers like yourself to remind people of Assange's incarceration and what it means, it could change the world.