115 Comments
Dec 1, 2022·edited Dec 1, 2022

Here's an interesting quote from Robert Parry who unfortunately is no longer with us, and was written in 2017. "But neocons’ most astonishing success over the past year may have been how they have pulled liberals and even some progressives into the neocon strategies for war and more war, largely by exploiting the Left’s disgust with President Trump." It was blatantly clear that many on the so called left during the Trump years were also responsible for what is going on now in their endless attack on Trump using the anti-Russia propaganda pushed by the democrats. Not only was it used to attack Trump and prevent him from getting along with Russia but to raise the fears in this country about Russia and further the divide which makes them more suggestive and vulnerable to the lies they push.

Expand full comment

I have had conversations with people i think are on every other level smart and on this Russian xenophobia they drank the MSM koolaid .. I had to think hard why that was.. and i looked at the social and cultural structures of the west for an answer. and one thing kept nagging at me ..every single Hollywood production that has any spy story or drama about the sacrosanct Americans always fighting the "evil" Russian ..Hollywood through a generation of suspension of disbelief created fantasy into reality by demonizing other nations like Russia repeatedly ...they have to create the ultimate boogeyman to sell the drama and this served two purposes to set up people to automatically view a figure like Putin as a madman dictator. And it worked,, this pattern of demonizing was used throughout the "war on terror" (usa led terror around the world) lies upon lies and Hollywood subliminal brain washing always working in the background to warp perceptions of reality so as soon as this all happened they buy into any lie the establishment sells them.. Our entire western society is soaking in this mind control that's been normalised into the public's brain stem.

Expand full comment

Totally agree as it pertains to the States, but I watched Ukrainians drink the kool aid and within 5 years, they were hating Russia , which prior to the Maidan , i would have bet - was impossible. One factor I saw is that the US and EU trashed the Ukie economy, which makes it easier to program the populace, while Nato put up a " Now Hiring" sign. Either way, I've been in Crimea for over a decade { worked in AU since 08 then retired in 2012} and I have friends in Ukie-ville that think Zelensky is the greatest thing since Elvis, but we can no longer talk. This was just before the start of the SMO , so I'm thinking a few hundred thousand casualties will wake these folks up . And those numbers are getting real close. The poor Slavs have taken a beating and it was planned that way. Spasibo

Expand full comment

Sadly I watched this too for 12 years. I knew this was all comming. You could see the pattern of USA maneuvers setting this up.. We used to say why won't Russia do anything? But now I think they had been planing with multiple scenarios at the ready all along..Every move the West does the Russians have countered with greater success each time. They also keep their cards far closser to their chest than the USA does because the USA has to sell its people all these lies to gain their consent and they won't get any push back.

But the Russians learn quick how Ukraine and USA operate.

Once you can see all the western duplicity you can than spot it easily..

It's the western numpty that drink all the propaganda koolaid that can't see anything but their flag waving.

Expand full comment

God, but am I up late. I agree and don't understand why we are so vulnerable in this regard. I never had that problem. When I watched the old cowboy and Indian movies as a kid it became clear the cowboys were stealing Indian land, since the Indians were here first, but they told me the Indians were bad guys. No adult helped me figure that out, so I came to the conclusion history lies. I maintained that skeptical perception always and supported none of our middle eastern wars, or our other lies. Perhaps it was an uncle who told me that what's written in newspapers is not to be believed without question. I was five at the time and only concerned that I couldn't read. One brother with a phd believes everything MSNBC Maddow says, go figure. No shades of grey for him, or his wife. Maybe in regard to politics a black and white world is just easier. During the Trump years they created that kind of world, Trump bad, Russia bad. Now, Biden good, Russia bad. The media in print, or on TV is a money making proposition and they sell a story, MSNBC democrats good, FOX, republicans good and that draws in the crowds who get to hear what they want to hear. Now that news is a money making business, and very successful, nothing will change. Black and white thinking is often considered by psychologist as part of mental illness like depression, or OCD, etc, but many people who are not ill adopt the same thinking which makes uncertainty disappear.

Expand full comment

Lol..me too Fran. Up far too late..

That was very well said on your part. About the giving people an easy answer so they choose that...I think pier presure of a social and cultural need to "fit in" and not risk being ostracized by their group tribe or cult makes people turn off their logic lobe. It's a sort of survival mechanisms that the elite understand that they can use through creation of fear and manipulation to bring people into their cult trap.

It sounds like you had some good family influance to cause you to question..me too..but some of my family also buy it all hook line and sinker as well too.

It actually asstounds me how many people I think should be smarter than that fall for it all..but then we have the others who are in on the scam..they gate keep and cover up for the status quo establishment even if they are not part of the inner circle they still think they can benefit by a world that caters to the unscrupulous con artist types in society.

They defend the empire out of intellectual cowardice.

Remeber propaganda has a two fold effect,,,fool the fools and give moral and intellectual cowards all the excuses they seek.

Expand full comment

I didn't vote in the 2016 election, and supported Sanders in the primaries, but it was a Clinton win, and like Assange I see her as sick in her need for power, and her love of war, so I didn't vote for her. During that time not only my brother and his wife, but a cousin and 2 friends went on the attack and acted like I was the deciding vote as to whether Clinton would win. It created a very real schism between myself and those friends and family. Initially I thought, was this an anti-Trump cult mentality? I eventually googled it and low and behold one article after another claimed those who voted for Trump were a cultish lot. There was a meme circulating on Facebook that made the same claim, and not only were Trump supporters cultish, but they were immoral and uneducated as well. The so called liberals that circulated that trash no doubt saw themselves as heads above those people who voted Trump into office. What I have come to see is those that despise Trump, and his base are anything but liberal, and too many in the public arena with encouragement from the democrats have spoken of violence against him which would have been unheard of in the past. When a man like Dick Cheney can be paraded through the Capital by his daughter during the Jan 6 meetings to determine Trump's guilt in a so called insurrection, a man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands if not millions, as well as providing support for the CIA torture sites, well that expresses America's hypocrisy very well indeed.

Expand full comment

Exactly. The greatest disappointment for the Sanders supporters (myself included) was how he got roped into the Russia-interference hysteria. Now the progressives, delirious with having "defeated Trump", tag along with the malicious bear-baiting schemes in Ukraine.

Expand full comment

I was not much of a trump supporter as he seemed like a rich wanker to me especially all that dumb reality show stuff but what the democrats and liberals did to him and all that lying and a scummy behaviour was very telling and disgusting...it made them look far worse than Trump..at least Trump has a few redeeming qualities..these neoliberala are so schevie they make you want to take a shower just to have to listen to their lies..

Trump got manipulated by the deep state to do some pretty horrid war crimes himself.. Matter fact him and Obama drone murdering children of the same family is disgusting..not to mention a whole bunch of bystanders..American military slaughtering innocent people.

And about Sanders..he's proven himself a paper tiger and an intellectual coward as well..

I no longer vote becausec I no longer do business with that crime cartel.

The only reason they want you to sign and date the voter registrant documents anyway is so you legally agree to abide by the dictates of the establishment installed Muppets.

Expand full comment

Well, I agree and kudos to him for not having another war. He's done some things, no doubt told to do things, and perhaps with a better grasp on things, he wouldn't have gone along. He had just come out of a small meeting that was televised, but I came in on the end when almost all had gone, and he stayed behind to answer some questions from reporters. I came in on him saying that our stupid wars have done nothing but kill millions, and cost millions more. I liked that, but I'm sure the powers that be in DC didn't.

Expand full comment

That is very well said! Ironically, Americans always think other countries are brainwashed while imbibing the Communist Agenda morning, noon, and night. They are even using it in cartoons to get them young, and you'll have them forever philosophy. Indoctrination Centers, commonly called schools, have been Deliberately Dumbing Down students for over a hundred years.

The '60s, brought in the anti-family anti-church, anti-God, Religious Humanism, and Relativism became the norm. They have progressed in a downward slide into the realm of anti-Patriotism, and sexual perversions that heretofore were Mental illnesses but now are praised as a beautiful alternative lifestyle. A blatant lie, given the large number of suicides.

Expand full comment

Totally agree, the programming has been non stop, and they are getting even better at it. Trying to De-program someone is almost impossible until they age or finally - Wake up. I have no idea how it will end up in the states, the MSM should have to register as a Foreign Agent !!! And the USG too.

Expand full comment

Yes. Russia is perceived as an existential threat to the neo marxist global order and their list of agendas to bring whole countries and communites to their knees. The Russians won't buckle to this and look at western so called"democratic values" and say, "no thanks we'll stick to our cultural and political norms". Whether you agree with them or not that is their business aas a sovereign nation.

The media ram the myth of Russian expansionism down our throats but is increasingly obvious to all but Blind Freddy that the incursion into Ukraine was in response to NATO's threat. As the Democrats in the U.S know full well.

Expand full comment

Anti-Russia sentiment was rammed down American's throats not long after WWII. We promised no expansion of NATO, but the neocons and our desire for world dominance could not make good on that promise. Living through our Middle Eastern wars only proves to me we are the existential threat, and seek to organize the world to our liking. People tend to sideline Obama's coup in Ukraine which overthrew a pro-Russian government, and no doubt Clinton was in line to follow up on that score especially after Russia annexed Crimea, but Trump won and wanted to get along with Russia. Just terrible America said, and it certainly was not good for the neocons who hot footed it over to the democrats during Trump's "rein" since they knew when they won in 2020 Russia and Ukraine would have a show down. I always believed this was a work in progress temporarily stalled by a Trump win in 2016.

Expand full comment

What, exactly, is Marxist about it? Reals only; your feels aren't an argument.

Expand full comment

Parry’s quote uses the term “progressives” which is a term like “democracy” that has been bastardized by political elites and their obedient media. No leftists were conned by liberals to hate Trump. This is muddled garbage. Bernie Sanders is a moderate. He is mum on the most hot-button issue facing humanity, the American government itching for conflagration. Framing the con man as a voice of reason is more muddled thinking. There are not 2 sides to this government. Trump is allowed a seat for the same reason that Biden is. They pay the piper, swear allegiance to a corrupt order, kiss the feet of the billionaire donors, coddle Israel, promote the fear of the chosen enemies, and talk to the American public as the dupes they are. Your language regarding Trump is binary caca. Nothing about him is an alternative to the toxic status quo.

Expand full comment

As far as my binary caca goes, I never said Trump was someone I voted for, and there were any number of policies he supported which I did not. I tried to address myself to the issue that is most important to me, and that is a party I once belonged to, the democrats, who tried to railroad him out of office using lies, and most importantly the lie of Russia-gate to do it. We really don't disagree, since I'm aware of the many influences on both parties which come from the corporate world, and special interest groups etc, and Americans and their needs have become quite secondary. Unfortunately our need for world dominance pushed by neocons and their agenda no doubt will one day destroy us all.

Expand full comment

Okay. I apologize if I misread your intent. As ChazLB stated (at 16:03), the dualism inherent in American political discourse is the intended consequence of perpetual propaganda. If you buy into any part of the Tom & Jerry charade you are promoting the fakery, and that provokes a strong reaction in me. I could have been less confrontational in my response, so I didn’t deserve your thoughtful rejoinder. Thanks for not being defensive.

Expand full comment

Oh, Thank you, but I do understand why you misunderstood what I said. It happens.

Expand full comment

I'm not sure if you aimed that at me as I can't quite get this comment flow here.. But I'm not a trump supporter by any means and agree with everything you said here and its very well stated.

Many knee jerk the assumption if you are not one you must be the other.. This has also been part of the mind control paradigm to corall people into left right pick a team and fight.

Expand full comment

No this is the built-in bias of Substack. I was responding to Fran’s delusional homage to the con man. There are no leftists in Washington.

Expand full comment

Agreed...Trump savior syndrome is a sad result of conservative wishful thinking..but I find him good at the apple cart disruption..he exposed the state by accident of his inflated ego. All in all he was not the Russian operator the neoliberal tried to sell..and the witch hunt over things that did not matter was also revealing..it also set the conservative into even more polarizing stances..but that is divide and conquer for ya.. The house always wins. Funny the Glen Greenwald article on trump and Obama murdering the kids of the same family makes him and Obama fellow war criminals and no one talks about it.

Expand full comment

Not only pushed by the Leftist/Socialists but created by them! The Wokeism religion is an anti-God Satanic Cult with no morals and a thrist for blood also true of the WEF/NWO. The rentless fearmongering and Trump bashing took it's tool.

One only needs to look at the open border to know who is really in charge, and it aint China Joe!

Expand full comment

I consider myself a liberal, but not the "liberals" who tried to remove Trump from office by calling him illegitimate with the lie of Russia-gate. Clinton made that one up, yet she was never held accountable. The democrat's degrading attitude toward Trump and his base gave some in movie land the thumps up even to call for his death. These so called liberals define his base as an uneducated lot with no morals. That was a meme circulating on Facebook. That's not a liberal position, but one that is bigoted and elitist. I marched against the war in Iraq, but we didn't crash into stores, breaking windows and doors, and stealing it's good, no we just marched. I believe in climate change, and my background is in science, but I would never think to throw tomato soup at Van Goth's Sunflowers then glue myself to a wall. I believe in immigration and doing Ancestry I've seen thousands of ship manifests and they ask all manner of questions, even who paid for your passport. If you were sick you couldn't come here, and if you got sick when you did they hospitalized you, and of course someone had to come and pick you up, usually someone who came years before. Not perfect, but not millions crossing the border illegally, and initially during a pandemic, and to think senile Joe demanded all Americans get vaccinated and mask up. Don't be so quick to give them the identity of a socialist, because I don't think they give a damn about the American people, Black, White or any other color. Just look at what we are doing in Ukraine. Instead of encouraging some kind of detente we feed them weapons to fight on as they die by the many thousands, and most will die, men, women and children in our hopes to wear Russia out and bring Putin down.

Expand full comment

Fran, you are a liberal in a Leftist/Socialist party, however considering that the former democrat party has checked off all the boxes of the 1919 Communist RULES FOR REVOLUTION

A ~ Corrupt the young and get them interested in sex. Make them superficial, and destroy their ruggedness. (Done)

B ~ Get control of all means of publicity thereby: (Done)

1- Get the people's minds off their Government by focusing their minds on athletics, sexy books and plays, and other trivialities. (Done) For starters!

They can genuinely be called Communists, and the Communist professors (a lg. number) are proud to turn out little Marxists every year! The difference between a Socialist and a Communist is that the Communists have Guns, and the FBI's political raids prove my point about who has the guns

1919 ~ continued:

2 - Divide the people into hostile groups by constantly harping on controversial matters of no importance.

3 - Destroy the people's faith in their natural leaders by holding the latter up to contempt, ridicule, and *obloquy.

4 - Always Preach true Democracy, but seize power as fast and as ruthlessly as possible.

5 - By encouraging government extravagance to destroy its credit produce fear of inflation with rising prices and general discontent.

6 - Foment unnecessary strikes in vital industries, encourage civil disorders, and foster a lenient and soft attitude on the part of the Government toward such disorders.

7 - By Specious argument cause the breakdown of the old moral virtue, honesty, sobriety, confidence in the pledged word, and ruggedness.

C ~ CAUSE THE REGISTRATION OF ALL FIREARMS on some pretext, with a view toward confiscating them and leaving the POPULATION HELPLESS.

I have been a republican since Ronald Reagan, and Trump was the only president since Reagan that was not a part of the NWO that likely eliminated JFK. the RINOs in DC came out strong against Trump for the same reason.

So, I'm not a diehard republican either; Trump definitely has his flaws, but he Stopped the NWO for four years, and America became a better place. But, unfortunately, his warp-speed Vaxx agenda was his Achilles' heel! He, like us, was lied to from the get-go, but he has not said or done anything to stop the Democide both here and abroad.

DC is full of puppets on both sides of the aisle, most receiving large donations from the most prominent "donor group," BigPharma. But, unfortunately, they may have gotten to Trump, also.

Expand full comment

I agree with every thing you said and stand for..

Expand full comment

God is a figment of man's imagination and if you dont know right from wrong it's not God you lack but empathy.. Lumping anyone who won't buy into your cult think into neolberals cult camp is just as bad as being a "woke" neoliberal who forced its will on everyone else.

Its not Satan they worship it's money.

And neoconservatives worship that same God. And they all walk lock step for every war.. I would bet so did you during the Bush years clap to bomb Arabs for jessus.

Expand full comment

Until you know Jesus you have no wisdom, a benighted mouth piece of Satan the ruler of this world, and obviously he pays well. The WEF/NWO is full of godless Billionaires!

Expand full comment

Hollywood seeps into the brain stem of every western proletariat and warps their perceptions of reality for a generation until now all they are are regurgitating drones for the western propaganda and ignorance..

The social and cultural mind control goes pretty far back.. its Normal to live in their state of suspension of disbelief and fantasy ideas of reality..this is why Hollywood has drama after drama of the sacrosanct Americans fighting the evil Russian threat.. its now so deeply embedded they suffer the Putin bogyman syndrome that was purposefully spoon fed their pried open numbed out minds...

Americans especially have been so dumbed down to such a degree they have devolved into infantile reasoning ability as to the nature of reality or everything around them.

That's why every comic book for children is remade into movies for adults. That's why sports is shoved into your face and even on every phone you buy and you cant even delete them. That is why main stream news media is also pre installed on your phones and also unable to rid yourself of them.. Google searches algorithms are made so any questions or inquire you make you are pummeled with MSM narratives FIRST in line for you to view while any alternatives are burried pagges down, thus furthering the mind control.. All social media commons has canceled every single opposing voice or opinion challenging the status quo. The average citizen does not stand a chance to get real honest information ..and when the state and empire gets exposed they persecute the messengers like Assange.. They talk about freedom while abusing that every day and striping another one away and convincing the serfs its all for their own good.

Its no wonder there is little to no push back or awareness of whats actually going on.. the world is being run by psychopaths and their obsequious little toadies who cover up for them... Hollywood politics and establishment news has only one vested interest and that is to keep the people malleable to being manipulated to sell them worthless products and ideas to further the status quo agendas and imperial march of western empire across the entire globe while they project their evils onto Russia and any other nation they can not subvert to control.

NATO is just a hired thug for the western cartels.

Expand full comment

I don’t disagree with your rant, but I do think TV, I.e. the advertising industry, is an unrivaled beast that preys on the American mind.

Expand full comment

Rattling the cage of Mass Murdering Sociopaths is always dangerous but if we don't they will just continue to get worse.

Expand full comment

Because Hollywood has convinced western numpty useful idiots that the Russian xenophobia and Putin bogyman syndrome they are all now suffering is a real thing.

Expand full comment

Thank you Caitlin - reading and thinking about your new book of poems - Lao Sue -- “poems harvested from the fertile soil of decaying illusions”. You are an amazing person !!

Expand full comment

Answering to the title, yes. few know of the Five Principles of Peace and how the "idea" of democracy, which I think we do not have in USA that keeps trying to spread what doesn't exist, is just a way to make military might a reason for how USA and NATO do not adhere to The Five Principles of Peace written by China Premier, Zhou Enlai in 1953 after WWII. The Five Principles have a history which others can elucidate, but basic is that USA adheres to none. We can see it in our history of lack of respect for the nations of USA indigenous peoples and their sovereignty. "Mutual Respect for each nation's territorial integrity and sovereignty" is the first principle of peace. The 2nd Principle of Peace is Mutual Non-Aggression and the 3rd is non interference in each nation's internal affairs. The other two matter. but you can see how China precedes us in making peace in the world. We are way too far behind. And it's killing us all.

Expand full comment

Spot on as usual, with the right balance in humor and truth. What sparked the "invitation" to Ukraine, against (supposedly) the objections of France and Germany, was the impertinent speech by Putin at the Munich Security meeting in 2007. Apparently it was of vital importance to put the man back in his place. Well, they all got their wish, with the help of vicious psychotic Russiaphobes in western Ukraine. What we are witnessing is a long overdue confrontation between the USA and Russia-China (aka Eurasia) over the "spoils" of European Union, which has become a union of eunuchs.

Expand full comment

It seems the U.S. is committed to going the way of the USSR ... we're going to bankrupt ourselves. I think it's going to be very, very ugly for us. On a personal level, I guess it's good I'm old.

Expand full comment

Hmm, EU realizes its been Hoodwinked.

For every action there's consequence.

When will Karma 'boomring' and bite?

Christmas is in 24 days.

Expand full comment

EU are mostly under the western brain washing machine and swallow all its propaganda Jim Jones fruit punch like dutifull little serfs.

Expand full comment

THIS is the part I don't understand, the flaw in Caitlin's argument. Namely, that all of this has been obvious from the start so how could EU leaders only now be cottoning to it?

Expand full comment

I remember reading, years ago, that Monsanto was very happy about the EU, because it saved them the effort and cost of trying to get individual countries to accept GMOs. If a warmonger is head of the EU, then it is relatively easy to get the desired results and then let the EU figure out later that the US "has no friends, only has interests". Side comment - Mexico is adamant that it will not accept GMOs. I smell a regime change effort - not just for GMOs, but for a US-obedient government in Mexico.

Expand full comment

I dunno. The bastards are pretty busy, with the Ukraine war, saber-rattling against China, keeping the EU bullied, looking for opportunity in Iran with the protests...they maybe don't have time for Latin America.

Expand full comment

The pattern of unrest protests always leads back to a cia operation...noticing the EU leader's not noticing as a clue ,, it also works the same way when you examine the pattern of every country the USA can not control or subvert it seeks to destroy.

No color revolution has happened in a vacume that the CIA and its associated clandestine agencies in its lap dog allied affiliated nations have not had a hand in

Expand full comment

which is not to say that these protests, like the one in Iran now, are all artificially ginned up. The CIA piggybacks on existing discontent, fans it, funds it, and instructs the "mainstream media" in talking points about it.

Expand full comment

The president of Mexico has also stated he would provide a safe place for Julian Assange and I'm sure this has not been forgotten by the Mass Murdering Sociopaths and CIA.

Expand full comment

Mexican cartels own the USA not the other way around. Mexican cartels own European and American banks. If you need evidence of just a little bit of the power of Mexican cartels, take a drive through the Rio Grande Valley. This area has many businesses that dont belong. Too large retail.

Expand full comment

Everyplace has too large retail businesses that don't belong. What makes you think Mexican cartels have anything to do with it?

Expand full comment

Here is the rumour. A Mazerati dealer. Mazerati dealer for mostly poor Latinos? Car lots with over a 1000 new trucks and cars. Retail stores with little or no support, all brand new and mostly empty.

Political signage. During the last election I seen 100s of expensive signs and billboards for the sherriff. Full color graphics for a job that pays around 100k a year.

Cartel all along the border. 1000s of immigrants a day. How does a bunch of men, women and children get to the border across a desert?

The only industry is mission breads and a dr pepper factory. Do the math.

In 2012 articles were posted about how the cartel had infiltrated the world's banking system.

Expand full comment

This is basic truth: The mercantilist US hegemony is failing, as all mercantilist hegemonies fail, inevitably. The goal to dominate the world is foolishness, period.

Expand full comment
Dec 1, 2022·edited Dec 1, 2022

Quote...."Moscow sees NATO as an "American sphere of influence," and the expansion of NATO and NATO influence as expansion of that sphere. It reacts to this with hostility just as the US would react to China or Russia building up aggressive military alliances on its borders, and arguably with vastly more restraint than the US would....."

It is far more than "an "American sphere of influence". It is dominated by the US from top to bottom. And its all around Russia, totally against agreements of many kinds oner time that this would not happen. Clinton put paid to that Russian expectation (and written agreements), in spades, expanded by all other Presidents since then and now the real cause for world unrest.

But if you are old enough to be able to remember a favourite comment piece (for strategic comparisons) then you will see that it once again fits in with this theme.

Yes, I refer to the Cuban Missile Crisis. A possibility in 2023 perhaps? Yes, foreign submarines, nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed off the west coast of the USA. What a game changer that would be. Why?

For the first time, the American people would be involved...big cities, large populations, lifestyle threats, death threats. All of a sudden, the US people are seriously at risk, not by a well planned 9/11 charade over a couple of square miles in New York, but by a nuclear force able to reach large population areas. Something like Europe today and the lies and misrepresentations from the US and its European puppet army, NATO, that have made the Ukrainian exercise such a tricky and marginal exercise to manage, even with the help of all the trained and well-controlled media whores, in every city, everywhere.

The boot would be on the other foot, so to speak. You would be lucky to be able to book a flight out of the USA with all the available seats booked for the President's senior cabinet members, the thousands of Neocons, all off home to Israel.

The possible result? Children in Yemen would live a little longer; Syrian and Libyan oil would generate revenues for those countries and not the USA; Most South American countries would relish the freedom of not being constantly attacked and harassed; Ukraine would go back to being the best producer of grains for all to enjoy; European countries could say goodbye to NATO and save a fortune as a result; 800 US bases would be surplus to requirement with no battles in the pipeline; Iran could devote its energies to improve the status of women rather than having to worry about an Israeli directed (US engineered) war on Teheran; Israel would have to submit to the management of Palestine by Palestinians who may allow for some of their land to remain occupied by Israelis, providing they hand in their 400 nuclear warheads.

The benefits for the whole world would be unbelievable. Far too many to mention here.

Expand full comment

Russia has a missile system that reaches the USA in one hour after its detectors read higher than normal levels of radiation in Moscow and the surrounding country. its unmanned and set to go off and can not be stopped by any NTAO or western forces,, its basically a dooms day machine built in responce to a generation of red scare neocon obsession with destroying Russia and saber rattling that for the same amount of time...

And your Hollywood has brain washed everyone to think its Putin at fault that the west are psychopaths with a self destructive death wish..

Expand full comment

This is a generally strong piece. Many analogies, of course, to Israel using "essential defense" arguments to try to justify continual territorial aggrandizement on the Golan and elsewhere... However, when you quote what Ted Snider wrote about Lyle Goldstein, you should note that it wasn't Lyle who made the cited remarks, but Snider was quoting Lyle as describing the remarks as, "an analysis of the war in Ukraine published in a Chinese academic journal." An important distinction.

Expand full comment

"It Was Never About Ukraine." It was about starving millions of people to death & war casualties while making big bucks. We have to get the population numbers lower even faster!

Although never discussed through the economics lens, wars have a tendency to break out when inflation soars and currency devaluation peaks.

Expand full comment

"Washington is taking extreme risks and angering allies at this time because it's getting to do-or-die time as far as preserving US unipolar hegemony is concerned."

The problem with this is US hegemony has *always* been a weird delusion. I remember wondering as a kid in 1990 wtf they were talking about when the nukes were still all there and I feel pretty right in the end weeeee

Expand full comment

I believe by summer of next year, the Ukies will figure out who got their men killed and if they still think Nato is their friends , well then, that propaganda was really good and there is No hope for a Ukraine country.

Expand full comment

It's a Zen puzzle - a riddle in a riddle - the dumbest people in the world, including but not limited to Biden, Zelensky, and Stoltenberg are bringing us to the brink of extinction, using the means some of the most "intelligent" people in the world devised. And in this post-enlightenment age, there is very little we can do about it. We, the majority who don't want or need a billion dollars should be in control. And would be, if democracy were actually the case - as it is claimed to be.

Expand full comment

Wisdom is a very different thing than intelligence. Devising and building and stockpiling nuclear weapons took tremendous amounts of intelligence and knowledge and cooperation, and equally tremendous lack of wisdom.

Expand full comment

Installing these feckless useful idiots into the political positions was the deep states plan. Its not a failure but a plan to fail.. Presedents are nothing but the pie hole of the military industries complex and corporate fascist oligarchy mafia we are all being forced to suffer.

Expand full comment

The rai·son d'ê·tre for NATO disappeared with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991! That was an opportunity to make peace overtures but instead NATO expands to countries and conflicts no where near the North Atlantic. Has NATO supplanted the mantle of the "evil empire".

Expand full comment

Sophisticated deception can cost, and while the Cold War was in session, the mind war was working double-time. AAFN and VOA were full of true believers who didn’t doubt for a split-second the righteousness of their message. Remember, Russia was a shell of its former self. It had lost 27 million to the Hun, and was in no position to stand toe-to-toe with the Americans. And the death of FDR, and the paid-for “election” of HST represented a 180 degree pivot in a direction that the west is still navigating. Truman created what is now called the CIA. He created what is now the NSA. He nuked two Japanese cities, not because it was necessary, but for its demonstration effect. And the message since then has been that Russia=communism=evil. It (Russia)acquired nuclear weapons, largely because western scientists recognized what gullible American citizens were too bamboozled to even consider: Russia would get what Hiroshima and Nagasaki got, be obliterated, and Europe would be torn asunder.

I think it is worth pondering the financial investment that American corporate suits had in the German war machine, long before the Russians turned the tide. Then contrast that with the American domestic picture of a drunk Wisconsin Senator ruthlessly sliming members of the public who were not on board with the grand narrative. Or the cross-dressing law man who was paid handsomely to violate the human (and civil) rights of anybody he targeted. Who first stated, “We are a nation of laws, not men?” It was always and ever a foundational lie. And so was the story of evil Russia. It is tragic that the loudest voices in opposition to the criminal liberal state are coming from the far right that is attracted to fascism like moths to a flame.

Expand full comment

This fool in the White House needs a clear, unambiguous NYET, but if it is going to be left to Putin to deliver the message, many will die unnecessarily. Thank you, Caitlin for doing your utmost to educate, the pig-ignorant American electorate. A half century of televised garbage has softened their brains. The foundational dictum of capitalism: each person pursues his own interest, and the whole reaps the reward...in 2022 could any bullshit be further from the truth?

Expand full comment

Hollywood has brain washed everyone to think its Putin at fault that the west are psychopaths with a self destructive death wish..

Expand full comment