There was nothing unusual about what the US did in Afghanistan: extinguishing an entire family and then getting friendly NYT & NBC reporters to ratify their lie that they killed terrorists but no civilians - except this time the whole world was watching:
One of the most embarrassing tweets from a major media figure in years, though highly illustrative of how they so often do the propaganda work of the CIA, the Pentagon and other security state agencies:
Anyone honest knows what happened: the Biden WH, facing rage over the attack at Kabul Airport that killed 13 Marines, was desperate to do *something* -- anything -- to make Biden look tough, so they wiped out a whole family to avoid a bad news cycle accusing him of weakness.
Now that the Pentagon was forced (by an excellent NYT investigation) to admit it killed no ISIS terrorists but instead bombed an aid worker moving water bottles, you can so vividly see how these security state people like total sociopaths without blinking
Pure sociopathy:
For the last decade, this is how it's gone:
-- US shoots missiles via drones
-- US does so despite having no idea who it is killing
-- Pentagon issues press release claiming all the dead are "terrorists" or "militants"
-- US media prints this despite have no idea who was killed.
The only thing different this time is that the US Government got caught because all eyes were on Kabul because Afghanistan was swarming with international media due to the withdrawal, so they got caught. But this has happened over and over and over:
They don't do accountability or self-critique, so they do this instead:
"Pentagon acknowledges Aug 29 drone strike in Afghanistan was a tragic mistake that killed 10 civilians" - released on Friday afternoon when everyone in DC knows is when you admit things you want to be quickly forgotten. Don't let this crime be forgotten.
Left-liberal Twitch streamers and YouTube shows knew that to attract a pre-election audience (money), they had to tell their viewers Kamala was *clearly* winning.
So they randomly anointed a random Twitter user, @Ettingermentumv, into a data guru, who assured them all of it.
For months -- including just a couple weeks before the election -- this fraudulent partisan data guru kept saying the polls were wrong, the polling experts were wrong, the secret numbers he saw made clear that Kamala wasn't just ahead but ahead by a good distance.
This is as much a problem with partisan independent media as partisan corporate shows: they have to validate their viewers' desire to believe things even if untrue.
So after all the profit and Substack subscriptions were sold by this fraud, he wrote his "I-was-wrong" confession:
The belief that Joe Rogan and those like him are just an updated Fox News -- a non-stop messaging of right-wing ideology -- is beyond stupid.
Those podcasts grew organically: in part because they're not ideological or partisan. They're normal conversations: how humans speak.
Depicting Rogan as a far-right ideologue is something only those who never heard his show would say. AOC separated from Bernie's campaign after Bernie touted Rogan's endorsement.
He is a vehement defender of same-sex marriage. He believes in full freedom for adults' personal lives. He frequently argues that corporate power is suffocating the lives of ordinary people, etc. etc.
The most consequential - yet overlooked - Trump era change is many debates are no longer shaped by old left/right divisions, but instead by who loves, respects, and is loyal to institutions of authority (Dems) and who believes they're fundamentally corrupted (Trump supporters).
Today's NYT column by @ezraklein notes obvious exceptions (abortion, gun control), yet argues the key difference between Kamala and Trump voters is how much one likes US ruling institutions.
Hence, Dems love CIA, FBI, DHS, corporate media. Even views of corporate power changed.
@ezraklein Think about key debates. Which is right or left?
- Trust in large media corporations.
- Opposition to BigTech/state internet censorship.
- Opposition to funding endless wars (Ukraine).
- Eagerness to remain tied to NATO and EU-based institutions.
While many people in the West believe that Russia/Putin are "isolated" - because their media tells them that -- 2 dozen world leaders are in Russia now for a 3-day BRICS conference.
BRICS itself includes the 2 most-populous countries and 4 of the top 10 most populous.
Beyond the founding 5 (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), it expanded to 5 more (including key US "partners" Egypt, UAE and maybe Saudi).
They "account for 45% of the global population" and 28% of global economy.
Key goal: a financial system independent of US dollar.
There's Western skepticism and even mockery that this huge confederation of countries -- united over perceived abuses of US/EU sanctions -- could create a non-dollar system. @TheEconomist takes it seriously.
Inacreditável que Alexandre de Moraes esteja constantemente concentrando em si próprio a figura de suposta vítima, investigador policial, promotor e o juiz - em seus próprios interesses.
Não há democracia onde uma pessoa pode investigar criminalmente o jornalismo que a reporta.
@lf_ponde @folha Aqui também: um ótimo artigo de @lygia_maria sobre a visão perturbada e perigosa de Moraes, a marca registrada de uma mentalidade tirana:
Que qualquer crítica ou questionamento feita ele é em si "um ataque à democracia" e, portanto, um crime.