Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a recent interview that his job is ‘to keep the left pro-Israel,’ which is just sad. Being a liberal Israel supporter these days probably feels like being a defense attorney for an accused murderer who won’t shut up about how much he loves murdering. A Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning film No Other Land was assaulted and injured by a gang of Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Susya before being abducted by Israeli soldiers on Monday. Hamdan Ballal and two other Palestinians were reportedly transferred from the Israeli military to the police for questioning, and as of this writing are still detained. No Other Land is a documentary about Israeli abuses toward Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, which makes the lynch mob assault by the settlers not only ironic but completely vindicating of Ballal’s work.” (03/25/25)
“Four years ago, I published Subtle Tools, a book on the erosion of American democratic norms in the face of what came to be known as the Global War on Terror. Both what had been done in the name of ‘national security’ in response to the 9/11 attacks and how it had been done — through the willing neglect of procedural integrity, the exploitation of all-too-flexible norms, a remarkable disregard for transparency, and a failure to call for accountability of any sort — left the country wide open to even more damaging future abuses of the rule of law. And — lo and behold! — now, that future is all too distinctly here. What happened in the first quarter of this century is already being weaponized in a startling fashion in the second era of Donald Trump.” (03/25/25)
America’s military budget is more than just numbers on a page; it’s a reflection of the priorities that shape our society. Right now, that nearly trillion dollar budget is bloated, inefficient, and far removed from the needs of everyday Americans. We’ve identified six simple yet effective ways to cut at least $100 billion from the Pentagon’s budget, without sacrificing even the most hawkish of war hawk’s sense of national security. Ready to take the scissors to that excess spending? Here’s how we can do it. 1) Halt the F-35 Program (save $12B+ per year) … 2) Reassess Long-Range Missile Defense (save $9.3B+ per year) … 3) Cut the Sentinel ICBM Program (save $3.7B+ per year) … 4) Cease Procurement of Aircraft Carriers (save $2.3B+ per year) … 5) Cut Redundant Contracts by 15% (save $26B per year) …” (03/25/25)
“Democrats are wandering around in the political wilderness: lost, desperate–and blaming each other. The latest target of their rage is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [D-NY], who committed the unforgivable crime of ‘helping Trump,’ hatred of the president being the only acceptable posture in leftist circles these days. The one thing Democrats seem unable to come to terms with is the actual cause of their problems: the leftward ideological lurch that has alienated them from regular Americans. I write about this in my new book, Califailure: Reversing the Ruin of America’s Worst Run State. That’s because California represents today’s Democratic Party better than anywhere else in America. Democrats have had complete control of state government for nearly two decades. California — Califailure — is what you get when Democrats get everything they want.” (03/25/25)
“The head of Turkey’s main opposition party visited jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Tuesday after six nights of massive protests calling for his release. Imamoglu, arrested on March 19 on corruption charges, is seen as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule. His arrest has been widely viewed as politically motivated and sparked demonstrations, some turning violent, across the country. The government insists Turkey’s judiciary is independent and free of political influence. Ozgur Ozel, the leader of Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party, or CHP, held a two-hour meeting with Imamoglu at Silivri prison, west of Istanbul. Ozel told reporters that he was ‘ashamed on behalf of those who govern Turkey of the atmosphere I am in and the situation that Turkey is being put through.'” (03/25/25)
“Why is Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, hyperventilating about Social Security? Why is he inventing unhinged tales about ‘fraudulent’ hordes of Social Security grifters? Why is his DOGE chopping away staffers at the already understaffed Social Security Administration? Let’s start with the political reality that most Americans see Social Security as absolutely essential to their future financial security. These average Americans, Musk and his like-minded super wealthy fear, are eventually going to start demanding that America’s rich pay a far bigger share of the revenue Social Security so desperately needs. What are these rich paying now into Social Security? Peanuts.” [editor’s note: What ‘the rich” pay in is capped, but so are the benefit payments they receive. Pizzigati is just upset that his favorite Ponzi scheme can’t fleece bigger “investors” at a higher rate because REASONS – TLK] (03/25/25)
“Here is a recent headline from Breitbart: ‘Estab Media: AOC New Dem Hope; Calls Grow for Leadership to Go; Far Left Party to Get Even More Radical?’ The answer to the last question is almost surely ‘yes’ for reasons I will note in this article. They aren’t going to stop moving left [sic], folks, because they HAVE no logical stopping place, given their worldview and philosophy. That the media and others in the Democratic Party are calling for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to take the leadership in the Democratic Party possibly does, indeed, indicate just how radical that party has become. AOC is … probably dumber and more fanatical (if that’s possible right now) than Kamala Harris. And yet, I have seen more than one headline/story that indicate she might run for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President in 2028.” (03/25/25)
“The US has removed millions of dollars in bounties from senior members of the Haqqani militant network in Afghanistan, including one on its leader Sirajuddin Haqqani who is also the Taliban government’s interior minister. It is a significant move given that the Haqqani network is accused of carrying out some of the most high-profile and deadly attacks in Afghanistan during the US-led war in the country, including attacks on the American and Indian embassies, and NATO forces. Currently, the network is a key part of the Taliban government …. The move to lift the bounties comes weeks into President Trump’s second term, and just days after US officials met with the Taliban government in Kabul to secure the release of an American tourist, detained since 2022.” (03/25/25)
“Belarus'[s] authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko was sworn in Tuesday to a seventh term, and he mocked those who derided him as ‘Europe’s last dictator’ by saying his country has more democracy ‘than those who cast themselves as its models.’ ‘Half of the world is dreaming about our ‘dictatorship, the dictatorship of real business and interests of our people,’ Lukashenko, 70, said in his inauguration speech at the Independence Palace in the capital of Minsk. Hundreds of opposition supporters living abroad held anti-Lukashenko rallies Tuesday to mark the anniversary of Belarus’ short-lived independence in 1918 following the collapse of the Russian Empire. Lukashenko marked three decades in power last year, and his political opponents have denounced the tightly orchestrated Jan. 26 election as a farce. The Belarus Central Election Commission declared he won with nearly 87% of the vote after a campaign in which four token challengers on the ballot all praised his rule.” (03/25/25)
“In 1791, Russian leaders invited Jews to live in what came to be known as the Pale of Settlement, under terms that were regularly made more restrictive and often led to pogroms. It did not end well. When you find yourself love-bombed by your enemies for entirely opportunistic reasons, it seldom ends well either. Today, the menace of antisemitism is being used to restrict academic freedom at a heavily Jewish university (Columbia) and will be further used to assault the liberal professions that have historically been hospitable to American Jews. This bizarre twist is the work of an alliance of convenience between Trump, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, all of whom find it expedient to define any criticism of Israel’s brutal actions in Gaza as antisemitism. Right-wing extremists with no love of Jews relish this ploy.” (03/25/25)
