Let’s get right into this with Ukraine. Ray McGovern, in a recent interview, recalled Putin’s expressed views on the Neocons, about a year ago. Briefly, he thinks the Neocons are crazy and have no real grasp on reality. Many readers may remember this, but it’s worth repeating in the context of our recently repeated remarks on Putin’s confident, pleased appearance in public. As McGovern says, what Putin thinks really does matter. Putin is constitutionally cautious and the craziness of the Neocons undoubtedly had an effect on his actions. But now he clearly believes he has this situation figured out. I include in this mini-transcript McGovern’s initial remarks on Gaza:
Norman Finkelstein writes: "Make no mistake about it. In order to stifle dissent from Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, the Jewish billionaire class has launched the most concerted assault on academic freedom in the history of our country."
Is Finkelstein a compelling authority? He has had an interesting career.
I'm not sure what you're suggesting. Does having an interesting career militate against credibility or being a compelling authority?
What Finkelstein is saying here isn't open to challenge. The Jewish donor class to academic institutions has been quite open about using financial pressure to stifle criticism of Israel--it's been in the news. Finkelstein's own career illustrates the lengths to which this class will go to stifle criticism of Israel. It's simply an academic oriented version of the same phenomenon we see in Israel Lobby ownership of Congress.
I suppose we should all judge for ourselves another's credibility and/or authority. Which is why I pasted his bio. He has certainly attracted many powerful detractors.
If I were entirely transparent, however, I might say that the enormous opposition to Finkelstein's academic work and views which he has unwaveringly resisted tends to reinforce, in my mind, the strength and courage of his convictions. Not to mention that he is the son of two Holocaust survivors whose entire life has been framed (he admits) by his parents' experience. Nor to mention that he has attracted Alan Dershowitz as an enemy, who seems himself often to have been caught in lies and has stated that he would destroy Finkelstein.
Sailer's article is a good reminder that, at the end of the day, money talks. So be it. Especially in *private* (albeit lavishly funded by the federal government) universities. But hopefully not at the expense of fundamental values and constitutional rights.
I thought the forced resignation of the President of the University of Pennsylvania for supporting the rights of students (and others) to freedom of expression was a mistake. But I suppose she was an untenured employee at will and the donor class spoke. I suppose a different donor class might have protected her.
In the meantime, and this has been increasingly true since Trump descended the Golden Escalator, the reality of the times we live in is increasingly unobscured. This is perhaps his greatest gift to us.
It seems the New York Times and Wall Street Journal have noticed the increasing exercise of power by university donors over university administrations:
I've long been aware of Finkelstein's interesting life, as also of Dershowitz's interesting life. Regarding the GOP's effort to jump on the academic censorship bandwagon--presumably not out of ideological conviction (which would be despicable) but to attract campaign donations--I posted a blog by Steve Sailer. Sailer has also had an interesting life.
Just read this at Simplicius’ mailbag column - and it adds to our discussion of “J Street’s” shifting interests and priorities…their “agenda”:
“That means there’s no real point comparing outrages, genocides, etc., because to the elites who run our world, it’s all up in the air and entirely contingent on what agenda is needed at any given moment. If you ask anyone in the West what some of the worst ethnic cleansing and genocide campaigns of the 20th century were, they’ll bring up all the ones inculcated into them by their slanted education systems, which for obvious reasons emphasize all the wrongdoings of the West’s political adversaries, while completely sweeping under the rug and memory-holing the transgressions of the West and its cohorts…”
How much Western support for Ukraine can be explained by this? Insightful, and shaking my world view, which is happening a lot, usually after a visit to Mark’s blog.
Our LGBT Empire
Why is it America’s business to queer the Donbass?
I knew if it from a low level, the diplomad blogspot mentioned how political state had become, but I was unaware how strong the efforts were on pushing the lgbtq agenda.
The last time that "Israel" was governed by laws that were impossible to keep, their stone temple was obliterated, their nation destroyed, the people scattered. Maybe they should not persecute and murder the innocent.
“Sadly, America, too, has developed into a “dystopian security state,” thanks in large part to the Neocon influence.” Yes, certainly a very eery parallel between Israel and America, where Nat Sec is used to silence and censor dissent or divergent views and opinions. How we’ve let these Neocons take over US foreign policy, still animated by ghosts from the past, still driven by fear and vengeance…MB is indeed refreshing and well-informed - I had not heard of him before! He sure is right on the “govs” for president - Romney (Mass), GWB (TX) Jeb (FLA), not to mention Carter (GA) and Clinton (ARK). What a spoiler was Trump!
For people who have followed U.S. politics since the '60s it is still very weird to think that it is actually the Democrats who have handed over foreign policy to the Neocons. And it has been no secret; I remember when Trump said that if Hillary had been elected we would be at war with Russia now (he said this several times during his Presidency). How is it that the Neocons migrated from the Bush Republicans to the Clintons and the O'Bidens? It is now becoming clear that they have always been in both parties.
Yes, and the Dems, along with their big donors, vote consistently for progressive social policies at home while funding wars (proxies) abroad! Pass the cash! But you’re right, the Neos are in both parties…
Mark wrote: . . . put yourself in the position of being a citizen of a country whose government opens its borders to all comers who flood into what used to be your country against your will. Oh, wait …
Why is it that I feel less and less like a lowly serf or peasant, and more and more like a subject of a tyrannical foreign occupation? Men like George Washington or Sam Houston are desperately needed today, but are nowhere to be found.
The People don't want Washington or Houston. Or Sam Adams or Thomas Paine.
We have Remote Work and $200 Flat Screens. And Black Lives Matter. And Nikes and iPhones. And YouTube, Instagram and the View. And the NFL. And Russia, Russia, Russia. And Jan 6 and Orange Man Bad. And Pornography. And Big Macs. And Loan Foregiveness. And plenty of Fake Money.
Bread and Circuses. And The Emperor's New Clothes.
The average American is blissfully ignorant of reality, I fear that very soon the average American will realize that their state of bliss was in reality a curse.
Well, the latest narrative is that Hezbollah has financially backed Hamas, so that would make them a "legitimate" target of Israel. If/when Israel and Hezbollah get into a war (when whatever skirmishing between them is escalated) then the narrative will be the U.S. military is justified in intervening to attack Hezbollah to protect Israel and prevent a larger regional war. Just sayin'.
Confirmed: 85%-90% of the men stripped to their underwear, blindfolded and paraded around in the world's media as "Hamas terrorists" by Israel were in fact civilians. That's according to "Israeli security officials" as quoted in Haaretz
Norman Finkelstein writes: "Make no mistake about it. In order to stifle dissent from Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, the Jewish billionaire class has launched the most concerted assault on academic freedom in the history of our country."
Is Finkelstein a compelling authority? He has had an interesting career.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Finkelstein
I'm not sure what you're suggesting. Does having an interesting career militate against credibility or being a compelling authority?
What Finkelstein is saying here isn't open to challenge. The Jewish donor class to academic institutions has been quite open about using financial pressure to stifle criticism of Israel--it's been in the news. Finkelstein's own career illustrates the lengths to which this class will go to stifle criticism of Israel. It's simply an academic oriented version of the same phenomenon we see in Israel Lobby ownership of Congress.
I suppose we should all judge for ourselves another's credibility and/or authority. Which is why I pasted his bio. He has certainly attracted many powerful detractors.
If I were entirely transparent, however, I might say that the enormous opposition to Finkelstein's academic work and views which he has unwaveringly resisted tends to reinforce, in my mind, the strength and courage of his convictions. Not to mention that he is the son of two Holocaust survivors whose entire life has been framed (he admits) by his parents' experience. Nor to mention that he has attracted Alan Dershowitz as an enemy, who seems himself often to have been caught in lies and has stated that he would destroy Finkelstein.
https://www.takimag.com/article/jewish-generosity/
Sailer's article is a good reminder that, at the end of the day, money talks. So be it. Especially in *private* (albeit lavishly funded by the federal government) universities. But hopefully not at the expense of fundamental values and constitutional rights.
I thought the forced resignation of the President of the University of Pennsylvania for supporting the rights of students (and others) to freedom of expression was a mistake. But I suppose she was an untenured employee at will and the donor class spoke. I suppose a different donor class might have protected her.
In the meantime, and this has been increasingly true since Trump descended the Golden Escalator, the reality of the times we live in is increasingly unobscured. This is perhaps his greatest gift to us.
It seems the New York Times and Wall Street Journal have noticed the increasing exercise of power by university donors over university administrations:
NYT: https://archive.is/PVxqX
WSJ: https://archive.is/AdmuP
I've long been aware of Finkelstein's interesting life, as also of Dershowitz's interesting life. Regarding the GOP's effort to jump on the academic censorship bandwagon--presumably not out of ideological conviction (which would be despicable) but to attract campaign donations--I posted a blog by Steve Sailer. Sailer has also had an interesting life.
The very interesting Finkelstein and Dershowitz debated their respective positions today. here's the tape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHqs15gOv4k&t=143s
Just read this at Simplicius’ mailbag column - and it adds to our discussion of “J Street’s” shifting interests and priorities…their “agenda”:
“That means there’s no real point comparing outrages, genocides, etc., because to the elites who run our world, it’s all up in the air and entirely contingent on what agenda is needed at any given moment. If you ask anyone in the West what some of the worst ethnic cleansing and genocide campaigns of the 20th century were, they’ll bring up all the ones inculcated into them by their slanted education systems, which for obvious reasons emphasize all the wrongdoings of the West’s political adversaries, while completely sweeping under the rug and memory-holing the transgressions of the West and its cohorts…”
Bleak assessment.
The whole text is in answer to question no. 39
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/subscriber-mailbag-answers-121023
How much Western support for Ukraine can be explained by this? Insightful, and shaking my world view, which is happening a lot, usually after a visit to Mark’s blog.
Our LGBT Empire
Why is it America’s business to queer the Donbass?
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/our-lgbt-empire/
Why? Because. Jim Kunstler has one of his disingenuous blogs at Zerohedge that backhandedly addresses some of this. This is not news, by the way.
I knew if it from a low level, the diplomad blogspot mentioned how political state had become, but I was unaware how strong the efforts were on pushing the lgbtq agenda.
The last time that "Israel" was governed by laws that were impossible to keep, their stone temple was obliterated, their nation destroyed, the people scattered. Maybe they should not persecute and murder the innocent.
“Sadly, America, too, has developed into a “dystopian security state,” thanks in large part to the Neocon influence.” Yes, certainly a very eery parallel between Israel and America, where Nat Sec is used to silence and censor dissent or divergent views and opinions. How we’ve let these Neocons take over US foreign policy, still animated by ghosts from the past, still driven by fear and vengeance…MB is indeed refreshing and well-informed - I had not heard of him before! He sure is right on the “govs” for president - Romney (Mass), GWB (TX) Jeb (FLA), not to mention Carter (GA) and Clinton (ARK). What a spoiler was Trump!
For people who have followed U.S. politics since the '60s it is still very weird to think that it is actually the Democrats who have handed over foreign policy to the Neocons. And it has been no secret; I remember when Trump said that if Hillary had been elected we would be at war with Russia now (he said this several times during his Presidency). How is it that the Neocons migrated from the Bush Republicans to the Clintons and the O'Bidens? It is now becoming clear that they have always been in both parties.
Yes, and the Dems, along with their big donors, vote consistently for progressive social policies at home while funding wars (proxies) abroad! Pass the cash! But you’re right, the Neos are in both parties…
Thank you, Mark, again for your article. Highly appreciated.
Mark wrote: . . . put yourself in the position of being a citizen of a country whose government opens its borders to all comers who flood into what used to be your country against your will. Oh, wait …
Why is it that I feel less and less like a lowly serf or peasant, and more and more like a subject of a tyrannical foreign occupation? Men like George Washington or Sam Houston are desperately needed today, but are nowhere to be found.
The People don't want Washington or Houston. Or Sam Adams or Thomas Paine.
We have Remote Work and $200 Flat Screens. And Black Lives Matter. And Nikes and iPhones. And YouTube, Instagram and the View. And the NFL. And Russia, Russia, Russia. And Jan 6 and Orange Man Bad. And Pornography. And Big Macs. And Loan Foregiveness. And plenty of Fake Money.
Bread and Circuses. And The Emperor's New Clothes.
The average American is blissfully ignorant of reality, I fear that very soon the average American will realize that their state of bliss was in reality a curse.
Hezbollah’s restraint shows that Iran knows it was the intended target.
Seems like the op has backfired and there is no recognised casus belli for war with Iran.
Israel was hoping for a flash war in Lebanon while Uncle Sam would take on the might of the Persians. Now Israel is left with a mess on its hands.
I’m just wondering how on earth the neocons will justify a war with Iran, presumably it will have to be the mother of all false flags.
Well, the latest narrative is that Hezbollah has financially backed Hamas, so that would make them a "legitimate" target of Israel. If/when Israel and Hezbollah get into a war (when whatever skirmishing between them is escalated) then the narrative will be the U.S. military is justified in intervening to attack Hezbollah to protect Israel and prevent a larger regional war. Just sayin'.
And if Hezbollah defeats an Israeli army backed by US intervention...and the US loses...again???
Avvy. @free0xSage
Confirmed: 85%-90% of the men stripped to their underwear, blindfolded and paraded around in the world's media as "Hamas terrorists" by Israel were in fact civilians. That's according to "Israeli security officials" as quoted in Haaretz