Source: In These Times
by Adam Johnson and Steven Thrasher
“In late May, Adam Johnson, author of How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza spoke with Steven Thrasher, author of The Overseer Class: A Manifesto, about their respective books’ efforts to catalogue the ways that many of the same elite voices now opposed to Trump resorted to similarly Orwellian and even violent tactics in their effort to quell the movement for Palestinian liberation after Oct. 7. Their talk dissects the way these powerful liberals, as Thrasher puts it, exist to ’police the boundaries of what we’re allowed to think about and what we’re allowed to do.'” (07/06/26)
“Utah prosecutors began presenting their case against Tyler James Robinson in the killing of Charlie Kirk on Monday, as part of a five-day preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial. Dozens of exhibits are expected to be presented over the week to state district judge Tony Graf, including several videos of the 10 September shooting, which occurred as the far-right commentator spoke to large crowds at Utah Valley University last year. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Robinson, the 23-year-old who is accused of fatally shooting Kirk, and who has been charged with aggravated murder. They have claimed there is DNA evidence that links Robinson to the weapon believed to be used in the killing, and say Robinson allegedly confessed to the assassination in a note he left his roommate and romantic partner.” (07/06/26)
“In the roughly two weeks since the New York primary elections, conservatives—and other normies—have been understandably upset about the prospects of a socialist surge in American politics. Three candidates endorsed by New York City’s socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their congressional primaries easily, while Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-aligned candidates around the state did quite well. In short, June 23 was a good day for socialists throughout the country, leaving many observers wondering if this will be a new date that lives in infamy, the date that marks the official start of the socialist-led collapse of the world’s quintessential capitalist, democratic republic. As I say, this concern is understandable. Avowed socialists are winning big in cities across the country, not just in New York City but also in Seattle, possibly in Los Angeles, and almost certainly in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.” (07/06/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Normal people use language to communicate and connect, while manipulative people use language to control and extract. Propagandists, hasbarists, politicians, and people with disorders which incline them toward manipulative behavior like narcissistic personality disorder or antisocial personality disorder, use language with the goal of advancing agendas rather than to convey information and connect with other people. Manipulators use their words to influence the thoughts people think about themselves, about others, and about their world. They use language to extract favors, money, resources, sex, esteem, loyalty, or submission from other people. They use it to trick people in order to ensure that life transpires in accordance with their will. For the manipulator, language is a tool you use to move people around and get them to do what you want them to do.” (07/06/26)
“Hakeem Jeffries is rolling out the welcome mat for the people who want his head mounted on their trophy wall. The House minority leader offered a hearty “welcome aboard” to state Assembly members Claire Valdez and Micah Lasher as well as congressional candidates Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander, both progressive Democrats associated with the Democratic Socialists of America. All but Lasher were backed by slick DSA kingmaker Mayor Zohran Mamdani. ‘Congratulations to our newest members of the NYC congressional delegation,’ he wrote on X. ‘From public servants to union organizers to community activists, the path is different but the work is the same. We must decisively address the affordability crisis and crush far-right extremism!’ Never mind that Dems would classify immigration enforcement and strong borders as ‘far-right extremism’.” (07/05/26)
“We’re celebrating 250 years since the founding of the United States of America. Yes, celebrating, and I hope you did, too. I know this moment brings up so many conflicting emotions. On the one hand, this country is our home. Some of us have no other place to go. Some of us have chosen to make this our home, and some of us are still grappling with the centuries of injustice that brought us here. Whatever this landmark celebration means to you, I hope you take time to reflect, as I have, on what brought us here, and find ways to take lessons from those who found reasons to fight to build a better future in this country, across the many injustices that wound our nation’s journey. In doing so, these courageous women and men made a way for us to be here today.” (07/06/26)
“Huge crowds have lined the streets of Tehran for the funeral procession of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war with the US and Israel. Footage from Iranian state TV showed many tens of thousands of mourners gathered to watch Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin being transported by a lorry along a 10km (6-mile) route that passed through the capital’s landmark Enghelab Square. The procession took place after his body lay in state for two days at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla mosque. Three of Khamenei’s sons prayed beside his coffin there on Sunday. But Mojtaba, the son who succeeded him as supreme leader, did not make an appearance. He has not been seen in public since reporting being seriously wounded in the same Israeli air strike in Tehran on 28 February that killed his father and his wife.” (07/06/26)
“Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has finally reached his Terry Malloy moment. In the classic movie ‘On the Waterfront’, the character tells his brother of losing it all; his shot to be a champion and a person of respect: ‘You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it.’ Shapiro decided to deliver his defining moment on MS NOW’s ‘Morning Joe’ when he abandoned all principle and decided to join other Democratic establishment leaders in offering up the Supreme Court to the radical left. Shapiro used the common coded reference to court packing, calling for ‘radical reform of the court’. The only ‘radical’ reform being seriously discussed is packing the institution with an immediate liberal majority to reverse a series of recent decisions and to greenlight an equally radical agenda for changes to our political system.” (07/05/26)
“UK fighter jets intercepted a Russian maritime patrol aircraft after it “repeatedly approached” a carrier strike group in the Norwegian Sea, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. The Russian Bear-F plane passed at low altitude and ‘unnecessarily close’ to the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier and is believed to have dropped 10 sonobuoys into the water on Thursday, the MoD added. The MoD said Moscow’s activity in the Norwegian Sea was ‘unsafe and unprofessional’. It comes weeks after Royal Marines boarded a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the English Channel, while the head of the military has warned the risks and threats facing the UK are greater now than at any time since the Cold War. The UK’s Carrier Strike Group is currently deployed off Iceland under Nato command, with 1,500 British personnel on board.” (07/06/26)
“The following invented interview has been edited for clarity and length: Norman Solomon: You’ve downplayed the importance of the individual in history. But the United States now has as president an individual who transformed power relations and the political landscape. Karl Marx: I can assure you that he did not do that by himself. Power relations are class relations. And by the way, I never said individuals are irrelevant to history. I exhorted individuals to get involved in changing history. NS: President Trump has rolled back gains from the last hundred years and more. Also, he’s mentally unstable, to put it mildly. KM: The basics still hold. As I wrote in 1869 about a situation in France where a cult existed around a tyrant, the class struggle ‘created circumstances and relationships that made it possible for a grotesque mediocrity to play a hero’s part’.” (07/06/26)
