Carl Boggs — Russophobia and the Specter of War

Review of Stephen F. Cohen’s important book, War with Russia?

Counterpunch
Russophobia and the Specter of WarCarl Boggs

David F. Ruccio — Socialism or truth

On truth and truthiness.

"We have the ocean in our bucket. We built a special bucket to contain it. So get lost."

Meanwhile, socialism rises.

Occasional Links & Commentary
Socialism or truth
David F. Ruccio | Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Paul Robinson — Cui bono?

The real reason behind the push for censorship of social media.

I’m not a great fan of Marxist philosophy, but one thing it has got right is the need to be sceptical when faced by what academics like to call ‘normative’ claims, and to be aware that such claims often hide a bid for power. When faced by such a claim, one should always ask ‘Cui bono?’ – who benefits?...

Not just Marxist philosophy. Anyone with a working crap detector knows this intuitively. It's just being street-smart.

Irrussianality
Cui bono?Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa

Jumping the shark

Sputnik International
Another Head-Scratcher: US PAC’s Billboard Implies GOP Is … Communist? (PHOTO)

Sputnik International

Who Is Marina Gross? US Translator Thrust into Spotlight With Subpoena Threat

Sputnik International

‘F**k Trump’: Image of POTUS Being Beheaded Sparks Backlash in Oregon (PHOTO)

Sputnik International

'Off With His Head'! WATCH Protesters in Oregon Execute Trump Pinata

Sputnik International

Albright Goes Off on Trump, Calls Him 'Gift That Keeps Giving to Putin'

Sputnik International
I’m the Reporter Mentioned in Mueller’s Indictment. Why Hasn’t He Spoken to Me?

Lee Stranahan, co-host of Fault Lines on Radio Sputnik

The Unz Review
US Arrests Russia’s Foremost 2nd Amendment Activist

Anatoli Karlin

Zero Hedge

Comey: Anyone Voting Republican This Fall Is Un-American

Tyler Durden

Zero Hedge
Democrats Call Russia Meddling "Act Of War", Urge Cyber Attack On Moscow Banks In Retaliation

Losing their marbles.

Andrew Brennan — US media is more neo-McCarthyism than journalism

What we are watching in the US is a hysteria being orchestrated by parties and members of the US corporate and political establishment to rally “America” against the “commie Soviets” again, except there are no “commie Soviets.” The push for Russophobia is like nothing Western audiences – yes, audiences because this is theater – have seen before, even during the Cold War.

Night and day, the press wheels churn any and all content warning that the Russians are coming, linking Russia to everything dubious and malevolent. The US corporate media has desensitized and drained the public’s tolerance in being able to take any more indoctrinating daily shows on Russia. The media pundits have actually polarized American society regarding President Donald Trump and Russia....

Asia Times

US media is more neo-McCarthyism than journalism
Andrew Brennan

Paul Robinson — Collusion

The investigation into suspected collusion between US President Donald Trump and the Russian government has claimed its first three victims: one (Paul Manafort) for completely unconnected money laundering charges, and two (George Papadopoulos and Michael Flynn) for lying to investigators about things which were not themselves criminal, and which are therefore crimes which would never have happened had there never been an investigation. To date, the evidence of direct collusion between Trump and the Russians is looking a little thin, to say the least. Now, into this maelstrom steps Guardian reporter Luke Harding with his book Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russian Helped Donald Trump Win.

Collusion spends over 300 pages insinuating that Trump is a long-standing agent of the Russian secret services, and hinting, without ever providing any firm evidence, that Trump and his team acted on orders from the Kremlin to subvert American democracy. I’ll be honest, and admit that I picked this book up expecting it to be a series of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, and to be utterly unbalanced in its analysis, and in that sense I’m not an unbiased reader. At the same time, I was interested to see if Harding had come up with anything that everybody else had not, and was willing to give him a chance. I needn’t have bothered. For alas, my worst suspicions proved to be true, and then some.…

This collusion narrative is now jumping the shark more than the birther narrative about Barack Obama's birth certificate. In that sense, DJT is just experiencing a dose of his own medicine.

Irrussianality
CollusionPaul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa

Robert Parry — Learning to Love McCarthyism

The New York Times has finally detected some modern-day McCarthyism, but not in the anti-Russia hysteria that the newspaper has fueled for several years amid the smearing of American skeptics as “useful idiots” and the like. No, the Times editors are accusing a Long Island Republican of McCarthyism for linking his Democratic rival to “New York City special interest groups.” As the Times laments, “It’s the old guilt by association.”

Yet, the Times sees no McCarthyism in the frenzy of Russia-bashing and guilt by association for any American who can be linked even indirectly to any Russian who might have some ill-defined links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Monday, in the same edition that expressed editorial outrage over that Long Island political ad’s McCarthyism, the Times ran two front-page articles under the headline: “A Complex Paper Trail: Blurring Kremlin’s Ties to Key U.S. Businesses.”

The two subheads read: “Shipping Firm Links Commerce Chief to Putin ‘Cronies’” and “Millions in Facebook Shares Rooted in Russian Cash.” The latter story, which meshes nicely with the current U.S. political pressure on Facebook and Twitter to get in line behind the New Cold War against Russia, cites investments by Russian Yuri Milner that date back to the start of the decade.

Buried in the story’s “jump” is the acknowledgement that Milner’s “companies sold those holdings several years ago.” But such is the anti-Russia madness gripping the Establishment of Washington and New York that any contact with any Russian constitutes a scandal worthy of front-page coverage. On Monday, The Washington Post published a page-one articleentitled, “9 in Trump’s orbit had contacts with Russians.”

The anti-Russian madness has reached such extremes that even when you say something that’s obviously true – but that RT, the Russian television network, also reported – you are attacked for spreading “Russian propaganda.”...

This is way beyond only McCarthyism. Once the US media realized that Rupert Murdoch's tabloid "news" business plan was a goldmine, the race to the bottom began. Now it is cesspool of bottom feeders.

Parry relates the history of the US government and other governments that greatly offset anything that "the Russians" might have been able to mount in the US to influence US politics and the 2016 election.

Indeed, one argument for believing that Putin and the Kremlin might have “meddled” in last year’s U.S. election is that they could have felt it was time to give the United States a taste of its own medicine.

I admit to having that thought myself. "The Russians" spent in the thousands, for example, while the US dropped 5 billion into Ukraine alone in the lead up to the coup that unseated a democratically elected president. Let's get some perspective here.

In addition, just who "the Russians" were has not been satisfactorily established based on evidence, let alone any direct connection to the Russian intel services or the Kremlin as the puppet master. Rather, the flimsiest evidence is being adduced, making a mockery of the process.

Moreover, those that "doth protest too much" don't seem to realize that they are cooperating with the trolls, whoever they are and whatever their purpose, in showing up the US as a deeply divided banana republic.

All this in addition to the McCarthyism, which is bad enough.

Most importantly, this isn't even to mention the intimidation being used to impose de facto censorship of alternative media and social media, which is what McCarthyism is about and why it is anti-American, while masquerading as patriotism. In the long run this is the most serious problem since it threatens the foundation of liberal representative democracy in free thought and free expression.

Consortium News
Learning to Love McCarthyism

Robert Parry

Yves Smith — What Do Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Dick Cheney, Oprah Winfrey, Erin Brockovich, Stephen Hawking, Harrison Ford, Robert Kennedy, Jr., Jon Krakauer, Michelle Obama, Dan Rathers, Malcolm Gladwell, and Yours Truly Have in Common? Smeared by a Soros-Funded Think Tank for Appearing on RT

The New McCarthyite program of demonizing anyone and anything associated with Russia continues apace. A Soros-funded think tank called European Values has put out a screed (no exaggeration, read the hyperventilating tone of the “report”) which has as its major aim chilling the participation of guest speakers on RT, per its title, The Kremlin’s Platform for ‘Useful Idiots’ in the West.

This self-styled think tank posted a list of people who had appeared on RT on a series of its shows since 2013. Despite its claims of being comprehensive, the former producer of the RT show Boom Bust, Ed Harrison, quickly identified some names that were missing, and I am sure if he thought further, he could come up with more.

The list is so lengthy and includes so many highly respected people that I doubt including will hurt them in any way. But some were mighty annoyed anyhow:

Blowback.

Naked Capitalism
What Do Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Dick Cheney, Oprah Winfrey, Erin Brockovich, Stephen Hawking, Harrison Ford, Robert Kennedy, Jr., Jon Krakauer, Michelle Obama, Dan Rathers, Malcolm Gladwell, and Yours Truly Have in Common? Smeared by a Soros-Funded Think Tank for Appearing on RT

Yves Smith

Claire Connelly — Black lists matter: the betrayal of democratic liberalism

Democracy 2.0 is having its own modern-day McCarthy moment: Millionaire [sic, should be "billionaire"] George Soros has published a blacklist of thousands of politicians, journalists, academics and celebrities ever to appear on Russian state broadcaster, RT, designed to intimidate anyone from ever appearing on the network which has already been defunded by NatWest, demonetised by social media giants Google, Facebook and Twitter which have rapidly become privately outsourced state regulators. This campaign of censorship and content control is further proof of an establishment fast losing control of the narrative....

The not-so open society.

Everything that George Soros touches is now suspect.

Renegade Inc.
Black lists matter: the betrayal of democratic liberalism
Claire Connelly

related

Zero Hedge
Chris Whalen: "Glad I Am On A George Soros-Funded Blacklist Of Journalists"

Tyler Durden

Robert Parry — Russia-gate Breeds ‘Establishment McCarthyism’

In the past, America has witnessed “McCarthyism” from the Right and even complaints from the Right about “McCarthyism of the Left.” But what we are witnessing now amid the Russia-gate frenzy is what might be called “Establishment McCarthyism,” traditional media/political powers demonizing and silencing dissent that questions mainstream narratives....

It's about Establishment control of the narrative that establishes consensus reality.

Consortium News
Russia-gate Breeds ‘Establishment McCarthyism’

Robert Parry

RT Anti-Russia 'propaganda' group PropOrNot urges reporter to drop story on CIA arming Syrian rebels

PropOrNot caught out.

RT
Anti-Russia 'propaganda' group urges reporter to drop story on CIA arming Syrian rebels

Paul Robinson — Not a ‘useful idiot’

I’m disappointed. Crushed even. The European Values think tank has just produced a report entitled The Kremlin’s Platform for Useful Idiots in the West: An Overview of RT’s Editorial Strategy and Evidence of Impact. The report contains a spreadsheet with the names of 2327 ‘useful idiots’, that is to say people who have appeared on RT and, says the report, ‘either due to unawareness of RT’s political agenda, or indeed explicit support of it, lend their names and credibility to a pseudo-news network and proxy agent of the Kremlin.’ And what do you know? I’m not on the list! In fact, I’ve appeared on RT twice, once on their news section, and once on Crosstalk, but for some reason they don’t seem to have bothered analyzing the Crosstalk guest list, so I’ve slipped through the cracks. I’m not a ‘useful idiot’ after all, and have been deprived of the opportunity to express moral outrage at being publicly named and shamed....

Irrussanlity
Not a ‘useful idiot’

Paul Robinson, Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa

RT — NGO publishes names of 2,300+ RT guests, labels them ‘useful idiots who undermine Western democracy

Neo-McCarthyism flourishes.

An NGO called the European Values Think-Tank has published a report on RT featuring an extensive list of US and European public figures who have been accused of “undermining western democracy” just by appearing in RT shows.

The report, claiming to be an “overview of RT’s editorial strategy and evidence of impact,” comes with an Excel list of 2,327 people who have appeared on RT over the last four years. The names are carefully arranged in seven categories, including US politicians, UK politicians, European politicians and so on, and are arranged in alphabetical order. The list mentions the shows the guests appeared on, the total number of their appearances, and gives hyperlinks to all the relevant episodes.

The report states that appearing on the network is counterproductive and makes the guest a “useful idiot” to a “hostile foreign power.”Expressing one’s opinion on RT is considered by the NGO as equivalent to “complicity with the Russian propaganda machine.”

Although the list looks like a really thorough effort at cataloguing all of the RT guests, it’s got a number of strikingly weird blunders. For example, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is there, but only the link attached leads to a satirical show featuring someone impersonating him. Meanwhile, US Senator John McCain’s daughter is mistaken for the senator himself and “Politicking with Larry King” is unexpectedly referred to as “Politicking with Larry David.

The report generally claims that RT is “an instrument of hostile foreign influence,” which has the sole purpose of “undermining public confidence in the viability of liberal democracy.”

It repeatedly discourages any public figures from potentially appearing on any of RT’s shows in the future, as those on the list are accused of boosting RT’s “credibility as a legitimate news network.”

De facto censorship instead of de jure.

RT
NGO publishes names of 2,300+ RT guests, labels them ‘useful idiots who undermine Western democracy

See also

A new report by a US-funded Czech think tank that targeted RT’s on-air guests is an attempt to stifle any views that go outside the accepted US neocon foreign policy of interventionism, Daniel McAdams, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute, told RT.

‘Report listing RT’s guests is designed to intimidate'

Cass R. Sunstein — Russia Is Using Marxist Strategies, and So Is Trump

Samantha Powers' husband goes off his rocker too, assuming he believes what he says rather than just putting out straight up propaganda. Have a good laugh. Red-baiting is bad and POTUS is one of the objects of it, along with Volodya of course.

Bloomberg
Russia Is Using Marxist Strategies, and So Is Trump

Cass R. Sunstein | Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School

Sputnik — Collateral Damage: Hamilton 68 Sows Discord Among US Media

In an article titled "Breitbart, other 'alt-right' websites are the darlings of Russian propaganda effort" published on August 24, USA Today stated that the most popular domains mentioned by a "Russian propaganda Twitter network" during the previous 48 hours included "True Pundit, the Russian government-controlled television network RT, the Gateway Pundit, Fox News, Russian government news agency Sputnik News and Breitbart."

USA Today also argued that on that day the aforementioned websites carried a range of stories that "reflect themes promoted by the Russian network."

This coordinated smear campaign is going to backfire big time on the establishment.

Sputnik International
Collateral Damage: Hamilton 68 Sows Discord Among US Media

Matt Taibbi — Putin Derangement Syndrome Arrives

Whatever the truth about Trump and Russia, the speculation surrounding it has become a dangerous case of mass hysteria

The crazy is on the loose. The hinges are coming loose. Joe McCarthy is transmogrifying into Charlie McCarthy — and Mortimer Snerd. Deficit hysteria is morphing into political hysteria.

Rolling Stone
Putin Derangement Syndrome Arrives

Matt Taibbi

See also

RT

MSM raise ‘false flag’ conspiracy following St. Petersburg Metro blast

It's looking like Western liberals are going mad.

 "Those whom the gods would destroy they first drive mad." (spoken by Prometheus in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Masque of Pandora") 

Glenn Greenwald — The Increasingly Unhinged Russia Rhetoric Comes From a Long-Standing U.S. Playbook

I. F. Stone. If you don't know who he was, you should. Before there were blogs, there was I. F. Stone.

The Intercept
The Increasingly Unhinged Russia Rhetoric Comes From a Long-Standing U.S. Playbook

Glenn Greenwald

See also

Russia’s role in Trump’s election has led to a boom in Putinology. But do all these theories say more about us than Putin?

The Guardian
Killer, kleptocrat, genius, spy: the many myths of Vladimir Putin
Keith Gessen

Gilbert Doctorow — Trump’s frontal assault on America’s new McCarthyism

Gilbert Doctrow gives Donald Trump positive marks.

Une parole franche
Trump’s frontal assault on America’s new McCarthyism
Gilbert Doctorow | European Coordinator of The American Committee for East West Accord Ltd.

John V. Walsh — New McCarthyism Targets Trump

When President Obama expelled Russian diplomats over the hysterical and unproven accusation of Russia “hacking the election,” Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to be drawn into a petty squabble, saying he would delay any response until Donald Trump assumed office. Instead Putin invited American diplomats and their families in Moscow to join the official holiday celebrations in the Kremlin.

Then came the shock that shook Official Washington: President-elect Trump, in the form of a tweet heard round the world, wrote: “Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!”

And just to be sure that everyone saw it, Trump “pinned” the tweet which means it is the first thing seen by viewers of his account. This was a first use of “pinning” for Trump. And to be doubly sure, he posted it on Instagram as well. This was no spontaneous midnight outburst but a very deliberate action taken on Friday noon, Dec. 30, the day after Obama had issued his retaliation order.

The implications of this move are, arguably, breathtaking. Trump treated Putin as his ally, not as a hated adversary. And he treated Obama and the bipartisan foreign policy elite of Washington as his adversaries, not his allies – a move that makes perfect sense if Trump’s desire is to rein in the War Party’s New Cold War and to strive for a New Détente with Russia.

If the main enemy is those who are stoking the New Cold War and risking worse, then Trump has placed himself squarely against these war hawks. And stop to consider for a moment who these folks are. Besides President Obama and Hillary Clinton, they represent a full-blown armchair army: neocons, liberal interventionists, the mainstream media, various Soros-funded “non-governmental organizations,” virtually all the important think tanks, the leadership of both major parties, and the CIA and the other U.S. intelligence agencies. This array of Official Washington’s power elite has been working 24/7 at demonizing Putin and stoking tensions with nuclear-armed Russia. Trump took on all of them on with his tweet!…

What is troubling, however, is that some Americans who favor peace hate Trump so much that they recoil from speaking out in his defense over his “treasonous” tweet though they may privately agree with it. Some progressives are uncomfortable with the mainstream’s descent into crude McCarthyism but don’t want to say anything favorable about Trump. 

Consortium News
New McCarthyism Targets Trump

John V. Walsh

See also

Somewhat [un]surprisingly, a genuine grassroots, broad-based movement has emerged to oppose the incoming Trump administration, but perhaps less surprisingly – given the American left’s self-marginalizing tendencies – the nascent efforts may already be descending into sectarianism, finger-pointing and divisive identity-based politics....

Anti-Trump Coalition Shows Cracks

Nat Parry

Bill Boyarsky — Investigation Into ‘PropOrNot Blacklist Case’ Finds Shoddy Methods and an Ominous Potential

In-depth analysis of PropOrNot. Bayarsky concludes that the aim not exposure but censorship. Neo-McCarthyism. And this would likely have gone nowhere without promotion by the Washington Post.

Truthdig

Investigation Into ‘PropOrNot Blacklist Case’ Finds Shoddy Methods and an Ominous Potential

Bill Boyarsky | Truthdig columnist, former city editor of the Los Angeles Times, former lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and former member of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission