Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress was everything you’d expect: packed full of lies and propaganda spin, yet simultaneously very illuminating and revealing. The Israeli prime minister received no fewer than 58 standing ovations while speaking before both houses of Congress and spewing the most despicable lies you could possibly imagine in his conspicuously American accent. Depending on how politically aware you are, this spectacle could be perceived as either deeply un-American, or as American as it gets. Netanyahu repeated evidence-free atrocity propaganda about what happened on October 7, falsely asserting that Hamas ‘burned babies alive’ and killed two babies in an attic. He falsely claimed that Hamas ‘butchered 1,200 people,’ pretending it’s not a well-established fact that many of the 1,139 Israeli deaths that day came from both indiscriminate IDF fire and deliberate targeting in implementation of the Hannibal Directive.” (07/25/24)
“There is a good case to be made that the best way to defeat Donald Trump and J.D. Vance is to simply let Vance keep talking. The Republican vice presidential nominee has a way of expressing himself that could charitably be defined as ‘cringeworthy.’ Consider the recently resurfaced 2021 interview Vance did with Tucker Carlson, in which the man who is now Trump’s running mate expressed his view that the problem facing America is elected leaders who have not given birth — including the woman who is now the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic Party: Vice President Kamala Harris. ‘We’re effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too,’ Vance argued.” (07/25/24)
“Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Tuesdday blasted JD Vance for being a ‘grifter’, because Vance claimed he was some sort of a hillbilly who grew up in rural Appalachia when, in fact, he grew up in the suburbs of Cincinnati. Governor Walz, on the other hand, grew up in a town of 400 people with ’24 kids in my graduating class’ where ’12 were cousins.’ In Vance’s autobiography Hillbilly Elegy he trash-talks his poor relatives, essentially accusing them of not being successful in life because of moral defects like laziness and addiction; he doubled down on these memes in his Republican National Convention speech, pointing out his own mother’s drug use. In fact, they’re victims of Republican policies that make the rich richer and keep poor people poor; his mother’s addiction is a symptom, not a cause.” (07/25/24)
“Transit and environmental advocacy groups in New York filed lawsuits Thursday challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to block a plan to reduce traffic and raise billions for the city’s ailing subway system through a new toll on Manhattan drivers. The groups argue in two separate state Supreme Court suits that the Democrat violated the state’s laws and constitution when she indefinitely paused the fee, citing economic concerns. The program, which was set to begin June 30, would have imposed on drivers entering the core of Manhattan a toll of about $15, depending on vehicle type. The fee was projected to generate some $1 billion annually for transit improvements. The Riders Alliance, the Sierra Club and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, in their lawsuit, said Hochul’s decision violated the part of the state constitution that guarantees New Yorkers the right to ‘clean air and water, and a healthful environment.'” (07/25/24)
“In 1968, I ran as a Democrat in my first primary election, as I sought to become a New York state Assemblyman. I fought four more tough primary races against fellow Democrats David Dinkins and Robert Wagner Jr. as we vied to become Manhattan borough president, and yet another in 1985 against Ken Lipper to become City Council president. In every primary I had to work my butt off to prove myself to my party and my constituents. Those races made me a better public servant and a better man. That’s what the democratic process is for — and what the Democratic Party is all about …. If they actually wanted to live up to their name, Democratic leaders would insist on an open convention where delegates could freely select a presidential nominee in Joe Biden’s place.” (07/24/24)
“The gunman who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump appears to have used the controversial alt-right favored social media platform Gab to spread messages ‘in support of President Biden,’ according to the platform’s founder. Gab CEO Andrew Torba said he learned Wednesday that Thomas Matthew Crooks ‘may have had an account on our platform’ after getting ‘an emergency disclosure request from a law enforcement agency.’ The account @epicmicrowave — which the CEO stressed he has been ‘unable to confirm’ was definitely Crooks’[s] — ‘posted on the site nine (9) times total,’ Torba tweeted just 30 minutes after getting the law enforcement request. ‘While the account made very few posts on the site, the majority of them were in support of President Biden,’ said the CEO of the platform launched in 2016 as a completely free-speech alternative to Twitter.” (07/25/24)
“At the end of the last century, hoping to drive the United States from Saudi Arabia, the home of Islam’s holiest sites, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden sought to draw in the American military. He reportedly wanted to ‘bring the Americans into a fight on Muslim soil,’ provoking savage asymmetric conflicts that would send home a stream of ‘wooden boxes and coffins’ and weaken American resolve. ‘This is when you will leave,’ he predicted. After the 9/11 attacks, Washington took the bait, launching interventions across the Greater Middle East and Africa. What followed was a slew of sputtering counterterrorism failures and stalemates in places ranging from Niger and Burkina Faso to Somalia and Yemen, a dismal loss, after 20 years, in Afghanistan, and a costly fiasco in Iraq. And just as bin Laden predicted, those conflicts led to discontent in the United States.” (07/25/24)
“Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Thursday introduced legislation that would tighten the rules on private equity firms in the healthcare industry. The Health Over Wealth Act would increase the powers of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to monitor and block private equity deals in the healthcare industry. It would require private equity firms buying healthcare providers to set up escrow accounts large enough to fund five years of operations, and would require more transparency on debt, executive pay, and other financial data, while prohibiting the ‘stripping’ of assets. ‘Private equity firms and greedy corporate executives are using the healthcare system as a piggybank,’ Markey (D-MA), chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, said in a statement.” (07/25/24)
“One of this year’s most influential people on TikTok and YouTube does not see himself as an influencer. He is Thích Minh Tuệ, a middle-aged man who adopted a humble, ascetic life a few years ago and began to walk barefoot up and down Vietnam. He lived in forests with few clothes and accepted alms from strangers, practicing a Buddhist way of frugal simplicity. In May, he became an internet phenomenon. Admirers began to post videos of him along his pilgrimage, inspiring millions. While disavowing any attempt at virtue signaling, he nonetheless was widely seen as an exemplary model, especially in comparison with the lavish lifestyles of top officials. Vietnamese were particularly irked when the minister of public security was caught on camera eating gold-encrusted steak at a London restaurant three years ago. In June, at the strong advice of police, Thích Minh Tuệ disappeared from public view.” (07/24/24)
“Of all the great liars – Baghdad Bob, Teddy Kennedy, Bill Clinton, etc. – President Joe Biden has to rank at or near the top, and would certainly make the Mt. Rushmore of bovine post-digested food secretion artists in history. There is nothing he hasn’t lied about, from his own childhood and academic accomplishments, to how and where his own son died. That shows a dedication to the craft unrivaled in modern times and a shamelessness that would make a Kardashian blush. All of Joe’s life has been a lie, so that Democrats are extending that lie to his legacy should surprise no one. ‘He’s done more in 4 years than most Presidents do in 8’ is as absurd as it is hilarious.” (07/25/24)
