lewrockwell--2020-06-18--How an Internet ‘Persona’ Helped Birth Russiagate

Four years ago today , on June 15 , 2016 , a shadowy Internet persona calling itself “ Guccifer 2.0 ” appeared out of nowhere to claim credit for hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee on behalf of WikiLeaks and implicate Russia by dropping “ telltale ” but synthetically produced Russian “ breadcrumbs ” in his metadata .
Thanks largely to the corporate media , the highly damaging story actually found in those DNC emails — namely , that the DNC had stacked the cards against Bernie Sanders in the party ’ s 2016 primary— was successfully obscured .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the message was that Russia had used G-2.0 to hack into the DNC , interfering in the November 2016 election to help Donald Trump win .
Obsession : Inside the ... York , Byron Buy New $ 28.99 Almost everybody still “ knows ” that — from the man or woman in the street to the forlorn super sleuth , Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III , who actually based indictments of Russian intelligence officers on Guccifer 2.0 .
Blaming Russia was a magnificent distraction from the start and quickly became the vogue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for “ Russiagate ” by Democratic PR gems like Donald Trump “ kissing up ” to former KGB officer Vladimir Putin and their “ bromance ” ( bromides that former President Barack Obama is still using ) .
Four years ago today , “ Russian meddling ” was off and running — on steroids — acquiring far more faux-reality than the evanescent Guccifer 2.0 persona is likely to get .
Here ’ s how it went down : 1 — June 12 : WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announced he had “ emails related @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” 2 — June 14 : DNC contractor CrowdStrike tells the media that malware has been found on the DNC server and claims there is evidence it was injected by Russians .
3 — June 15 : Guccifer 2.0 arises from nowhere ; affirms the DNC/CrowdStrike allegations of the day before ; claims responsibility for hacking the DNC ; claims to be a WikiLeaks source ; and posts a document that forensic examination shows was deliberately tainted with “ Russian fingerprints.
” This to “ corroborate ” claims made by CrowdStrike executives the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of fakery , there is hard evidence that G-2.0 was operating mostly in U.S. time zones and with local settings peculiar to a device configured for use within the U.S. , as Tim Leonard reports here and here . )
Leonard is a software developer who started to catalog and archive evidence related to Guccifer 2.0 in 2017 and has issued detailed reports on digital forensic discoveries made by various independent researchers — as well as his own — over the past three years .
Leonard points out that WikiLeaks said it did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent it , though it later published similar emails , opening the possibility that whoever created G2.0 knew what WikiLeaks had and sent it duplicates with the Russian fingerprints .
As Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity ( VIPS ) told President Trump in a memorandum of July 24 , 2017 , titled “ Was the ‘ Russian Hack ’ an Inside Job ?
” : “ We do not think that the June 12 , 14 , & 15 timing was pure coincidence .
Rather , it suggests the start of a pre-emptive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might have been ready to publish and to ‘ show ’ that it came from a Russian hack.
” We added this about Guccifer 2.0 at the time : Revolution : Trump , Was ... McFarland , KT Best Price : $ 26.08 Buy New $ 22.54 “ The recent forensic studies fill in a critical gap .
Why the FBI neglected to perform any independent forensics on the original ‘ Guccifer 2.0 ’ material remains a mystery – as does the lack of any sign that the ‘ hand-picked analysts ’ from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who wrote the misnomered ‘ Intelligence Community ’ Assessment dated January 6 , 2017 , gave any attention to forensics.
” In our July 24 , 2017 memorandum we also told President Trump that independent cyber investigators and VIPS had determined “ that the purported ‘ hack ’ of the DNC by Guccifer 2.0 was not a hack , by Russia or anyone else .
Rather it originated with a copy ( onto an external storage device – a thumb drive , for example ) by an insider .
Information was leaked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know who or what the murky Guccifer 2.0 is .
You may wish to ask the FBI.
” [ Emphasis added. ]
.
Right .
Ask the FBI .
At this stage , President Trump might have better luck asking Attorney General William Barr , to whom the FBI is accountable — at least in theory .
As for Barr , VIPS informed him in a June 5 , 2020 memorandum that the head of CrowdStrike had admitted under oath on Dec. 5 , 2017 that CrowdStrike has no concrete evidence that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 22 , 2016 were hacked — by Russia or by anyone else .
[ Emphasis added . ]
This important revelation has so far escaped attention in the Russia-Russia-Russia “ mainstream ” media ( surprise , surprise , surprise ! )
.
Back to the Birth of G-2 It boggles the mind that so few Americans could see Russiagate for the farce it was .
Most of the blame , I suppose , rests on a thoroughly complicit Establishment media .
Recall : Assange ’ s announcement on June 12 , 2016 that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ six weeks before the Democratic convention .
I could almost hear the cry go up from the DNC : Houston , We Have a Problem !
Here ’ s how bad the problem for the Democrats was .
The DNC emails eventually published by WikiLeaks on July 22 , 2016 , just three days before the Democratic convention , had been stolen on May 23 and 25 .
This would have given the DNC time to learn that the stolen material included documents showing how the DNC and Clinton campaign had manipulated the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indignities , such that Sanders ’ chances of winning the nomination amounted to those of a snowball ’ s chance in the netherworld .
To say this was an embarrassment would be the understatement of 2016 .
Worse still , given the documentary nature of the emails and WikiLeaks ’ enviable track record for accuracy , there would be no way to challenge their authenticity .
Nevertheless , with the media in full support of the DNC and Clinton , however , it turned out to be a piece of cake to divert @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the “ act of war ” ( per John McCain ) that the Russian “ cyber attack ” was said to represent .
Unmasking Obama : The F ... Cashill , Jack Buy New $ 27.11 The outcome speaks as much to the lack of sophistication on the part of American TV watchers , as it does to the sophistication of the Democrats-media complicity and cover-up .
How come so few could figure out what was going down ?
It was not hard for some experienced observers to sniff a rat .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ fellow Consortium News columnist Patrick Lawrence , who immediately saw through the Magnificent Diversion .
I do not know if he fancies duck hunting , but he shot the Russiagate canard quite dead — well before the Democratic convention was over .
In late July 2016 , Lawrence was sickened , as he watched what he immediately recognized as a well planned , highly significant deflection .
The Clinton-friendly media was excoriating Russia for “ hacking ” DNC emails and was glossing over what the emails showed ; namely , that the Clinton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Sanders .
It was already clear even then that the Democrats , with invaluable help from intelligence leaks and other prepping to the media , had made good use of those six weeks between Assange ’ s announcement that he had emails “ related to Hillary Clinton ” and the opening of the convention .
The media was primed to castigate the Russians for “ hacking , ” while taking a prime role in the deflection .
It was a liminal event of historic significance , as we now know .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charm — and then it grew like Topsy .
Lawrence said he had “ fire in the belly ” on the morning of July 25 as the Democratic convention began and wrote what follows pretty much “ in one long , furious exhale ” within 12 hours of when the media started really pushing the “ the Russians-did-it ” narrative .
Below is a slightly shortened text of his article : “ Now wait a minute , all you upper-case “ D ” Democrats .
A flood light suddenly shines on your party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to fix the primary process and sink the Sanders campaign , and within a day you are on about the evil Russians having hacked into your computers to sabotage our elections … Is this a joke ?
Are you kidding ?
Is nothing beneath your dignity ?
Is this how lowly you rate the intelligence of American voters ?
… Clowns .
Subversives .
Do you know who you remind me of ?
I will tell you : Nixon , in his famously red-baiting campaign — a disgusting episode — … during his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1950 .
Your political tricks are as transparent and anti-democratic as his , it is perfectly fair to say .
I confess to a heated reaction to events since last Friday [ July 22 ] among the Democrats , specifically in the Democratic National Committee .
I should briefly explain … Trumping Obama : How Pr ... Margolis , Matt Best Price : $ 11.29 Buy New $ 11.69 The Sanders people have long charged that the DNC has had its fingers on the scale , as one of them put it the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Clinton ’ s nomination .
The prints were everywhere — many those of Debbie Wasserman Schultz , who has repeatedly been accused of anti-Sanders bias .
Schultz , do not forget , co-chaired Clinton ’ s 2008 campaign against Barack Obama .
That would be enough to disqualify her as the DNC ’ s chair in any society that takes ethics seriously , but it is not enough in our great country .
Chairwoman she has been for the past five years .
Last Friday WikiLeaks published nearly 20,000 DNC email messages providing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were right all along .
The worst of these , involving senior DNC officers , proposed Nixon-esque smears having to do with everything from ineptitude within the Sanders campaign to Sanders as a Jew in name only and an atheist by conviction .
Wasserman fell from grace on Monday .
Other than this , Democrats from President Obama to Clinton and numerous others atop the party ’ s power structure have had nothing to say , as in nothing , about this unforgivable breach.They have , rather , been full of praise for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ D.N.C.
’ s chief financial officer , now tries to deny that his Jew-baiting remark referred to Sanders .
Good luck , Brad : Bernie is the only Jew in the room .
The caker came on Sunday , when Robby Mook , Clinton ’ s campaign manager , appeared on ABC ’ s “ This Week ” and … CNN ’ s “ State of the Union ” to assert that the D.N.C.
’ s mail was hacked “ by the Russians for the purpose of helping Donald Trump.
” He knows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 24 hours — because “ experts ” — experts he will never name — have told him so .
… What ’ s disturbing to us is that experts are telling us that Russian state actors broke into the DNC , stole these emails , and other experts are now saying that Russians are releasing these emails for the purpose of helping Donald Trump .
Is that what disturbs you , Robby ?
Interesting .
Unsubstantiated hocus-pocus , not the implications of these events for the integrity of Democratic nominations and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the more pressing topic , Robby .
You are far too long on anonymous experts for my taste , Robby .
And what kind of expert , now that I think of it , is able to report to you as to the intentions of Russian hackers — assuming for a sec that this concocted narrative has substance ?
Making lemonade out of a lemon , the Clinton campaign now goes for a twofer .
Watch as it advances the Russians-did-it thesis on the basis of nothing , then shoots the messenger , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — and , finally , gets to ignore the nature of its transgression ( which any paying-attention person must consider grave ) .
Preposterous , readers .
Join me , please , in having absolutely none of it .
There is no “ Russian actor ” at the bottom of this swamp , to put my position bluntly .
You will never , ever be offered persuasive evidence otherwise .
Reluctantly , I credit the Clinton campaign and the DNC with reading American paranoia well enough such that they may make this junk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entire crowd-control machine is up and running , The New York Times had a long , unprofessional piece about Russian culprits in its Monday editions .
It followed Mook ’ s lead faithfully : not one properly supported fact , not one identified “ expert , ” and more conditional verbs than you ’ ve had hot dinners — everything cast as “ could , ” “ might , ” “ appears , ” “ would , ” “ seems , ” “ may.
” Nothing , once again , as to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the American political process .
Now comes the law .
The FBI just announced that it will investigate — no , not the DNC ’ s fraudulent practices ( which surely breach statutes ) , but “ those who pose a threat in cyberspace.
” … it is the invocation of the Russians that sends me over the edge .
My bones grow weary … We must take the last few days ’ events as a signal of what Clinton ’ s policy toward Russia will look like should she prevail in November @ @ @ @ @ @ @ latest disgrace into an occasion for another round of Russophobia is mere preface , but in it you can read her commitment to the new crusade .
Trump , to make this work , must be blamed for his willingness to negotiate with Moscow .
This is now among his sins .
Got that ?
Anyone who says he will talk to the Russians has transgressed the American code .
… Does this not make Hillary Clinton more than a touch Nixonian ?
I am developing nitrogen bends from watching the American political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from down .
Which way for a breath of air ?
” A year later Lawrence interviewed several of us VIPS , including our two former NSA technical directors and on Aug. 9 , 2017 published an article for The Nation titled , “ A New Report Raises Big Questions About Last Year ’ s DNC Hack.
” Lawrence wrote , “ Former NSA experts , now members of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity ( VIPS ) , say it wasn ’ t a hack at all , but a leak—an inside job @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s system.
” And so it was .
But , sadly , that cut across the grain of the acceptable Russia-gate narrative at The Nation at the time .
Its staff , seriously struck by the HWHW ( Hillary Would Have Won ) virus , rose up in rebellion .
A short time later , there was no more room at The Nation for his independent-minded writing .

Four years ago today, on June 15, 2016, a shadowy Internet persona calling itself “Guccifer 2.0” appeared out of nowhere to claim credit for hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee on behalf of WikiLeaks and implicate Russia by dropping “telltale” but synthetically produced Russian “breadcrumbs” in his metadata.
Thanks largely to the corporate media, the highly damaging story actually found in those DNC emails — namely, that the DNC had stacked the cards against Bernie Sanders in the party’s 2016 primary— was successfully obscured.
The media was the message; and the message was that Russia had used G-2.0 to hack into the DNC, interfering in the November 2016 election to help Donald Trump win.
Obsession: Inside the ... York, Byron Buy New $28.99 (as of 03:14 UTC - Details) Almost everybody still “knows” that — from the man or woman in the street to the forlorn super sleuth, Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, who actually based indictments of Russian intelligence officers on Guccifer 2.0.
Blaming Russia was a magnificent distraction from the start and quickly became the vogue.
The soil had already been cultivated for “Russiagate” by Democratic PR gems like Donald Trump “kissing up” to former KGB officer Vladimir Putin and their “bromance” (bromides that former President Barack Obama is still using). Four years ago today, “Russian meddling” was off and running — on steroids — acquiring far more faux-reality than the evanescent Guccifer 2.0 persona is likely to get.
Here’s how it went down:
1 — June 12: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announced he had “emails related to Hillary Clinton which are pending publication.”
2 — June 14: DNC contractor CrowdStrike tells the media that malware has been found on the DNC server and claims there is evidence it was injected by Russians.
3 — June 15: Guccifer 2.0 arises from nowhere; affirms the DNC/CrowdStrike allegations of the day before; claims responsibility for hacking the DNC; claims to be a WikiLeaks source; and posts a document that forensic examination shows was deliberately tainted with “Russian fingerprints.” This to “corroborate” claims made by CrowdStrike executives the day before.
Adding to other signs of fakery, there is hard evidence that G-2.0 was operating mostly in U.S. time zones and with local settings peculiar to a device configured for use within the U.S., as Tim Leonard reports here and here.)
Leonard is a software developer who started to catalog and archive evidence related to Guccifer 2.0 in 2017 and has issued detailed reports on digital forensic discoveries made by various independent researchers — as well as his own — over the past three years. Leonard points out that WikiLeaks said it did not use any of the emails G2.0 sent it, though it later published similar emails, opening the possibility that whoever created G2.0 knew what WikiLeaks had and sent it duplicates with the Russian fingerprints.
As Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) told President Trump in a memorandum of July 24, 2017, titled “Was the ‘Russian Hack’ an Inside Job?”:
“We do not think that the June 12, 14, & 15 timing was pure coincidence. Rather, it suggests the start of a pre-emptive move to associate Russia with anything WikiLeaks might have been ready to publish and to ‘show’ that it came from a Russian hack.”
We added this about Guccifer 2.0 at the time: Revolution: Trump, Was... McFarland, KT Best Price: $26.08 Buy New $22.54 (as of 03:14 UTC - Details)
“The recent forensic studies fill in a critical gap. Why the FBI neglected to perform any independent forensics on the original ‘Guccifer 2.0’ material remains a mystery – as does the lack of any sign that the ‘hand-picked analysts’ from the FBI, CIA, and NSA, who wrote the misnomered ‘Intelligence Community’ Assessment dated January 6, 2017, gave any attention to forensics.”
Guccifer 2.0 Seen As a Fraud
In our July 24, 2017 memorandum we also told President Trump that independent cyber investigators and VIPS had determined “that the purported ‘hack’ of the DNC by Guccifer 2.0 was not a hack, by Russia or anyone else. Rather it originated with a copy (onto an external storage device – a thumb drive, for example) by an insider. Information was leaked to implicate Russia. We do not know who or what the murky Guccifer 2.0 is. You may wish to ask the FBI.” [Emphasis added.].
Right. Ask the FBI. At this stage, President Trump might have better luck asking Attorney General William Barr, to whom the FBI is accountable — at least in theory. As for Barr, VIPS informed him in a June 5, 2020 memorandum that the head of CrowdStrike had admitted under oath on Dec. 5, 2017 that CrowdStrike has no concrete evidence that the DNC emails published by WikiLeaks on July 22, 2016 were hacked — by Russia or by anyone else. [Emphasis added.] This important revelation has so far escaped attention in the Russia-Russia-Russia “mainstream” media (surprise, surprise, surprise!).
Back to the Birth of G-2
It boggles the mind that so few Americans could see Russiagate for the farce it was. Most of the blame, I suppose, rests on a thoroughly complicit Establishment media. Recall: Assange’s announcement on June 12, 2016 that he had Hillary Clinton-related emails came just six weeks before the Democratic convention. I could almost hear the cry go up from the DNC: Houston, We Have a Problem!
Here’s how bad the problem for the Democrats was. The DNC emails eventually published by WikiLeaks on July 22, 2016, just three days before the Democratic convention, had been stolen on May 23 and 25. This would have given the DNC time to learn that the stolen material included documents showing how the DNC and Clinton campaign had manipulated the primaries and created a host of other indignities, such that Sanders’ chances of winning the nomination amounted to those of a snowball’s chance in the netherworld.
To say this was an embarrassment would be the understatement of 2016. Worse still, given the documentary nature of the emails and WikiLeaks’ enviable track record for accuracy, there would be no way to challenge their authenticity. Nevertheless, with the media in full support of the DNC and Clinton, however, it turned out to be a piece of cake to divert attention from the content of the emails to the “act of war” (per John McCain) that the Russian “cyber attack” was said to represent. Unmasking Obama: The F... Cashill, Jack Buy New $27.11 (as of 04:59 UTC - Details)
The outcome speaks as much to the lack of sophistication on the part of American TV watchers, as it does to the sophistication of the Democrats-media complicity and cover-up. How come so few could figure out what was going down?
It was not hard for some experienced observers to sniff a rat. Among the first to speak out was fellow Consortium News columnist Patrick Lawrence, who immediately saw through the Magnificent Diversion. I do not know if he fancies duck hunting, but he shot the Russiagate canard quite dead — well before the Democratic convention was over.
Magnificent Diversion
In late July 2016, Lawrence was sickened, as he watched what he immediately recognized as a well planned, highly significant deflection. The Clinton-friendly media was excoriating Russia for “hacking” DNC emails and was glossing over what the emails showed; namely, that the Clinton Dems had pretty much stolen the nomination from Sanders.
It was already clear even then that the Democrats, with invaluable help from intelligence leaks and other prepping to the media, had made good use of those six weeks between Assange’s announcement that he had emails “related to Hillary Clinton” and the opening of the convention.
The media was primed to castigate the Russians for “hacking,” while taking a prime role in the deflection. It was a liminal event of historic significance, as we now know. The “Magnificent Diversion” worked like a charm — and then it grew like Topsy.
Lawrence said he had “fire in the belly” on the morning of July 25 as the Democratic convention began and wrote what follows pretty much “in one long, furious exhale” within 12 hours of when the media started really pushing the “the Russians-did-it” narrative.
Below is a slightly shortened text of his article:
“Now wait a minute, all you upper-case “D” Democrats. A flood light suddenly shines on your party apparatus, revealing its grossly corrupt machinations to fix the primary process and sink the Sanders campaign, and within a day you are on about the evil Russians having hacked into your computers to sabotage our elections … Is this a joke? Are you kidding? Is nothing beneath your dignity? Is this how lowly you rate the intelligence of American voters? … Clowns. Subversives. Do you know who you remind me of? I will tell you: Nixon, in his famously red-baiting campaign — a disgusting episode — … during his first run for the Senate, in 1950. Your political tricks are as transparent and anti-democratic as his, it is perfectly fair to say. I confess to a heated reaction to events since last Friday [July 22] among the Democrats, specifically in the Democratic National Committee. I should briefly explain … Trumping Obama: How Pr... Margolis, Matt Best Price: $11.29 Buy New $11.69 (as of 04:05 UTC - Details) The Sanders people have long charged that the DNC has had its fingers on the scale, as one of them put it the other day, in favor of Hillary Clinton’s nomination. The prints were everywhere — many those of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who has repeatedly been accused of anti-Sanders bias. Schultz, do not forget, co-chaired Clinton’s 2008 campaign against Barack Obama. That would be enough to disqualify her as the DNC’s chair in any society that takes ethics seriously, but it is not enough in our great country. Chairwoman she has been for the past five years. Last Friday WikiLeaks published nearly 20,000 DNC email messages providing abundant proof that Sanders and his staff were right all along. The worst of these, involving senior DNC officers, proposed Nixon-esque smears having to do with everything from ineptitude within the Sanders campaign to Sanders as a Jew in name only and an atheist by conviction. Wasserman fell from grace on Monday. Other than this, Democrats from President Obama to Clinton and numerous others atop the party’s power structure have had nothing to say, as in nothing, about this unforgivable breach.They have, rather, been full of praise for Wasserman Schultz. Brad Marshall, the D.N.C.’s chief financial officer, now tries to deny that his Jew-baiting remark referred to Sanders. Good luck, Brad: Bernie is the only Jew in the room. The caker came on Sunday, when Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and … CNN’s “State of the Union” to assert that the D.N.C.’s mail was hacked “by the Russians for the purpose of helping Donald Trump.” He knows this — knows it in a matter of 24 hours — because “experts” — experts he will never name — have told him so. … What’s disturbing to us is that experts are telling us that Russian state actors broke into the DNC, stole these emails, and other experts are now saying that Russians are releasing these emails for the purpose of helping Donald Trump. Is that what disturbs you, Robby? Interesting. Unsubstantiated hocus-pocus, not the implications of these events for the integrity of Democratic nominations and the American political process? The latter is the more pressing topic, Robby. You are far too long on anonymous experts for my taste, Robby. And what kind of expert, now that I think of it, is able to report to you as to the intentions of Russian hackers — assuming for a sec that this concocted narrative has substance? Making lemonade out of a lemon, the Clinton campaign now goes for a twofer. Watch as it advances the Russians-did-it thesis on the basis of nothing, then shoots the messenger, then associates Trump with its own mess — and, finally, gets to ignore the nature of its transgression (which any paying-attention person must consider grave). Preposterous, readers. Join me, please, in having absolutely none of it. There is no “Russian actor” at the bottom of this swamp, to put my position bluntly. You will never, ever be offered persuasive evidence otherwise. Reluctantly, I credit the Clinton campaign and the DNC with reading American paranoia well enough such that they may make this junk stick. In a clear sign the entire crowd-control machine is up and running, The New York Times had a long, unprofessional piece about Russian culprits in its Monday editions. It followed Mook’s lead faithfully: not one properly supported fact, not one identified “expert,” and more conditional verbs than you’ve had hot dinners — everything cast as “could,” “might,” “appears,” “would,” “seems,” “may.” Nothing, once again, as to the very serious implications of this affair for the American political process. Now comes the law. The FBI just announced that it will investigate — no, not the DNC’s fraudulent practices (which surely breach statutes), but “those who pose a threat in cyberspace.” … it is the invocation of the Russians that sends me over the edge. My bones grow weary … We must take the last few days’ events as a signal of what Clinton’s policy toward Russia will look like should she prevail in November. … Turning her party’s latest disgrace into an occasion for another round of Russophobia is mere preface, but in it you can read her commitment to the new crusade. Trump, to make this work, must be blamed for his willingness to negotiate with Moscow. This is now among his sins. Got that? Anyone who says he will talk to the Russians has transgressed the American code. … Does this not make Hillary Clinton more than a touch Nixonian? I am developing nitrogen bends from watching the American political spectacle. One can hardly tell up from down. Which way for a breath of air?”
A year later Lawrence interviewed several of us VIPS, including our two former NSA technical directors and on Aug. 9, 2017 published an article for The Nation titled, “A New Report Raises Big Questions About Last Year’s DNC Hack.”
Lawrence wrote, “Former NSA experts, now members of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), say it wasn’t a hack at all, but a leak—an inside job by someone with access to the DNC’s system.”
And so it was. But, sadly, that cut across the grain of the acceptable Russia-gate narrative at The Nation at the time. Its staff, seriously struck by the HWHW (Hillary Would Have Won) virus, rose up in rebellion. A short time later, there was no more room at The Nation for his independent-minded writing.
Reprinted with the author’s permission.


lewrockwell--2020-06-18--YouTube Bans Mercola Videos

YouTube Bans Mercola Videos

The noose of censorship continues to tighten .
I recently reported how Twitter now falsely labels Mercola article links as unsafe and malicious , warning potential readers my site might steal passwords and other personal data , or install malware on your computer .
It is absolutely false .
On the contrary , my site now has a firewall preventing Google analytic scripts from running on our pages , thereby protecting you from Google ’ s intrusive data mining .
Unfortunately , by declaring our pages dangerous , they successfully suppress about 95 % of our Twitter views .
Google @ @ @ @ @ @ @ content from its searches mid-2019 .
I wrote about this in “ Shocking Proof How Google Censors Health News ” and “ Google Buries Mercola in Latest Search Engine Update.
” Facebook also suppressed our reach , and in August 2019 , I made the decision to stop supporting their unscrupulous data mining efforts by leaving Facebook .
The Miraculous Results ... Jeff T Bowles Best Price : $ 4.97 Buy New $ 9.99 More recently , NewsGuard ( again ) classified mercola.com as fake news because we reported evidence suggesting SARS-CoV-2 virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the biosafety level 4 laboratory in Wuhan City , China , and two of my COVID-19 interviews have also been deleted off Spotify without recourse .
Spotify claims it only prohibits illegal content , hate content and infringing content .
My interviews about coronavirus with Brian Hoyer and Judy Mikovits , Ph.D. , clearly do not fall under any of these categories , yet they were removed anyway .
As expected , YouTube has now descended upon us and has started banning our videos , a majority of which are interviews with health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and viewpoints on COVID-19 .
They include the following videos that you can watch in full on the uncensored Bitchute that many alternative media sites are now using for their video content .
YouTube also banned my video discussing the World Health Organization , and one in which I provide information about and instructions on how to use hydrogen peroxide therapy as a prophylactic against COVID-19 .
YouTube Fulfills Promise to Censor on Behalf of the WHO While disappointing , this censorship was not unexpected , considering YouTube ’ s CEO went on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the World Health Organization .
In an April 23 , 2020 , article,1 Business Insider reported statements made by YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki , wife of Google product director Dennis Troper : Vital Nutrients - Resv ... Buy New $ 51.90 ( $ 0.86 / Count ) It ’ s important to realize that by banning anything that contradicts the WHO ’ s recommendations , Wojcicki asserts that the WHO is infallible , which it clearly is not .
There ’ s no shortage of examples proving WHO has been wrong on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relied upon as the premier , let alone sole , source of information and medical instruction .
The WHO is beyond conflicted , and because of its existing funding fails to complete its initial mandate to promote the attainment of “ the highest possible level of health ” by all peoples .
Since the U.S. government has withdrawn its support from the WHO , Bill Gates — with all of his drug company interests — is now its largest funder .
The WHO Has Deep Conflicts of Interest The idea that the WHO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ source of information is incredibly dangerous .
Where are the checks and balances to its power and influence ?
And why should we swallow everything it says without question , when it has previously been strongly criticized for its handling of other pandemics , such as the 2009 swine flu pandemic ?
2 In June 2010 , the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly ( PACE ) concluded “ the handling of the pandemic by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) , EU health agencies and national governments led to a ‘ waste @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and unjustified scares and fears about the health risks faced by the European public . '
” 3 Based on the data we now have , can anyone seriously say that large sums of money have not been wasted and that the narrative of the pandemic response has not pushed unjustifiable fears about SARS-CoV-2 health risks , as it pertains to a majority of the population ?
Back in 2010 , PACE concluded that the drug industry had influenced the organization ’ s decision-making and had been a driving force behind its fearmongering.4 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re seeing the same influence in action right now , as we continue to be told life can not go back to normal until we get a vaccine and inoculate the whole world .
Meanwhile , Big Tech — the surveillance capitalists backing the WHO and the drug industry and doing their bidding — are suppressing and outright banning preventive and alternative strategies , the most obvious examples being vitamin C , vitamin D , ozone therapy , hyperbaric oxygen and hydroxychloroquine , all of which I ’ ve discussed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guarantee that the WHO is making correct , unbiased decisions .
In fact , the evidence points in the opposite direction , and this is precisely why one must not silence experts who challenge and point out flaws in the narrative .
Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , which typically gets top billing when it comes to infectious disease expertise , has issued recommendations that conflict with those issued by the WHO over the course of this pandemic , such as whether healthy people should5 or should not6 wear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Defense ... Buy New $ 6.99 ( $ 0.58 / Count ) The examples of censorship are so numerous at this point , it ’ s impossible to present a full picture of just how much information is being ruthlessly removed .
Here is but a small handful of recent examples that fortunately have received some measure of attention : • The documentary “ Plandemic ” by Mikki Willis , featuring Judy Mikovits , Ph.D. was banned from social media platforms and hidden by Google .
If you do an online search for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of pages with articles calling it a hoax , a fraud or the dreaded old “ conspiracy theory.
” Google Drive even removed downloaded copies of the film from users ’ personal files .
• A video by Knut Wittkowski , Ph.D. , DSc , an epidemiologist and former head of biostatistics , epidemiology and research design at Rockefeller University , was removed by YouTube .
In it , he challenges the wisdom of lockdown orders .
• A Full Measure News report in which award-winning news reporter Sharyl Attkisson interviewed doctors reporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ YouTube .
The segment also looked at the potential financial motives driving the mass media ’ s disdain for the drug , while promoting remdesivir and as-of-yet-unavailable vaccines .
• In April 2020 , Twitter suspended the account of the publicly traded biotech company AYTU BioScience after it shared information about its novel UV light therapy for COVID-19 , which it is developing in collaboration with Cedars-Sinai medical center .
YouTube also removed a video demonstrating how the technology works .
• YouTube also took down a viral video by Drs .
Dan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Accelerated Urgent Care in Bakersfield , California , in which they questioned the accuracy of COVID-19 mortality statistics and the logic behind California ’ s stay-at-home order .
All of these examples are part of Silicon Valley ’ s surveillance capitalism apparatus .
It ’ s really all about controlling entire populations and shaping public opinion to benefit certain companies , industries and/or political parties .
And it ’ s shockingly effective .
Google ’ s search algorithms alone have the power to shift 15 million votes leading up to the 2020 presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can learn more about this in “ Google — A Dictator Unlike Anything the World Has Ever Known , ” in which I interview Robert Epstein , Ph.D. , a senior research psychologist for the American Institute of Behavioral Research and Technology , where for the last decade he has helped expose Google ’ s manipulative and deceptive practices .
Free Speech Being Decimated — Can We Live Free Without It ?
Can health be maintained if you only have access to one point of view ?
Can democracy be maintained without equal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Can what is right for individuals and the nation as a whole be ascertained without being able to hear differing points of view ?
I don ’ t think so .
Censorship is anathema to health and freedom across the board .
Now , even those who only a few months ago didn ’ t care about the censoring of certain individuals or groups are starting to wake up to see the dangers of our current trajectory .
Clearly , action must be taken if we are to maintain any semblance of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , President Trump took the initial step of signing an Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship,13 which requires the Federal Communications Commission to clarify regulations under Section 23014 of the Communications Decency Act .
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is what , so far , has allowed social media platforms to pick and choose what they allow on their site while still being afforded legal protections .
Zicam Cold Remedy Citr ... Buy New $ 9.97 ( $ 0.40 / Count ) In simple terms , if you ’ re an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not liable for what users are posting on your platform , but you still have the right to block harmful content ( such as pornography ) provided it ’ s done in good faith .
If you ’ re a publisher , on the other hand , you can be held legally responsible for the content you post , and therefore have free reign over the viewpoints you will or will not allow .
Social media giants like Twitter and Facebook have long asserted that they are internet service providers , and therefore @ @ @ @ @ @ @ systematically censor only certain points of view , which is the complete opposite of what Section 230 sought to achieve .
Within 60 days , the Secretary of Commerce , “ in consultation with the Attorney General , and acting through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration ( NTIA ) , ” is required to file a petition for rulemaking with the FCC , and the FCC is asked to act “ expeditiously ” in presenting its regulations .
Who Decides What ’ s Right and What ’ s Not ?
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 21st century we ’ re on a fast-track into a new intellectual and scientific Dark Age .
Just who is actually qualified enough to decide what content is misleading or what health practices are harmful ?
Unequivocal scientific consensus is hard to find , no matter what we ’ re talking about , and when it comes to a novel virus that is still being actively investigated , it seems foolish to ban any view , no matter how unpopular it might be with the scientific , industrial , military and political establishments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get to the truth and find out what works ?
As long as we have scientists looking into things , the science on any given topic will never be fully settled .
For this reason , avoiding conflicting viewpoints and differing scientific findings will be virtually impossible .
The alternative is to cease scientific inquiry altogether and surrender to opinion alone .
The Best of Joseph Mercola

The noose of censorship continues to tighten. I recently reported how Twitter now falsely labels Mercola article links as unsafe and malicious, warning potential readers my site might steal passwords and other personal data, or install malware on your computer.
It is absolutely false. On the contrary, my site now has a firewall preventing Google analytic scripts from running on our pages, thereby protecting you from Google’s intrusive data mining. Unfortunately, by declaring our pages dangerous, they successfully suppress about 95% of our Twitter views.
Google, of course, started banning Mercola content from its searches mid-2019. I wrote about this in “Shocking Proof How Google Censors Health News” and “Google Buries Mercola in Latest Search Engine Update.” Facebook also suppressed our reach, and in August 2019, I made the decision to stop supporting their unscrupulous data mining efforts by leaving Facebook.
The Miraculous Results... Bowles, Jeff T Best Price: $4.25 Buy New $6.99 (as of 01:50 UTC - Details) More recently, NewsGuard (again) classified mercola.com as fake news because we reported evidence suggesting SARS-CoV-2 virus could be a manmade virus leaked from the biosafety level 4 laboratory in Wuhan City, China, and two of my COVID-19 interviews have also been deleted off Spotify without recourse.
Spotify claims it only prohibits illegal content, hate content and infringing content. My interviews about coronavirus with Brian Hoyer and Judy Mikovits, Ph.D., clearly do not fall under any of these categories, yet they were removed anyway.
YouTube Bans Competing Health Views
As expected, YouTube has now descended upon us and has started banning our videos, a majority of which are interviews with health experts sharing their medical or scientific expertise and viewpoints on COVID-19. They include the following videos that you can watch in full on the uncensored Bitchute that many alternative media sites are now using for their video content.

YouTube also banned my video discussing the World Health Organization, and one in which I provide information about and instructions on how to use hydrogen peroxide therapy as a prophylactic against COVID-19.

YouTube Fulfills Promise to Censor on Behalf of the WHO
While disappointing, this censorship was not unexpected, considering YouTube’s CEO went on record saying they will censor anyone speaking against the World Health Organization. In an April 23, 2020, article,1 Business Insider reported statements made by YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, wife of Google product director Dennis Troper: Vital Nutrients - Resv... Buy New $51.90 ($0.86 / Count) (as of 03:55 UTC - Details)
“Wojcicki says the platform will ban content peddling fake or unproven coronavirus remedies. In an interview with CNN, she also suggested that video that ‘goes against’ WHO guidance on the pandemic will be blocked.
For example, she said, content that claimed vitamin C or turmeric would cure people of COVID-19 would be ‘a violation of our policy’ and removed accordingly. She continued: ‘Anything that goes against WHO recommendations would be a violation of our policy …'”
It’s important to realize that by banning anything that contradicts the WHO’s recommendations, Wojcicki asserts that the WHO is infallible, which it clearly is not. There’s no shortage of examples proving WHO has been wrong on many occasions, and should not be relied upon as the premier, let alone sole, source of information and medical instruction.
Big Tech — the surveillance capitalists backing the WHO and the drug industry and doing their bidding — is suppressing and outright banning prophylactics and alternative treatments, the most obvious examples being vitamin C, vitamin D, ozone therapy, hyperbaric oxygen and hydroxychloroquine.
The WHO is beyond conflicted, and because of its existing funding fails to complete its initial mandate to promote the attainment of “the highest possible level of health” by all peoples. Since the U.S. government has withdrawn its support from the WHO, Bill Gates — with all of his drug company interests — is now its largest funder.
The WHO Has Deep Conflicts of Interest
The idea that the WHO is infallible and should be the sole source of information is incredibly dangerous. Where are the checks and balances to its power and influence? And why should we swallow everything it says without question, when it has previously been strongly criticized for its handling of other pandemics, such as the 2009 swine flu pandemic?2
In June 2010, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) concluded “the handling of the pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), EU health agencies and national governments led to a ‘waste of large sums of public money, and unjustified scares and fears about the health risks faced by the European public.'”3
Based on the data we now have, can anyone seriously say that large sums of money have not been wasted and that the narrative of the pandemic response has not pushed unjustifiable fears about SARS-CoV-2 health risks, as it pertains to a majority of the population?
Back in 2010, PACE concluded that the drug industry had influenced the organization’s decision-making and had been a driving force behind its fearmongering.4 Again, there can be little doubt we’re seeing the same influence in action right now, as we continue to be told life cannot go back to normal until we get a vaccine and inoculate the whole world.
Meanwhile, Big Tech — the surveillance capitalists backing the WHO and the drug industry and doing their bidding — are suppressing and outright banning preventive and alternative strategies, the most obvious examples being vitamin C, vitamin D, ozone therapy, hyperbaric oxygen and hydroxychloroquine, all of which I’ve discussed in recent articles.
There is absolutely no guarantee that the WHO is making correct, unbiased decisions. In fact, the evidence points in the opposite direction, and this is precisely why one must not silence experts who challenge and point out flaws in the narrative.
Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which typically gets top billing when it comes to infectious disease expertise, has issued recommendations that conflict with those issued by the WHO over the course of this pandemic, such as whether healthy people should5 or should not6 wear a mask in public. Cold-EEZE Plus Defense... Buy New $6.99 ($0.58 / Count) (as of 02:54 UTC - Details)
Egregious Examples of Censorship
The examples of censorship are so numerous at this point, it’s impossible to present a full picture of just how much information is being ruthlessly removed. Here is but a small handful of recent examples that fortunately have received some measure of attention:
The documentary “Plandemic” by Mikki Willis, featuring Judy Mikovits, Ph.D. was banned from social media platforms and hidden by Google. If you do an online search for it, all you find are dozens of pages with articles calling it a hoax, a fraud or the dreaded old “conspiracy theory.” Google Drive even removed downloaded copies of the film from users’ personal files. 7
A video by Knut Wittkowski, Ph.D., DSc, an epidemiologist and former head of biostatistics, epidemiology and research design at Rockefeller University, was removed by YouTube. In it, he challenges the wisdom of lockdown orders. 8
A Full Measure News report 9 in which award-winning news reporter Sharyl Attkisson interviewed doctors reporting good results with hydroxychloroquine was removed by YouTube. The segment also looked at the potential financial motives driving the mass media’s disdain for the drug, while promoting remdesivir and as-of-yet-unavailable vaccines. 10
in which award-winning news reporter Sharyl Attkisson interviewed doctors reporting good results with hydroxychloroquine was removed by YouTube. The segment also looked at the potential financial motives driving the mass media’s disdain for the drug, while promoting remdesivir and as-of-yet-unavailable vaccines. In April 2020, Twitter suspended the account of the publicly traded biotech company AYTU BioScience after it shared information about its novel UV light therapy for COVID-19, which it is developing in collaboration with Cedars-Sinai medical center. 11 YouTube also removed a video demonstrating how the technology works.
YouTube also removed a video demonstrating how the technology works. YouTube also took down a viral video 12 by Drs. Dan Erickson and Artin Massihi, co-owners of Accelerated Urgent Care in Bakersfield, California, in which they questioned the accuracy of COVID-19 mortality statistics and the logic behind California’s stay-at-home order.
All of these examples are part of Silicon Valley’s surveillance capitalism apparatus. It’s really all about controlling entire populations and shaping public opinion to benefit certain companies, industries and/or political parties. And it’s shockingly effective. Google’s search algorithms alone have the power to shift 15 million votes leading up to the 2020 presidential election, according to calculations.
You can learn more about this in “Google — A Dictator Unlike Anything the World Has Ever Known,” in which I interview Robert Epstein, Ph.D., a senior research psychologist for the American Institute of Behavioral Research and Technology, where for the last decade he has helped expose Google’s manipulative and deceptive practices.
Free Speech Being Decimated — Can We Live Free Without It?
Can health be maintained if you only have access to one point of view? Can democracy be maintained without equal access to all sides of an issue? Can what is right for individuals and the nation as a whole be ascertained without being able to hear differing points of view? I don’t think so. Censorship is anathema to health and freedom across the board.
Now, even those who only a few months ago didn’t care about the censoring of certain individuals or groups are starting to wake up to see the dangers of our current trajectory. Clearly, action must be taken if we are to maintain any semblance of personal liberty.
May 28, 2020, President Trump took the initial step of signing an Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship,13 which requires the Federal Communications Commission to clarify regulations under Section 23014 of the Communications Decency Act.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is what, so far, has allowed social media platforms to pick and choose what they allow on their site while still being afforded legal protections. Zicam Cold Remedy Citr... Buy New $9.97 ($0.40 / Count) (as of 03:17 UTC - Details)
In simple terms, if you’re an internet service provider, you’re not liable for what users are posting on your platform, but you still have the right to block harmful content (such as pornography) provided it’s done in good faith. If you’re a publisher, on the other hand, you can be held legally responsible for the content you post, and therefore have free reign over the viewpoints you will or will not allow.
Social media giants like Twitter and Facebook have long asserted that they are internet service providers, and therefore not liable for content. Yet they systematically censor only certain points of view, which is the complete opposite of what Section 230 sought to achieve.
Within 60 days, the Secretary of Commerce, “in consultation with the Attorney General, and acting through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA),” is required to file a petition for rulemaking with the FCC, and the FCC is asked to act “expeditiously” in presenting its regulations.
Who Decides What’s Right and What’s Not?
It’s hard to fathom that in this 21st century we’re on a fast-track into a new intellectual and scientific Dark Age. Just who is actually qualified enough to decide what content is misleading or what health practices are harmful?
Unequivocal scientific consensus is hard to find, no matter what we’re talking about, and when it comes to a novel virus that is still being actively investigated, it seems foolish to ban any view, no matter how unpopular it might be with the scientific, industrial, military and political establishments.
How else can we possibly ever get to the truth and find out what works? As long as we have scientists looking into things, the science on any given topic will never be fully settled. For this reason, avoiding conflicting viewpoints and differing scientific findings will be virtually impossible. The alternative is to cease scientific inquiry altogether and surrender to opinion alone.
Sources and References
The Best of Dr. Joseph Mercola


Twilight Zone USA

Growing up in a communist regime was like living in a twilight zone where everything had gone topsy-turvy .
If you ’ ve never been to a twilight zone , it is a most curious phenomenon .
It comes into existence when in a certain country or a geographic location a blatantly false narrative takes hold of the collective psyche .
The narrative of the twilight zone of my youth went roughly as follows : Socialism was the greatest socio-economic system ever devised while capitalism was very , very bad .
The Soviet Union was a paradisiacal land of freedom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The United States , on the other hand , was a country of exploitation and oppression where most people were bound , destitute and miserable .
This official narrative was constantly and relentlessly promulgated from every quarter of our twilight zone : television , radio , textbooks , arts , newspapers , magazines , etc .
Needless to say , the narrative ran in complete contravention of reality .
The actual truth was that socialism was no good .
On the other hand , most people in the United States were free , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Soviet Union was pretty much an all-around hellhole .
Those who attempted to point out the truth or question the authorized storyline were promptly silenced , suppressed and punished .
As a result of the swift and efficient censorship the false narrative prevailed and took a deep hold on the societal mind .
And because it served as the paradigm for reality , it distorted and turned upside down almost every aspect of life : the good was bad and bad was good ; white was black and black was white .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ became inverted .
Black Rednecks & White ... Sowell , Thomas Buy New $ 10.99 Escaping from behind the Iron Curtain , I thought I was done with twilight zones for good .
But as I watched in amazement the events of the last three weeks , I saw something happen that I would have never dreamed possible : The United States has descended into a twilight zone of its own .
As with every twilight zone , America ’ s also came into existence as the result of a false narrative .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ States of America is a racist country in which black people are oppressed and where systemic racism prevails .
In America every non-black person is racist .
This applies even to those who have never done or said anything that could be conceivably construed as racist .
The racism of such people is unconscious – they simply can not see it due to their white privilege .
As with the communist narrative of old , the claim that the United States is systemically racist and oppressive toward black people is completely false .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ obvious to every reasonable person .
( In case there is doubt , we have discussed this matter at some length here . )
Rather than being oppressed , black people in this country are given protections , resources , privileges and preferential treatment that the majority do not have .
No society in world history has , in fact , done more for the advancement and upliftment of black people than the United States of America .
And this includes all of the black countries and systems that ever existed .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a racist nation was actually quite evident to most people until very recently .
If a month ago someone seriously claimed that America is an institutionally racist country , he would have been viewed either as a professional race hustler or a far fringe crank .
Today , amazingly enough , most of the media , corporate and athletic establishments and officials on all levels of government are proclaiming this very thing .
Out of the countless instances , let us just mention one .
On June 5 , the NFL Commissioner Roger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part : “ We , the NFL , condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black People .
We , the NFL , admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest .
We , the NFL , believe Black Lives Matter.
” We are not going to comment on the vacuousness of these words .
We just note the paradox of this statement being made by the highest official in the NFL , which is a highly exclusive sports association in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But such paradoxes – along with truth in general – are lost on most people these days .
The speed with which the false narrative gained hold of the American psyche is truly astounding .
As the racism claim was gaining its rapid hold on our collective mindset , we witnessed a corresponding frenzy of accusations and kneelings , prostrations , self-flagellation and repentance of white privilege .
All this took place against a backdrop of much destruction and burning cities set ablaze by the “ mostly peaceful ” protesters .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boutiques and taking home armfuls of boxes of iPhones and Nikes furthers the cause of racial justice . )
The Naked Socialist Skousen , Paul B .
Best Price : $ 25.82 Buy New $ 24.95 All this drama is quite inexplicable , especially since the premise behind it is demonstrably false .
It almost feels as along with COVID-19 we have also been affected by some strange malady which could only be called faux racism .
This bug gets straight in the mind and makes people say things that are not true @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by its rapid spread into every sector of our society .
The contagious strain was apparently spawned under the pressure and heat of the lockdown that transformed the bog of decades of racial demagoguery into a toxic mixture of combativeness and guilt in which all kinds of false claims and accusations flourish and thrive .
Today the bug is literally everywhere .
Seeking a respite , the other day I headed over to Audible.com in hope of finding some wholesome title that would take the mind off the enveloping madness .
No sooner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I was in for a bad surprise .
Right across the top of the website ran a big banner titled “ Anti-racism listening list.
” The message below read : “ The fight for racial justice is up to all of us .
If you ’ re not sure where to start , these listening recommendations can help.
” Nowhere on the list could one find Thomas Sowell ’ s excellent book Black Rednecks and White Liberals .
In this book , Sowell – who is a brilliant black thinker and writer – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the United States and the United Kingdom to end the practice of slavery across the world .
( To get a quick idea , you can listen to chapter three of Sowell ’ s book for free here .
It is a veritable tour de force , which , I believe , will be worth your while . )
The cost to the United States of doing away with slavery in terms of effort , treasure and life was incalculable .
It was on the back of this that America was able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gives black people more rights , resources and privileges than other society in the history of civilization .
Sadly , these days such little details and facts are not allowed into acceptable discourse .
Instead , almost everyone seems to be suffering from a bad case of faux racism .
Being under its spell we all now sound the same , repeat the same phrases and clichés , which ring both hollow and untrue .
And the falsity of it all we either do not see it , or do not want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ admit .
Once in its grip a person quickly becomes a shadow of his former self .
We could point to many examples , but we will highlight just a couple .
Recently , Mitt Romney was filmed participating in one of the Black Lives Matter marches in Washington , DC .
When asked why he was there , the Utah senator and former republican presidential candidate replied , “ to end violence and brutality and to make sure that people understand that black lives matter.
” What a sad sight it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ untruths , a man who once used to have a measure of stature and presence suddenly seemed very small as he discharged his empty clichés from behind his mask .
He almost looked like a caricature of those faceless marchers that used to come out en masse during May Day demonstrations in the Soviet Block .
What happened to you , sir , one wanted to exclaim .
WHITE HOUSE REDS : Comm ... Loudon , Trevor Buy New $ 24.95 Or take Jacob Frey , the mayor of Minneapolis , who grovelled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in what looked like some open air tribunal set up by the rioters for doing away with the police .
The woman confronts the mayor thus : “ Jacob Frey , we have a yes or no question for you .
Yes or no , will you commit to defunding Minneapolis Police Department ?
… We don ’ t want no more police .
Is that clear ?
” The lady-judge is obviously unaware that by policing black neighbourhoods across this nation the American law enforcement actually saves black lives .
This has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economist Roland Fryer who has done extensive research into the matter .
You can read about this in a Wall Street Journal article titled “ Good Policing Saves Black Lives.
” But as he is questioned by the Tribunal , Mayor Frey fails to point this out .
Seeing him standing there in jeans and a t-shirt , scared and confused like some errant schoolboy , one could not but feel sorry for him .
Afraid to give the response they do not want to hear , he tries his best to muffle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But the crowd would have none of his waffling – they want to hear the answer loud and clear .
With a microphone stuck into his face , there is no way out .
Caught between a rock and a hard place , the mayor says : “ I do not support full abolition of the Minneapolis Police Department.
” His words draw a firestorm of contempt and fury from the ireful crowd .
“ Get the f*** out of here !
” he is promptly ordered .
Jeered and ridiculed , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ shame , go home , Jacob , go home.
” As the hapless mayor makes his humiliating exist , the incensed assembly continues to yell , “ Shame !
Shame !
Shame !
Shame !
… ” Luckily for Frey , he manages to make off without injury although he does come very close to being physically assaulted on his way out .
As in every twilight zone , severe censorship is the order of the day .
Media outlets – social and otherwise – are now patrolled by ruthless truth squads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report any view or fact that does chime with the official narrative .
Any attempt to question it or to point to facts that show it to be untrue is immediately labelled as “ offensive ” “ racist ” “ dangerous ” or “ a violation of the terms of use.
” As a result of this concentrated and relentless effort , a great amount of valuable educational material – both in the form of video and written word – has been either blocked or removed from various internet outlets and social networks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helpful either , as they appear to be voluntarily self-isolating from anything that even remotely smacks of the truth .
But it is not merely that facts and truth must be expunged from public discourse .
As in every twilight zone , those who dare to promulgate the truth – however mildly – must be swiftly punished and penalized .
Take the latest example of a Vermont High School principal by the name of Tiffany Riley .
Riley was fired from her job by the school officials for posting the following message on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Red Bri ... Orsini , Alessandro Best Price : $ 22.63 Buy New $ 25.00 How can any sane person find anything sanction worthy in this perfectly reasonable and delicately worded expression of personal opinion ?
And yet at this time of extreme censorship and unbridled political correctness , making this statement cost Riley her job .
Sadly , she is only one of many .
In case you are interested , you can peruse a list of some of the people who have lost their jobs , position and reputation for expressing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” were as innocuous as that of Ms Riley .
What a paradox : In the supposedly freest country on earth where free speech is protected by a constitutional amendment people are not allowed so much as to hint at the truth even in the mildest of terms .
What in the world has happened to us ?
The Best of Vasko Kohlmayer

Growing up in a communist regime was like living in a twilight zone where everything had gone topsy-turvy. If you’ve never been to a twilight zone, it is a most curious phenomenon. It comes into existence when in a certain country or a geographic location a blatantly false narrative takes hold of the collective psyche.
The narrative of the twilight zone of my youth went roughly as follows: Socialism was the greatest socio-economic system ever devised while capitalism was very, very bad. The Soviet Union was a paradisiacal land of freedom, opportunity, prosperity and happiness. The United States, on the other hand, was a country of exploitation and oppression where most people were bound, destitute and miserable. This official narrative was constantly and relentlessly promulgated from every quarter of our twilight zone: television, radio, textbooks, arts, newspapers, magazines, etc. Needless to say, the narrative ran in complete contravention of reality. The actual truth was that socialism was no good. On the other hand, most people in the United States were free, quite prosperous and reasonably happy while the Soviet Union was pretty much an all-around hellhole.
Those who attempted to point out the truth or question the authorized storyline were promptly silenced, suppressed and punished. As a result of the swift and efficient censorship the false narrative prevailed and took a deep hold on the societal mind. And because it served as the paradigm for reality, it distorted and turned upside down almost every aspect of life: the good was bad and bad was good; white was black and black was white. The values and ethics in the twilight zone became inverted. Black Rednecks & White... Sowell, Thomas Buy New $10.99 (as of 03:32 UTC - Details)
Escaping from behind the Iron Curtain, I thought I was done with twilight zones for good. But as I watched in amazement the events of the last three weeks, I saw something happen that I would have never dreamed possible: The United States has descended into a twilight zone of its own.
As with every twilight zone, America’s also came into existence as the result of a false narrative. This narrative runs thus: The United States of America is a racist country in which black people are oppressed and where systemic racism prevails. In America every non-black person is racist. This applies even to those who have never done or said anything that could be conceivably construed as racist. The racism of such people is unconscious – they simply cannot see it due to their white privilege.
As with the communist narrative of old, the claim that the United States is systemically racist and oppressive toward black people is completely false. This is something that should be readily obvious to every reasonable person. (In case there is doubt, we have discussed this matter at some length here.) Rather than being oppressed, black people in this country are given protections, resources, privileges and preferential treatment that the majority do not have. No society in world history has, in fact, done more for the advancement and upliftment of black people than the United States of America. And this includes all of the black countries and systems that ever existed.
The obvious fact that the US is not a racist nation was actually quite evident to most people until very recently. If a month ago someone seriously claimed that America is an institutionally racist country, he would have been viewed either as a professional race hustler or a far fringe crank. Today, amazingly enough, most of the media, corporate and athletic establishments and officials on all levels of government are proclaiming this very thing.
Out of the countless instances, let us just mention one. On June 5, the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement which read in part:
“We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black People. We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter.”
We are not going to comment on the vacuousness of these words. We just note the paradox of this statement being made by the highest official in the NFL, which is a highly exclusive sports association in which 70 percent of players are black. But such paradoxes – along with truth in general – are lost on most people these days.
The speed with which the false narrative gained hold of the American psyche is truly astounding. As the racism claim was gaining its rapid hold on our collective mindset, we witnessed a corresponding frenzy of accusations and kneelings, prostrations, self-flagellation and repentance of white privilege. All this took place against a backdrop of much destruction and burning cities set ablaze by the “mostly peaceful” protesters. (Who still have to explain how looting boutiques and taking home armfuls of boxes of iPhones and Nikes furthers the cause of racial justice.) The Naked Socialist Skousen, Paul B. Best Price: $25.82 Buy New $24.95 (as of 03:32 UTC - Details)
All this drama is quite inexplicable, especially since the premise behind it is demonstrably false. It almost feels as along with COVID-19 we have also been affected by some strange malady which could only be called faux racism. This bug gets straight in the mind and makes people say things that are not true. It is extremely communicable as evidenced by its rapid spread into every sector of our society. The contagious strain was apparently spawned under the pressure and heat of the lockdown that transformed the bog of decades of racial demagoguery into a toxic mixture of combativeness and guilt in which all kinds of false claims and accusations flourish and thrive.
Today the bug is literally everywhere. Seeking a respite, the other day I headed over to Audible.com in hope of finding some wholesome title that would take the mind off the enveloping madness. No sooner than I landed on the homepage, I was in for a bad surprise. Right across the top of the website ran a big banner titled “Anti-racism listening list.” The message below read: “The fight for racial justice is up to all of us. If you’re not sure where to start, these listening recommendations can help.”
Nowhere on the list could one find Thomas Sowell’s excellent book Black Rednecks and White Liberals. In this book, Sowell – who is a brilliant black thinker and writer – documents the immense efforts and sacrifices made by the United States and the United Kingdom to end the practice of slavery across the world. (To get a quick idea, you can listen to chapter three of Sowell’s book for free here. It is a veritable tour de force, which, I believe, will be worth your while.)
The cost to the United States of doing away with slavery in terms of effort, treasure and life was incalculable. It was on the back of this that America was able to gradually fashion a system that today gives black people more rights, resources and privileges than other society in the history of civilization. Sadly, these days such little details and facts are not allowed into acceptable discourse. Instead, almost everyone seems to be suffering from a bad case of faux racism. Being under its spell we all now sound the same, repeat the same phrases and clichés, which ring both hollow and untrue. And the falsity of it all we either do not see it, or do not want to see it, or are afraid to admit.
Once in its grip a person quickly becomes a shadow of his former self. We could point to many examples, but we will highlight just a couple. Recently, Mitt Romney was filmed participating in one of the Black Lives Matter marches in Washington, DC. When asked why he was there, the Utah senator and former republican presidential candidate replied, “to end violence and brutality and to make sure that people understand that black lives matter.” What a sad sight it was. Co-opted by a movement built on untruths, a man who once used to have a measure of stature and presence suddenly seemed very small as he discharged his empty clichés from behind his mask. He almost looked like a caricature of those faceless marchers that used to come out en masse during May Day demonstrations in the Soviet Block. What happened to you, sir, one wanted to exclaim. WHITE HOUSE REDS: Comm... Loudon, Trevor Buy New $24.95 (as of 03:32 UTC - Details)
Or take Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, who grovelled pitifully before a woman standing over him in what looked like some open air tribunal set up by the rioters for doing away with the police. The woman confronts the mayor thus: “Jacob Frey, we have a yes or no question for you. Yes or no, will you commit to defunding Minneapolis Police Department?… We don’t want no more police. Is that clear?”
The lady-judge is obviously unaware that by policing black neighbourhoods across this nation the American law enforcement actually saves black lives. This has been shown recently by a black Harvard economist Roland Fryer who has done extensive research into the matter. You can read about this in a Wall Street Journal article titled “Good Policing Saves Black Lives.”
But as he is questioned by the Tribunal, Mayor Frey fails to point this out. Seeing him standing there in jeans and a t-shirt, scared and confused like some errant schoolboy, one could not but feel sorry for him. Afraid to give the response they do not want to hear, he tries his best to muffle the answer behind his little mask. But the crowd would have none of his waffling – they want to hear the answer loud and clear. With a microphone stuck into his face, there is no way out. Caught between a rock and a hard place, the mayor says: “I do not support full abolition of the Minneapolis Police Department.”
His words draw a firestorm of contempt and fury from the ireful crowd. “Get the f*** out of here!” he is promptly ordered. Jeered and ridiculed, he scampers away while the throng chants, “shame, go home, Jacob, go home.” As the hapless mayor makes his humiliating exist, the incensed assembly continues to yell, “Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!…” Luckily for Frey, he manages to make off without injury although he does come very close to being physically assaulted on his way out.
As in every twilight zone, severe censorship is the order of the day. Media outlets – social and otherwise – are now patrolled by ruthless truth squads who immediately flag, complain about and report any view or fact that does chime with the official narrative. Any attempt to question it or to point to facts that show it to be untrue is immediately labelled as “offensive” “racist” “dangerous” or “a violation of the terms of use.” As a result of this concentrated and relentless effort, a great amount of valuable educational material – both in the form of video and written word – has been either blocked or removed from various internet outlets and social networks. The mainstream media outlets are not helpful either, as they appear to be voluntarily self-isolating from anything that even remotely smacks of the truth.
But it is not merely that facts and truth must be expunged from public discourse. As in every twilight zone, those who dare to promulgate the truth – however mildly – must be swiftly punished and penalized. Take the latest example of a Vermont High School principal by the name of Tiffany Riley. Riley was fired from her job by the school officials for posting the following message on her Facebook page: Anatomy of the Red Bri... Orsini, Alessandro Best Price: $22.63 Buy New $25.00 (as of 04:20 UTC - Details)
“I firmly believe that Black Lives Matter, but I do not agree with the coercive measures taken to get this point across; some of which are falsified in an attempt to prove a point. While I want to get behind BLM, I do not think people should be made to feel they have to choose black race over human race. While I understand the urgency to feel compelled to advocate for black lives, what about our fellow law enforcement? What about all others who advocate for and demand equity for all? Just because I don’t walk around with a BLM sign should not mean I am a racist.”
How can any sane person find anything sanction worthy in this perfectly reasonable and delicately worded expression of personal opinion? And yet at this time of extreme censorship and unbridled political correctness, making this statement cost Riley her job.
Sadly, she is only one of many. In case you are interested, you can peruse a list of some of the people who have lost their jobs, position and reputation for expressing their views here. Their “offenses” were as innocuous as that of Ms Riley. What a paradox: In the supposedly freest country on earth where free speech is protected by a constitutional amendment people are not allowed so much as to hint at the truth even in the mildest of terms.
What in the world has happened to us?
Welcome to Twilight Zone USA.
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