Your articles, Caitlin, are always good to read, but it is getting more difficult every day to see that the people in power in our world are immoral, sick, violent, cruel......really there are no words to acurately describe their depravity. And it is even worse to see those Israeli flags and hear the chants from counter demonstrators at Palestinian support rallies. The Israeli supporters have allowed those with the power to infect them with their depravity.
I have no references to cite before recorded history. We may guess about whether that has been true forever. That principle applies to pack animals as well as to humans.
The doctrine of “survival of the fittest” may apply. “Might makes right” also may apply.
These people have no moral compass. Without morals, they can’t even process moral arguments, much less care about them. This ruling class worships at one altar only—the altar of power—and they guard it like predators, feeding on anyone who wanders too close. Everything else is theater.
This has long been obvious. Here's the thing - the sociopaths who run things are unimpressed by our cleverness, our word games, our cute memes, our tightly reasoned arguments and close readings of texts, unmoved by facts, logic, evidence or morality, as long as they have force on their side, as long as the cops and army will shoot when ordered to do so.
It's like trying to reason with a schoolyard bully. He doesn't care about your witty repartee, as long as he can smash your face in whenever he feels like it.
Truly, this never grows old:
"A WOLF, meeting with a lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea, which should justify to the lamb himself, his right to eat him.
He then addressed him: Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me.
Indeed, bleated the lamb in a mournful tone of voice: I was not then born.
Then said the wolf: You feed in my pasture.
No, good sir, replied the lamb: I have not yet tasted grass.
Again said the wolf: You drink of my well.
No, exclaimed the lamb: I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me.
Upon which the wolf seized him and ate him up, saying: Well! I won't remain supper-less, even though you refute every one of my imputations.
Moral: The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny, and it is useless for the innocent to try by reasoning to get justice, when the oppressor intends to be unjust."
But what does it take to get that power? And how do you maintain what it was that made you different from those you are opposing? I also see this for those whose goal is gaining money. The acts that get you the money and power, are the ones that can, and often do, change you.
Great question and the fact that I am hearing the question far more frequently now means minds are open to change is possible. Labor is the only tool of power for working people with or without unions. A general strike even for a few days would send the 1% to their bunkers. We saw that with the railroad workers union contract. If the union leaders had not betrayed their own and went to jail calling for the strike, more strikes would have followed I think. It is fascinating how far the inequality can be driven. The mid 1920's are a prime example, and now here we are again.
As a former hardcore news junkie that no longer watches Al Jazeera anymore lest I start screaming and throwing items at the television, I am forever grateful to Caitlin for reporting on and distilling the day's horrific, ridiculous, and cynical events. I rarely read past the headlines any more, and find more solace in the comments sections of the newspapers (and this Substack).
And just when you think you've seen it all, the following day only brings worse news.
Trump, Rubio... basically everyone in his cabinet and administration are the worst people. That's why they are where there are.
Remember: "The cruelty is the point".
Caitlin writes "All the Democrats had to do was run an anti-genocide candidate. That’s all they needed to do to keep Trump out. It’s the most reasonable request voters could possibly have made of a candidate for the world’s most powerful elected office, and they adamantly refused to do it."
Sounds great in theory, but let's be real here. The Democrats, with Zionist Chuck Schumer and AIPAC-pocketed Hakeem Jeffries are never going to allow an anti-genocide candidate to lead the Dems. We saw how the Democratic establishment reacted to Bernie Sanders not once, but twice.
Their lack of endorsement of Mamdami for NYC mayor tells you all you need to know.
Slow Joe Biden was a self-proclaimed Zionist throughout his entire political career. I don’t know how many Zionists are members of the DNC and Congress, but I suspect that there are many — perhaps a majority. If not, then a majority of non-Zionists would be publicly condemning their Zionist associates.
Please spare us any comments about how Biden is now history. The wealthy sponsors who put Biden and Harris in office are still with us, lurking in the shadows along with their GOP counterparts.
Not living in New York, I still sent Mamdami 100$ testing for truth in elections. First Obummer, then Burni destroyed my faith in elections. We shall see. Mamdami has walked back many of the policies he started with. Even one policy position enacted is a start.
As they move up in the political system, they move to the right. Every time. It's an inviolable law of capitalist politics, which runs on money, power and corruption and there is no way around that.
THANK YOU for mentioning that Scamala Fucking Harris needs to just Shut the Fuck Up. I still fondly recall your response to her when my state. Michigan, voted “uncommitted”; your reply was Who’s speaking now, bitch?
Did they also forget about the Palestinan Christians or do they not care because they are still Palestinian? Palestinian Christians were also killed and expelled during Nakba in 1948. Palestinian Christians are considered among the first Christians because their community traces its roots to the birth of the Church in the Holy Land around 2,000 years ago. What does Huckabee think about this group? They are treated such as bad as their Muslim neigbors in the West Bank.
The conflict is about land (settler-colonialism), not religion. Hence, the religion of Palestinians is irrelevant to the Israelis. It doesn't matter if they are Palestinian Jews, Muslims, Christians, whatever. They want eretz Israel (regardless of the religious beliefs of the inhabitants of the land).
It seems odd, when a stated aim of the genocide is 'a nation state of Jews only' to pretend the Israeli atrocity is not about religion. Can we really pretend that the genocide 'is about land (settler colonialism)', when religion has been used to convince its followers that only they deserve the land, and that anyone else who claims it can be killed? Would ethnic cleansing even be possible had religion not been used to convince people that they alone matter, and thus have the right to murder, and steal, and run rough-shod over the laws of decency? Isn't it religion that convinced Israelis that all their neighbours are mere, expendable, sub-human animals? What good does it do to pretend that religion isn't a primary motivator in the genocides in Gaza and the West bank? Who benefits? One religious group is murdering neighbours of all other religions for the simple reason that they believe their religion gives them the right. 'A nation state of Jews only' means precisely that. Everyone else has to fuck off, or die.
>>"What good does it do to pretend that religion isn't a primary motivator in the genocides in Gaza and the West bank?"
You answered your own question with the question before it - "Isn't it religion that convinced Israelis that all their neighbours are mere, expendable, sub-human animals?"
Precisely! Religion is used as a NARRATIVE, just as it has been used often throughout history, to make people believe certain things (superiority, etc.) and to make people think they have certain rights (god-given rights, etc.) to behave in a certain way - in order to do the bidding of those in control (TPTB).
As per George Carlin's quote - "War is rich old men protecting their property by sending middle class and lower class young men off to die. It always has been."
Similarly, human history has been a history of power and control of resources 'by the few' over the many. But to achieve this, 'the many' are manipulated by narratives (as humans are creatures of storytelling). Narrative management is thus used to make people believe that it is about 'religion' instead of what it TRULY is about - power and control of resources (land, water, energy, etc.)
Are the Israelis going to say -> "We're doing this because we want to control you and make you fight our wars for us?" Or are they going to come right out and say that they want all the land (Eretz Israel), oil, gas, and more in the region because 'might is right'? No - hence they use narratives like 'Jewish supremacy', 'victimhood', 'holocaust embellishment', 'the bible says...', 'the end of days prophecy', 'the chosen people', etc. These are ALL narratives USED to make people BELIEVE things that would convince them to act on behalf (and to the advantage of) the minority elite.
When the narrative is repeated often enough, and when people are indoctrinated from birth by these narratives, and these narratives are propagated long enough - they become normalized - they become the 'accepted truth' - because people don't seem to know any better (and few have developed the ability to think critically).
Hence, people falsely blame 'religion', 'race', 'skin color', 'intelligence', etc. because of the narratives they have been led to believe, and not because it is the truth/reality. Narratives mask truth/reality through lenses and filters and the perceptions that come out of the process often don't reflect the truth.
Thanks for your response. Couldn't reply yesterday: sorry. So the Crusades weren't religious wars either? Surely any war in which religion is used to incite the gormless to believe their god will love them even more if they commit atrocities and steal must be 'religious'? "Let's steal their land our religion says we deserve it"? Isn't the clue in 'a nation state (land) for Jews (a religion) only'? Recognising the religious component in any conflict is essential. Religion, as has often been observed, has a rare capacity to inspire good people to do evil. The Israelis, incredibly, are pointing precisely that out at the moment, as they seek via propaganda to present themselves as saviours of the world from the evils of Islam. In their religious war. Of course, the Israelis desperately don't want the standards they apply to Islam - ie, that a religion can be used to inspire fanatics to commit unspeakable acts - to be applied to them. It would suit them magnificently if we were all to forget the religion of the people committing the war crimes, genocide and atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank. It would suit their supporters outside of Israel too, the ones who might might not approve of Israel's war crimes, but - for religious reasons - will always support it anyway. Any pretence that the Israeli genocide is just about land, or just about greed, ignores the awful fact that religion, any religion, has a terrifying capacity to make people bad. It deserves to be despised.
It is, of course, settler-colonialism but one cannot deny extreme hatred that khazarian jewish converts feel toward Palestinian Christians and especially Palestinian and other Muslims. It is that well known judeo-nazi sense of supremacy where everyone else is less worth. That hatred is real just as it was real when european supremacists were slaughtering essentially unarmed native American "infidels" and "savages".
You're treating two different things as the same (i.e. manufacturing of hate over long periods of history with the objectives of the elites) and changing the order of cause and effect (i.e. what is the cause of the 'hatred of the Jews in Israel towards the others' with the effect of that hate).
No one is denying the hate. It is self-evident and easy to see for all. But Israeli Jews did not come out of their mother's womb and immediately start hating everyone that was not Ashkenazi Jews, let alone understand what a Jew is. They were taught to hate. This 'teaching of hate' and 'Jewish supremacy' indoctrination was a DELIBERATE strategy - with the goal of creating a society that thinks, feels, and acts a certain way. And this is what we see of Israel today - the product of decades (maybe even a century) of indoctrination - all for the goal of Zionism (i.e. stealing someone else's land and other resources).
And religion was the tool that enabled the teaching of the hate. Snipers shoot children in the genitals, and imagine their god smiles upon them. There would be a lot less hate in the world if we rid it of the awful superstition that is religion.
I think Huckabee is seeing Israel's true colors. I read that he slamed Israel for visa discrimination against Christian groups, warning them of serious diplomatic fallout. Also, he condemned the burning of Christian churches in the West Bank by illegal settlers.
>>"I think Huckabee is seeing Israel's true colors."
Not in the least. Huckabee is a charlatan. He professes to be a Christian but he would fail any (and all) morality tests to be inducted into ANY religion.
Huckabee, like others of his ilk, care about money and power. Religion is his vehicle/medium to achieve those.
There are many that USE (and abuse) religion to achieve their objectives. Please don't be fooled by such hucksters, conmen, fraudsters, and morally bankrupt people.
They’re treated as Palestinians. Even the few Palestinian Jews in Nablus were badly treated, because in the end, they’re Palestinians. This is not about religion, it’s about colonialism in disguise of religious fantasies.
How can it not be about religion? The weevil Netanyahu has openly stated that the objective of the genocide is 'a nation state of Jews only'. In other words, a nation state for one religion only. It has to be about religion, because their religion is the only link most of the settlers will ever have to the land. It has to be about religion, because what better tool exists to inspire followers to acts of immense evil?Israel's genocide in Gaza and the West Bank is obviously about other things as well, but would we deny the religious component if Muslims, not Jews, were committing the war crimes? Your statement is correct in that all religions are fantasies, sadly too often used to to inhuman ends.
The worst evil is the evil committed in the name of God, no doubt. You’re right in the sense that the Jewish religion is being used as a pseudo etno link between so many different people as Yemenis, Moroccans, Polish, Ukrainians, Hungarians, Germans, Spaniards and so on. But the purpose of the Zionist ideology is to establish a European colony in the Middle East that will be “the fortress of civilization agains the barbarism” according to Herzl. Not any statement can be so squarely colonialist. Spaniards, British, Belgian, French and others colonist say exactly the same. They pretend to be the highest civilization in uncivilized lands. The Jewish religion is used as a pretext, in admixture with this concept of cultural and racial superiority. And, in spite of Hamas being a branch of the Muslim brotherhood, they never try to jeopardize or expel Palestinians Christians. The Samaritan Jews of Nablus and Tulkarem were granted Palestinian nationality by Arafat himself. Is not about religion, is bare colonialism.
The whole article is worth reproducing, again and again, but I will stop at two quotes from it, "Christian Zionists are some of the craziest, weirdest, creepiest, most dangerous fanatics on our planet", and, "The world is ruled by traumatized, emotionally stunted men who compensate for their inner woundedness by obtaining as much power and control as possible, which they then inevitably use to inflict trauma upon all of society".
Shall we add 'murdering' type of wife too? And one that molests and brainwashes her own children? (i.e. a mother that produces psychopaths and sociopaths as offspring).
Re Kamala Harris: “If I was a Democrat and I knew my refusal to oppose an active genocide was what got Trump elected, I personally would shut the fuck up for a while.”
She should just have the decency to disappear from public life. She did more than just fail to oppose a genocide — she actively supported it. I can still visualize her mocking pro-Palestinian protesters and challenging them to just go “vote for Trump.” And she criticized those who protested Netanyahu’s address to Congress, complaining, among other things, about their burning the American flag (recognized years ago by the Supreme Court as a form of speech), while saying nothing about “incinerated” babies, a word used by an American physician returning from Gaza just days before Harris’ criticisms of the protesters. And this is after the Democrats refused to allow a single Palestinian American to speak at the Democratic Convention. But she’s got to make money the only way she knows how, profiting from her “public service” by writing a book.
She’s been silent about Gaza since the election, but she did make time to attend the Met Gala. Nonetheless, her apologists continue to say she lost because of race and gender discrimination. As one critic opined, she’s a vacuous opportunist. Let her hang out with her celebrity friends and Zionist husband (his description), and enjoy her book returns — just as long as she stays out of the public eye.
And you’re so right, Caitlin, about damaged men in high places. I could barely watch the clips of Trump addressing the U.N. today, it’s so obvious that he’s seriously unhinged. Yet the mainstream media, and even the British royalty and high level government officials are ignoring this obvious fact, all helping to give the emperor clothes.
I remember contemplating our presidential “choices” before Biden withdrew from the race. On the one hand we had the choice of a seriously mentally ill person in the form of Trump and on the other hand we had the guy who said he had seen pictures of beheaded Israeli babies after October 7, a statement that subsequently had to be retracted by the White House because of course there were no such photos. Would anyone except a mentally ill person make such a statement, especially considering the consequences? Again, these were our choices.
But the Democrats are sufficiently feckless and morally bankrupt that they’ll probably do it again. A candidate who has opposed the genocide could never get the approval of the donors or the DNC. The people are pushing back, though. That’s the good news.
The presidency of the United States of America is no longer "the most powerful elected office in the world" because that country has lost its military supremacy and its economic and industrial leadership. Not to mention its moral standing, which it never had.
Mike Huckabee as usual makes no sense. A better metaphor would have been — guests show up for dinner and his wife starts killing them and he says “no matter how my wife acts or who she murders, I stand behind her.”
"The Israelis will literally launch drone strikes on activist boats for trying to bring formula to starving babies and then turn around and say the world hates them because of their religion."
The Israelis must have a death wish as a society. Why make yourself look even more horrible in the eyes of the world by attacking a peaceful flotilla filled with humanitarian aid? When this sorry excuse of a country is finally wiped off the map, they'll only have themselves to blame.
They (Israel) do this because they believe they can get away with it. They likely believe in 'might is right' narratives, and as long as the U.S. is supporting them, they feel confident they have their backs covered.
The really foolhardy people here are the Arab elites that think that Israel won't come after them next...
I do like condemning the puppet dictatorships in the Middle East, but when the “west” puts a gun to your head and says you either can live like kings or we will suicide you. The answer is to resist but people mostly take the boot on their neck with a gold crown.
Yes, I understand the complex and competing motivations and realities. But that is what differentiates the winners from the losers (over the long term). Strategic long term planning (like what China does).
I think the bombing of Qatar has broken a bit of the spell that they're safe for many Arab elites. I don't think Israel will get away with their heinous acts forever. People do get tired of being used and abused.
Iran should have started working on a nuclear weapon a long time ago (in my uninformed opinion). Russia learnt its lessons on 'the true nature of America' in the 90s, but the Arab countries failed to do so. I hope they can recover from their mistakes...
Who's going to wipe them off the map? The Palistinians are the one's being wiped off the map, the Israelis are stuffing their rat faces on beachside cafes. Caitlin has written 5000 articles blaming White Christians for the actions of baby raping Zionist Jews - I don't think her strategy to stop the genocide is working...
according to you, being a nazi would be working? Oh, since those never support supremacism, racism, hate against muslims, and never ever lionize Trump. Har har.
"Whose going to wipe them off the map?" They will. No, I mean they literally will. Israeli Zionist madness requires them to nuke themselves if they ever feel like they're 'losing' and they are losing.
There has never existed bigger EVIL on this planet than illegitimate illegal entity called "israel". That the "west" still supports that anti-human, disgusting, fascist, judeo-nazi entity is beyond madness.
There is no such thing as "Judeo-Christian" anything, in reality. It's a way for the Zionists to "team up" with a certain faction of Christians against the Muslims (aka the Palestinians, but they'll demonize and frame all of Islam worldwide to achieve this goal if needed). The Israeli Jews hate Christians.
Don't take my word for it. Here is Israel Shamir from a speech given at a Palestinian Christian event.
FWIW, the first time I heard the talking point of “Judeo-Christian” values was during the Vietnam war. Some of the anti-war movement used that to condemn the war as being against our “Judeo-Christian” values. In fact I heard it so often that I went and read the bible. “The horror! The horror!”
Not only israeli jews hate Christians but most jews hate Christians and of even more they hate Muslims. Hindus are now used as useful idiots as they also hate Muslims and Christians and everyone else too.
But of course : ( The rich and powerful raping and pillaging even their own. The numbers of people aware and willing are extremely small. That tells me we have much further and farther to fall.
When Argentina embraced Milei and his Mush/Libertarian economic/Nazi political philosophy, I told my Argentine friends the end was near. Milei borrowed enormous funding IMF/World Bank and now the payments are due. Of course Genocide Don as declared he will support Milei at all costs while doing nothing for working people in the u.s. (forever lowercase). Three months after his election, friends were saying oh inflation has come down and people are feeling better even though he is eliminating jobs in education and gov. services. I told them, the new credit card will make you feel better until the bill is due, here we are. Free Palestine.
"The world is ruled by traumatized, emotionally stunted men who compensate for their inner woundedness by obtaining as much power and control as possible, which they then inevitably use to inflict trauma upon all of society."
Take that as given, just as Israel assuredly attacked the Gaza Flotilla.
What does anyone propose to do about it? Ask them to stop? Tell them "no fair"?
Yeesh. That rings so true of Trump 2.0. Gutting food stamps, Medicaid, eventually Medicare and SS. Then the H1B thing which will destroy a lot of rural healthcare practices (the tech bros can afford the foreign workers, so fuck 'em), and the rollbacks in the National Parks, NOAA, etc. But we're STILL sending billions of arms to Ukraine and Israel!!!
This Trump administration is basically a big fat "FUCK YOU" to the working class, and this is not a statement one way or the other on the Democrats, but it is a comment on just how powerful the American system of 2-party winner-take-all zero-sum political brainwashing is. Because I'll bet you good money that half or more of the people who materially lose out based on those policies, designed to give massive tax breaks to the already rich, will turn around and vote for Trump or whatever MAGA replacement gets nominated in 2027.
For most humans most of the time, the fastest and surest way to wind up dead or seriously disadvantaged has been at the hands of their fellow humans. At the same time, "our group", whether by faith, family, tribe, regiment, whatever, are the people we can trust to have our back.
Therefore, whatever else happens, whatever those humans have to do, believe absurdities, blindly follow barking insane leaders, parrot obvious lies to our detriment, do or suffer terrible things, but please whatever you do, please don't kick us out of the group!
What this also means is that when humans are presented with incontrovertible proof that the group narrative is wrong or that the group leaders are mad or charlatans or worse, rather than change leaders or change beliefs or change groups, most people, most of the time will instead double down. Witness the behavior of cultists.
The process is called "cognitive dissonance" and it is abundantly documented. As alluded to earlier, there are entire religions organized around the principle.
Cognitive dissonance is not limited to stupid people. In fact, the intelligent are at least as prone, perhaps because they are better at rationalizing. In fact, much so-called "knowledge work" is basically learning symbol manipulation in order to rationalize something.
You can have the Team R corporate imperialist muppet or you can have the Team D corporate imperialist muppet! You can choose - Tweedledee or Tweedledum!
My thinking is they will move it up a notch to avoid what happened to Biden and Kamala. In 3 years Trump's brains will probably be as spongy as Biden's were at the end. Obvious difference is that Trump isn't technically/legally eligible to run again, but I think they want him to 'anoint' his successor.
Your articles, Caitlin, are always good to read, but it is getting more difficult every day to see that the people in power in our world are immoral, sick, violent, cruel......really there are no words to acurately describe their depravity. And it is even worse to see those Israeli flags and hear the chants from counter demonstrators at Palestinian support rallies. The Israeli supporters have allowed those with the power to infect them with their depravity.
The resistance focus on moral arguments, which those who rule over us can ignore, because they care only for power.
First get the power, then do what you will with it.
"See, people with power understand exactly one thing: violence." - Noam Chomsky
That has been true throughout recorded history.
Ooopsy. Intersectionality fail.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15126153/Woke-woke-fury-brings-chaos-Greta-Thunbergs-Gaza-flotilla-Pro-Palestine-activists-quit-convoy-learning-LGBTQ-campaigners-board-Swedish-eco-protester-leaves-role.html
That article is very sad.
That article is the first I've seen after following everything I can on the flotilla. If it's real, its not important at all to the overall mission.
Oh, are you saying it wasn't like that before recorded history?
I have no references to cite before recorded history. We may guess about whether that has been true forever. That principle applies to pack animals as well as to humans.
The doctrine of “survival of the fittest” may apply. “Might makes right” also may apply.
'survival of the focusedest' and 'class solidarity makes might'.
These people have no moral compass. Without morals, they can’t even process moral arguments, much less care about them. This ruling class worships at one altar only—the altar of power—and they guard it like predators, feeding on anyone who wanders too close. Everything else is theater.
This has long been obvious. Here's the thing - the sociopaths who run things are unimpressed by our cleverness, our word games, our cute memes, our tightly reasoned arguments and close readings of texts, unmoved by facts, logic, evidence or morality, as long as they have force on their side, as long as the cops and army will shoot when ordered to do so.
It's like trying to reason with a schoolyard bully. He doesn't care about your witty repartee, as long as he can smash your face in whenever he feels like it.
Truly, this never grows old:
"A WOLF, meeting with a lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea, which should justify to the lamb himself, his right to eat him.
He then addressed him: Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me.
Indeed, bleated the lamb in a mournful tone of voice: I was not then born.
Then said the wolf: You feed in my pasture.
No, good sir, replied the lamb: I have not yet tasted grass.
Again said the wolf: You drink of my well.
No, exclaimed the lamb: I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me.
Upon which the wolf seized him and ate him up, saying: Well! I won't remain supper-less, even though you refute every one of my imputations.
Moral: The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny, and it is useless for the innocent to try by reasoning to get justice, when the oppressor intends to be unjust."
Yes, we are being prison raped : (
But what does it take to get that power? And how do you maintain what it was that made you different from those you are opposing? I also see this for those whose goal is gaining money. The acts that get you the money and power, are the ones that can, and often do, change you.
Great question and the fact that I am hearing the question far more frequently now means minds are open to change is possible. Labor is the only tool of power for working people with or without unions. A general strike even for a few days would send the 1% to their bunkers. We saw that with the railroad workers union contract. If the union leaders had not betrayed their own and went to jail calling for the strike, more strikes would have followed I think. It is fascinating how far the inequality can be driven. The mid 1920's are a prime example, and now here we are again.
it's that big brain that got homo sapiens in trouble. Kurt Vonnegut was right about that.
Well, that big brain ain't going to go away on its own.
Feral, it’s up to cats, a far superior species, to MAKE them go away!
But we’ll take all the help we can get from our larger cousins . 🐅🐅🐅
Unfortunately, not big enough or not fully functional.
Even if true, it doesn't matter, since either you get power, or get used to being abused and those around you being abused.
>>"The acts that get you the money and power, are the ones that can, and often do, change you."
🎯🎯🙏
That power will also bring their demise.
Another gentle reminder that Marco Rubio was confirmed 99 to 0 by the Senate.
Some Dems were shocked, SHOCKED by Rubio's behavior as Secretary of State and now regret their vote.
These people really live in a bubble...
The senators regret nothing, they just like to say so to get their re-elections
As a former hardcore news junkie that no longer watches Al Jazeera anymore lest I start screaming and throwing items at the television, I am forever grateful to Caitlin for reporting on and distilling the day's horrific, ridiculous, and cynical events. I rarely read past the headlines any more, and find more solace in the comments sections of the newspapers (and this Substack).
And just when you think you've seen it all, the following day only brings worse news.
Trump, Rubio... basically everyone in his cabinet and administration are the worst people. That's why they are where there are.
Remember: "The cruelty is the point".
Caitlin writes "All the Democrats had to do was run an anti-genocide candidate. That’s all they needed to do to keep Trump out. It’s the most reasonable request voters could possibly have made of a candidate for the world’s most powerful elected office, and they adamantly refused to do it."
Sounds great in theory, but let's be real here. The Democrats, with Zionist Chuck Schumer and AIPAC-pocketed Hakeem Jeffries are never going to allow an anti-genocide candidate to lead the Dems. We saw how the Democratic establishment reacted to Bernie Sanders not once, but twice.
Their lack of endorsement of Mamdami for NYC mayor tells you all you need to know.
Slow Joe Biden was a self-proclaimed Zionist throughout his entire political career. I don’t know how many Zionists are members of the DNC and Congress, but I suspect that there are many — perhaps a majority. If not, then a majority of non-Zionists would be publicly condemning their Zionist associates.
Please spare us any comments about how Biden is now history. The wealthy sponsors who put Biden and Harris in office are still with us, lurking in the shadows along with their GOP counterparts.
Of course they are a majority, even a supermajority. Debbie Wasserman is a zionist ashkenazi and she has led the democrats for a long time.
Genocide Joe was a self-declared proud zionist. Democrat or Republican party - same bag of human garbage with very few exceptions.
Not living in New York, I still sent Mamdami 100$ testing for truth in elections. First Obummer, then Burni destroyed my faith in elections. We shall see. Mamdami has walked back many of the policies he started with. Even one policy position enacted is a start.
As they move up in the political system, they move to the right. Every time. It's an inviolable law of capitalist politics, which runs on money, power and corruption and there is no way around that.
https://nitter.poast.org/ReiS_TuRCo/status/1970505220460323198#m
Scroll down just a smidge for the vid. Reminds me of your comment.
Haha. Maybe a (foam) bat is the answer.
Oh my dearest Caitlin!
THANK YOU for mentioning that Scamala Fucking Harris needs to just Shut the Fuck Up. I still fondly recall your response to her when my state. Michigan, voted “uncommitted”; your reply was Who’s speaking now, bitch?
😁😁😁
Did they also forget about the Palestinan Christians or do they not care because they are still Palestinian? Palestinian Christians were also killed and expelled during Nakba in 1948. Palestinian Christians are considered among the first Christians because their community traces its roots to the birth of the Church in the Holy Land around 2,000 years ago. What does Huckabee think about this group? They are treated such as bad as their Muslim neigbors in the West Bank.
The conflict is about land (settler-colonialism), not religion. Hence, the religion of Palestinians is irrelevant to the Israelis. It doesn't matter if they are Palestinian Jews, Muslims, Christians, whatever. They want eretz Israel (regardless of the religious beliefs of the inhabitants of the land).
It seems odd, when a stated aim of the genocide is 'a nation state of Jews only' to pretend the Israeli atrocity is not about religion. Can we really pretend that the genocide 'is about land (settler colonialism)', when religion has been used to convince its followers that only they deserve the land, and that anyone else who claims it can be killed? Would ethnic cleansing even be possible had religion not been used to convince people that they alone matter, and thus have the right to murder, and steal, and run rough-shod over the laws of decency? Isn't it religion that convinced Israelis that all their neighbours are mere, expendable, sub-human animals? What good does it do to pretend that religion isn't a primary motivator in the genocides in Gaza and the West bank? Who benefits? One religious group is murdering neighbours of all other religions for the simple reason that they believe their religion gives them the right. 'A nation state of Jews only' means precisely that. Everyone else has to fuck off, or die.
>>"What good does it do to pretend that religion isn't a primary motivator in the genocides in Gaza and the West bank?"
You answered your own question with the question before it - "Isn't it religion that convinced Israelis that all their neighbours are mere, expendable, sub-human animals?"
Precisely! Religion is used as a NARRATIVE, just as it has been used often throughout history, to make people believe certain things (superiority, etc.) and to make people think they have certain rights (god-given rights, etc.) to behave in a certain way - in order to do the bidding of those in control (TPTB).
As per George Carlin's quote - "War is rich old men protecting their property by sending middle class and lower class young men off to die. It always has been."
Similarly, human history has been a history of power and control of resources 'by the few' over the many. But to achieve this, 'the many' are manipulated by narratives (as humans are creatures of storytelling). Narrative management is thus used to make people believe that it is about 'religion' instead of what it TRULY is about - power and control of resources (land, water, energy, etc.)
Are the Israelis going to say -> "We're doing this because we want to control you and make you fight our wars for us?" Or are they going to come right out and say that they want all the land (Eretz Israel), oil, gas, and more in the region because 'might is right'? No - hence they use narratives like 'Jewish supremacy', 'victimhood', 'holocaust embellishment', 'the bible says...', 'the end of days prophecy', 'the chosen people', etc. These are ALL narratives USED to make people BELIEVE things that would convince them to act on behalf (and to the advantage of) the minority elite.
When the narrative is repeated often enough, and when people are indoctrinated from birth by these narratives, and these narratives are propagated long enough - they become normalized - they become the 'accepted truth' - because people don't seem to know any better (and few have developed the ability to think critically).
Hence, people falsely blame 'religion', 'race', 'skin color', 'intelligence', etc. because of the narratives they have been led to believe, and not because it is the truth/reality. Narratives mask truth/reality through lenses and filters and the perceptions that come out of the process often don't reflect the truth.
Thanks for your response. Couldn't reply yesterday: sorry. So the Crusades weren't religious wars either? Surely any war in which religion is used to incite the gormless to believe their god will love them even more if they commit atrocities and steal must be 'religious'? "Let's steal their land our religion says we deserve it"? Isn't the clue in 'a nation state (land) for Jews (a religion) only'? Recognising the religious component in any conflict is essential. Religion, as has often been observed, has a rare capacity to inspire good people to do evil. The Israelis, incredibly, are pointing precisely that out at the moment, as they seek via propaganda to present themselves as saviours of the world from the evils of Islam. In their religious war. Of course, the Israelis desperately don't want the standards they apply to Islam - ie, that a religion can be used to inspire fanatics to commit unspeakable acts - to be applied to them. It would suit them magnificently if we were all to forget the religion of the people committing the war crimes, genocide and atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank. It would suit their supporters outside of Israel too, the ones who might might not approve of Israel's war crimes, but - for religious reasons - will always support it anyway. Any pretence that the Israeli genocide is just about land, or just about greed, ignores the awful fact that religion, any religion, has a terrifying capacity to make people bad. It deserves to be despised.
It is, of course, settler-colonialism but one cannot deny extreme hatred that khazarian jewish converts feel toward Palestinian Christians and especially Palestinian and other Muslims. It is that well known judeo-nazi sense of supremacy where everyone else is less worth. That hatred is real just as it was real when european supremacists were slaughtering essentially unarmed native American "infidels" and "savages".
You're treating two different things as the same (i.e. manufacturing of hate over long periods of history with the objectives of the elites) and changing the order of cause and effect (i.e. what is the cause of the 'hatred of the Jews in Israel towards the others' with the effect of that hate).
No one is denying the hate. It is self-evident and easy to see for all. But Israeli Jews did not come out of their mother's womb and immediately start hating everyone that was not Ashkenazi Jews, let alone understand what a Jew is. They were taught to hate. This 'teaching of hate' and 'Jewish supremacy' indoctrination was a DELIBERATE strategy - with the goal of creating a society that thinks, feels, and acts a certain way. And this is what we see of Israel today - the product of decades (maybe even a century) of indoctrination - all for the goal of Zionism (i.e. stealing someone else's land and other resources).
And religion was the tool that enabled the teaching of the hate. Snipers shoot children in the genitals, and imagine their god smiles upon them. There would be a lot less hate in the world if we rid it of the awful superstition that is religion.
I think Huckabee is seeing Israel's true colors. I read that he slamed Israel for visa discrimination against Christian groups, warning them of serious diplomatic fallout. Also, he condemned the burning of Christian churches in the West Bank by illegal settlers.
>>"I think Huckabee is seeing Israel's true colors."
Not in the least. Huckabee is a charlatan. He professes to be a Christian but he would fail any (and all) morality tests to be inducted into ANY religion.
Huckabee, like others of his ilk, care about money and power. Religion is his vehicle/medium to achieve those.
There are many that USE (and abuse) religion to achieve their objectives. Please don't be fooled by such hucksters, conmen, fraudsters, and morally bankrupt people.
Huckabee is a satanist
They’re treated as Palestinians. Even the few Palestinian Jews in Nablus were badly treated, because in the end, they’re Palestinians. This is not about religion, it’s about colonialism in disguise of religious fantasies.
How can it not be about religion? The weevil Netanyahu has openly stated that the objective of the genocide is 'a nation state of Jews only'. In other words, a nation state for one religion only. It has to be about religion, because their religion is the only link most of the settlers will ever have to the land. It has to be about religion, because what better tool exists to inspire followers to acts of immense evil?Israel's genocide in Gaza and the West Bank is obviously about other things as well, but would we deny the religious component if Muslims, not Jews, were committing the war crimes? Your statement is correct in that all religions are fantasies, sadly too often used to to inhuman ends.
The worst evil is the evil committed in the name of God, no doubt. You’re right in the sense that the Jewish religion is being used as a pseudo etno link between so many different people as Yemenis, Moroccans, Polish, Ukrainians, Hungarians, Germans, Spaniards and so on. But the purpose of the Zionist ideology is to establish a European colony in the Middle East that will be “the fortress of civilization agains the barbarism” according to Herzl. Not any statement can be so squarely colonialist. Spaniards, British, Belgian, French and others colonist say exactly the same. They pretend to be the highest civilization in uncivilized lands. The Jewish religion is used as a pretext, in admixture with this concept of cultural and racial superiority. And, in spite of Hamas being a branch of the Muslim brotherhood, they never try to jeopardize or expel Palestinians Christians. The Samaritan Jews of Nablus and Tulkarem were granted Palestinian nationality by Arafat himself. Is not about religion, is bare colonialism.
The whole article is worth reproducing, again and again, but I will stop at two quotes from it, "Christian Zionists are some of the craziest, weirdest, creepiest, most dangerous fanatics on our planet", and, "The world is ruled by traumatized, emotionally stunted men who compensate for their inner woundedness by obtaining as much power and control as possible, which they then inevitably use to inflict trauma upon all of society".
So Israel is the wife of the USA. Sounds about right.
Israel is an abusive, cheating type of wife. The US is the ultimate cuckold husband.
One could also state that the United States of Israel has divorced itself from its population.
Shall we add 'murdering' type of wife too? And one that molests and brainwashes her own children? (i.e. a mother that produces psychopaths and sociopaths as offspring).
Perhaps beloved mistress or whore would be appropriate terms.
No, U.S, is Bibi's bi*ch.
Just because the wife wears a strap-on and the husband likes it doesn't mean she's not his wife.
It's also the other way around. The USA is Israel's bitch.
More like a whore they buy expensive gifts for.
Not to mention that the Founding Fathers of America were neither Jewish nor Christian.
They were, however, among the wealthiest Capitalists of their day.
Yes CK, They all were white men of property and that property included slaves.
Re Kamala Harris: “If I was a Democrat and I knew my refusal to oppose an active genocide was what got Trump elected, I personally would shut the fuck up for a while.”
She should just have the decency to disappear from public life. She did more than just fail to oppose a genocide — she actively supported it. I can still visualize her mocking pro-Palestinian protesters and challenging them to just go “vote for Trump.” And she criticized those who protested Netanyahu’s address to Congress, complaining, among other things, about their burning the American flag (recognized years ago by the Supreme Court as a form of speech), while saying nothing about “incinerated” babies, a word used by an American physician returning from Gaza just days before Harris’ criticisms of the protesters. And this is after the Democrats refused to allow a single Palestinian American to speak at the Democratic Convention. But she’s got to make money the only way she knows how, profiting from her “public service” by writing a book.
She’s been silent about Gaza since the election, but she did make time to attend the Met Gala. Nonetheless, her apologists continue to say she lost because of race and gender discrimination. As one critic opined, she’s a vacuous opportunist. Let her hang out with her celebrity friends and Zionist husband (his description), and enjoy her book returns — just as long as she stays out of the public eye.
And you’re so right, Caitlin, about damaged men in high places. I could barely watch the clips of Trump addressing the U.N. today, it’s so obvious that he’s seriously unhinged. Yet the mainstream media, and even the British royalty and high level government officials are ignoring this obvious fact, all helping to give the emperor clothes.
I remember contemplating our presidential “choices” before Biden withdrew from the race. On the one hand we had the choice of a seriously mentally ill person in the form of Trump and on the other hand we had the guy who said he had seen pictures of beheaded Israeli babies after October 7, a statement that subsequently had to be retracted by the White House because of course there were no such photos. Would anyone except a mentally ill person make such a statement, especially considering the consequences? Again, these were our choices.
But the Democrats are sufficiently feckless and morally bankrupt that they’ll probably do it again. A candidate who has opposed the genocide could never get the approval of the donors or the DNC. The people are pushing back, though. That’s the good news.
Well said Nancy! Thank you!
These people never had any decency, and they also have no shame or self-awareness. They are power hungry and that is all they know.
trump recently told a reporter he saw tapes of hamas chopping up a four month old baby. those weren't the choices americans had. they knew.
The presidency of the United States of America is no longer "the most powerful elected office in the world" because that country has lost its military supremacy and its economic and industrial leadership. Not to mention its moral standing, which it never had.
True, but it's probably the one nation with the most POTENTIAL sway over the genocidal Jewish supremacists in "Israel."
Mike Huckabee as usual makes no sense. A better metaphor would have been — guests show up for dinner and his wife starts killing them and he says “no matter how my wife acts or who she murders, I stand behind her.”
AND if the "wife" in the analogy was actually a rabid, trained killer zombie pit bull.
"The Israelis will literally launch drone strikes on activist boats for trying to bring formula to starving babies and then turn around and say the world hates them because of their religion."
The Israelis must have a death wish as a society. Why make yourself look even more horrible in the eyes of the world by attacking a peaceful flotilla filled with humanitarian aid? When this sorry excuse of a country is finally wiped off the map, they'll only have themselves to blame.
They (Israel) do this because they believe they can get away with it. They likely believe in 'might is right' narratives, and as long as the U.S. is supporting them, they feel confident they have their backs covered.
The really foolhardy people here are the Arab elites that think that Israel won't come after them next...
I do like condemning the puppet dictatorships in the Middle East, but when the “west” puts a gun to your head and says you either can live like kings or we will suicide you. The answer is to resist but people mostly take the boot on their neck with a gold crown.
Yes, I understand the complex and competing motivations and realities. But that is what differentiates the winners from the losers (over the long term). Strategic long term planning (like what China does).
I think the bombing of Qatar has broken a bit of the spell that they're safe for many Arab elites. I don't think Israel will get away with their heinous acts forever. People do get tired of being used and abused.
Iran should have started working on a nuclear weapon a long time ago (in my uninformed opinion). Russia learnt its lessons on 'the true nature of America' in the 90s, but the Arab countries failed to do so. I hope they can recover from their mistakes...
Who's going to wipe them off the map? The Palistinians are the one's being wiped off the map, the Israelis are stuffing their rat faces on beachside cafes. Caitlin has written 5000 articles blaming White Christians for the actions of baby raping Zionist Jews - I don't think her strategy to stop the genocide is working...
according to you, being a nazi would be working? Oh, since those never support supremacism, racism, hate against muslims, and never ever lionize Trump. Har har.
"Whose going to wipe them off the map?" They will. No, I mean they literally will. Israeli Zionist madness requires them to nuke themselves if they ever feel like they're 'losing' and they are losing.
There has never existed bigger EVIL on this planet than illegitimate illegal entity called "israel". That the "west" still supports that anti-human, disgusting, fascist, judeo-nazi entity is beyond madness.
Religious insanity:
Good column.
Accurate descriptions.
80 percent of humans profess a mythical belief in "gods."
Thats Lots of insanity.
Many humans are hypocrites, regardless of what they may profess.
There is no good reason not to be clinically depressed right now. Not that we shouldn't carry on the struggle nevertheless.
Much of the struggle is man-made or fictional.
Identify and destroy the root causes of the struggle. Merely enduring the struggle will not end it.
There is no such thing as "Judeo-Christian" anything, in reality. It's a way for the Zionists to "team up" with a certain faction of Christians against the Muslims (aka the Palestinians, but they'll demonize and frame all of Islam worldwide to achieve this goal if needed). The Israeli Jews hate Christians.
Don't take my word for it. Here is Israel Shamir from a speech given at a Palestinian Christian event.
https://www.unz.com/ishamir/christian-holy-places-and-the-jewish-state/
FWIW, the first time I heard the talking point of “Judeo-Christian” values was during the Vietnam war. Some of the anti-war movement used that to condemn the war as being against our “Judeo-Christian” values. In fact I heard it so often that I went and read the bible. “The horror! The horror!”
Not even joking, it was probably someone from the late 60s "New Left" who went on to become Neocons. AKA Jewish Zionist Americans.
Not only israeli jews hate Christians but most jews hate Christians and of even more they hate Muslims. Hindus are now used as useful idiots as they also hate Muslims and Christians and everyone else too.
But of course : ( The rich and powerful raping and pillaging even their own. The numbers of people aware and willing are extremely small. That tells me we have much further and farther to fall.
When Argentina embraced Milei and his Mush/Libertarian economic/Nazi political philosophy, I told my Argentine friends the end was near. Milei borrowed enormous funding IMF/World Bank and now the payments are due. Of course Genocide Don as declared he will support Milei at all costs while doing nothing for working people in the u.s. (forever lowercase). Three months after his election, friends were saying oh inflation has come down and people are feeling better even though he is eliminating jobs in education and gov. services. I told them, the new credit card will make you feel better until the bill is due, here we are. Free Palestine.
Well said Landru - very true!
"The world is ruled by traumatized, emotionally stunted men who compensate for their inner woundedness by obtaining as much power and control as possible, which they then inevitably use to inflict trauma upon all of society."
Take that as given, just as Israel assuredly attacked the Gaza Flotilla.
What does anyone propose to do about it? Ask them to stop? Tell them "no fair"?
Yeesh. That rings so true of Trump 2.0. Gutting food stamps, Medicaid, eventually Medicare and SS. Then the H1B thing which will destroy a lot of rural healthcare practices (the tech bros can afford the foreign workers, so fuck 'em), and the rollbacks in the National Parks, NOAA, etc. But we're STILL sending billions of arms to Ukraine and Israel!!!
This Trump administration is basically a big fat "FUCK YOU" to the working class, and this is not a statement one way or the other on the Democrats, but it is a comment on just how powerful the American system of 2-party winner-take-all zero-sum political brainwashing is. Because I'll bet you good money that half or more of the people who materially lose out based on those policies, designed to give massive tax breaks to the already rich, will turn around and vote for Trump or whatever MAGA replacement gets nominated in 2027.
Ignorance and hypocrisy prevail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jemntQ1N3t0
For most humans most of the time, the fastest and surest way to wind up dead or seriously disadvantaged has been at the hands of their fellow humans. At the same time, "our group", whether by faith, family, tribe, regiment, whatever, are the people we can trust to have our back.
Therefore, whatever else happens, whatever those humans have to do, believe absurdities, blindly follow barking insane leaders, parrot obvious lies to our detriment, do or suffer terrible things, but please whatever you do, please don't kick us out of the group!
What this also means is that when humans are presented with incontrovertible proof that the group narrative is wrong or that the group leaders are mad or charlatans or worse, rather than change leaders or change beliefs or change groups, most people, most of the time will instead double down. Witness the behavior of cultists.
The process is called "cognitive dissonance" and it is abundantly documented. As alluded to earlier, there are entire religions organized around the principle.
Cognitive dissonance is not limited to stupid people. In fact, the intelligent are at least as prone, perhaps because they are better at rationalizing. In fact, much so-called "knowledge work" is basically learning symbol manipulation in order to rationalize something.
2028
You can have the Team R corporate imperialist muppet or you can have the Team D corporate imperialist muppet! You can choose - Tweedledee or Tweedledum!
My thinking is they will move it up a notch to avoid what happened to Biden and Kamala. In 3 years Trump's brains will probably be as spongy as Biden's were at the end. Obvious difference is that Trump isn't technically/legally eligible to run again, but I think they want him to 'anoint' his successor.
asking and telling is indeed finished. discussions are closed. one must force them.