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Keith M's avatar

Russia controls our elections. Russia secretly zaps our diplomats with brain-beams. Russia places bounties on US troops. Russia has an armada of tanks ready to overrun eastern Europe. Why does all this seem familiar. . . oh yes, I have read '60s era comic books in which the USSR was always a handy-dandy off-the-shelf supervillain.

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Riff McClavin's avatar

What was started by Truman as an intelligence clearinghouse for the president has metastisized into the dog-wagging mess it is today -- an unelected and unaccountable government unto itself.

Congress? They no longer oversee, debate, or declare war as is their constitutional function and duty.

The press? What happened there? What was once a tug at Walter Cronkite's elbow is now a spook replacing him in the anchor chair. And while Assange rots, vacuous career climbers who couldn't break a story if their lives depended on it scream as one for more censorship.

The corruption of our institutions is widespread and ongoing. We can not measure our freedom by the number of cans of dog food in aisle 5. As a nation we are deeply in trouble.

When will enough Americans say "Enough!"?

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Feral Finster's avatar

"When will enough Americans say "Enough!"?"

Good question. As long as the 1% remain united, there will be no revolution, because the 1% will do whatever it takes to hang onto power.

When the 1% are divided amongst themselves, usually as the result of foreign threat or an argument how to share out the goodies, is when revolutions happen.

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Feb 1, 2022
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Feral Finster's avatar

A good question. There will always be squabbles, usually minor.

It's when there are serious differences as to policy and winners and losers view inter-elite competition as a zero-sum winner takes all game that cracks will start to show.

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WAHomeowners's avatar

Well, if you log onto reddit /antiwork it appears the workers no longer are eating the dog food.

We need a reddit /antiwar post.

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Jim Prues's avatar

All this war talk is just great for the corporate war machine. We can always follow the money in this broke-ass culture.

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Riff McClavin's avatar

Just saw a video today where Tucker Carlson called out a certain republican congressman who was on CNN whipping up war with Russia for having large contributions from Raytheon and two other war-profiteers. No one on NBC, CNN, or even FOX would ever point this out. Credit where due.

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Jim Prues's avatar

Yup. But Tucker's moments of reason are far and few between. MSM is fully corporate owned, much to our decay...

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Riff McClavin's avatar

I don't watch Tucker regularly so I'm sure he says much I would disagree with. That said, I am amazed he puts out what he does to the biggest cable audience that exists. No other mainstream voice is openly questioning the war with Russia narrative. As I said, credit where due.

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Thomas Scherrer's avatar

In an ironic twist, on this day 3 years ago...Max Blumenthal of the Gray Zone did a video, asking members of Congress if the US should meddle in Venezuela. The responses were predictably laughable (bad) from both political parties (an AOC appearance in which she doesn't answer is a particularly disgusting moment).

The continued march to Redbait and McCarthyite every dissenter of Western propaganda makes this entire situation potentially more grave. Not just for citizens of Ukraine, but Russia, and all entangled countries, as well.

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WAHomeowners's avatar

AOC has been exposed for who and what she is. First, her Twitter pic with AOC, her Mom and Aunt Nancy. Then that little Netflix "documentary" was very enlightening. Also her appearance at The Met. I don't care WHAT she wore, simply appearing at that type of venue speaks volumes.

What a d0uchebag.

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Riff McClavin's avatar

Any recounting of AOC's tawdry echo-chamber of Greatest Hits would be incomplete without recounting her world class word-salad non-answer regarding Israel. Her "the why" and "the who" and "the what" insanity in defense of genocide and apartheid is jaw dropping. At least an actual douche serves an actual purpose. I don't believe AOC merits the comparison.

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John Allen aka The Ol' Hippy's avatar

Perfect! Peace

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John Allen aka The Ol' Hippy's avatar

I call AOC, a fluffer. She's blowing on real lefties to join the worthless Democrats by saying shit that will never, ever happen. Fluffers on porn sets are more useful. LOL Peace

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John Allen aka The Ol' Hippy's avatar

Some accounts that I've read, from Ukrainian sources, no less, have been saying Russia has been wanting to invade Ukraine since about this century's beginning, or before. US Secretary of State, A. Blinken has been screeching it since early November, last year. Yet, a funny thing, no "invasion", no, "the sky is falling", just Russian troops doing their thing within Russian borders. With assurances from that Ol' Rascal Putin himself, and, his foreign minister saying "no invasion". He doesn't want Ukraine joining NATO, neither do I. NATO should have been disbanded in '91 with the Cold War ending and some real peace...

...But no! Imperialism and its nasty partner globalization became all the rage and has now destroyed any chance of saving itself in an all-out, self-destructive race to use all the resources up and eventually implode.

The non-stop rattling of swords distracts the homies from seeing their own loss of freedoms as totalitarian Big Pharma and Washington further demand ever more compliance with ridiculousness. Freedom is now in our real-view mirror and objects aren't closer than they appear; they are further away, floating off into a Sunset of no return. Peace, The Ol' Hippy

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Riff McClavin's avatar

It's disconcerting how easily grown-ass adults are distracted and led by establishment-proffered shiny objects.

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blackbird's avatar

Why would I read "Ukrainian sources " , if I know that Ukraine is under total control of evil and their press ? https://www.veteranstoday.com/2021/12/17/robert-edmondson-the-khazarian-mafia-projects-the-code-of-hell-on-mankind/

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Michael David Morrissey's avatar

Caitlin, love your style!

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blackbird's avatar

Thank you, Caitlin. You are a hero for me .

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anti-republocrat's avatar

Ho Chi Minh was once asked if he was worried that the US might invade N. Vietnam. He said that would be like flies conquering more fly paper. Putin knows that and has no interest in placing troops where the people don't want them.

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june tenth's avatar

they just wanna suck all the oxygen in the room. boycott and non-participation/contribution is the best action. and keep producing new and alternative realities for them to have to respond to. beat them in their own dirty game.

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Rob Brown's avatar

I'm late to reading and commenting on this, but now that I've gotten around to it, I'm curious if True North Centre is a good source of news concerning Canada.

I do live here after all and really ought to know more about what this country is doing, but since I'm not going to take Canadian establishment media any more seriously than American establishment media because of crap like the above (wow, Russia made all those truckers do that, just like they reportedly made BLM angry enough to protest the killings of black people, according to US media--I guess any time there's a protest about anything, it's a Russian plot instead of the people involved genuinely having grievances about what's being done by those they are protesting and being mad enough to protest without a foreign power prodding them. Incredible! As in, literally lacking credibility), and since Jacobin is hit and miss and was employing Ana Kasparian last I checked, and since David Doel has sucked for many years, there's only one Canadian journalist I trust right now: Aaron Mate. And since Aaron's specialty is foreign policy, he rarely reports on, say, Justin Trudeau green-lighting a pipeline on First Nations (Canadian way of saying "Native Americans") land. I do pick up some of these stories via Twitter, and sometimes someone who mostly covers the US will write a piece or do a video about it, but I still don't know as much as I ought to.

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Erich Kuerschner's avatar

On the RAND corporation, and the costs and benefits of demonizing Russia, spring 2019

"Overextending and Unbalancing Russia

Assessing the Impact of Cost-Imposing Options"

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB10014.html

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bardamu's avatar

It's funny to see Garry Kasparov's face standing at the front of the article, and without a comment. Kasparov was the World Chess Champion for a great number of years, a Soviet and then Russian citizen of minority extraction, and a long term critic of much Russian policy.

CNN apparently plays on the aura of chess as an intellectual activity and a Russian activity.

Kasparov himself is an impressive genius, and were this information about chess, it would likely be wonderful. However, none of that gives him any special inside information about American politics or Russian military buildup, though surely he could tell us things about the culture generally, much as could any other educated native.

I do not know that CNN shouldn't interview Kasparov, but I see no evidence that they usually go to chess players for their information. Have they asked what Vladimir Kramnik's opinions are here? Have they interviewed Nepomniatchi or Karjakin or Daniil Dubov? These are also Russians and people whose chess shows them to be fabulously clever. It might also be reasonable to interview Vassily Ivanchuk, an outstanding player from the Ukraine. Of course, Kasparov has also had some political involvement. But there are other Russians involved in politics, and involved right now. What efforts has CNN made to contact them?

Since the qualifications of a chessplayer to discuss politics are not otherwise sought by CNN, and since Kasparov's inclinations are known, this looks like they are cherry-picking their "evidence:" Mr. Kasparov was chosen because his opinions were convenient to CNN.

So CNN's cheerleading appears on yet another count disingenuous even if Kasparov himself might be speaking from the heart, and only incorrect. We have long seen Russian and Eastern European expats excuse American transgressions, much as American communists in the '30s refused to acknowledge Stalin's horrific violence. Either way, this makes for poor reason to brave nuclear arms or shoot up yet another country.

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Rob Juneau's avatar

CBC: the unintentionally interpretive comedy network

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Feb 1, 2022
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blackbird's avatar

" He -may- annex the Donbas." ???

What do you mean by "annex" ? That territory and Russian population has always been Russian. Actually , my father , who doesn't even know /speak ukr. language (same as myself and all members of the family), is from that part. Whatever V. Putin will do with that part of Ukr. will be done correct and legitimately .

Wish I would be able to post here vid. of crimes nazis have done to people of Donbass, but most are deleted. Go search, though.

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