A new Reuters/Ipsos poll has reportedly found that a majority of Americans believe the completely discredited narrative that the Russian government paid Taliban-linked fighters to kill the occupying forces of the US and its allies in Afghanistan.

“A majority of Americans believe that Russia paid the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan last year amid negotiations to end the war, and more than half want to respond with new economic sanctions against Moscow, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday,” Reuters reports.

“Overall, 60% of Americans said they found reports of Russian bounties on American soldiers to be ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ believable, while 21% said they were not credible and the rest were unsure,” says Reuters.

Those 21 percent are objectively correct: the story is not credible, and it’s not even close. Gareth Porter shows in The Grayzone how the “Bountygate” narrative is so utterly baseless that even US intelligence agencies have dismissed it, Joe Lauria of Consortium News explains how it doesn’t make any sense on its face, and FAIR’s Alan MacLeod breaks down the appalling journalistic malpractice that went into circulating this incredibly thinly sourced story to the mainstream public.

The story advances no solid facts or verified information. What it does advance is pre-existing imperialist agendas like remaining in Afghanistan, killing the last of the remaining nuclear deals with Moscow, and manufacturing public support for new Russia sanctions.

And yet a majority of people believed it, and still believe it. The narrative that Russia paid Taliban fighters to kill occupying forces is now regarded as an established fact in many key circles, despite being backed by literally zero facts.

If people were as objective and adept at critical thinking as we tend to believe we are, the mass media’s unconscionable facilitation of a brazen cold war psyop would by itself have killed off all public trust in the institution of mass news reporting. But people are not as objective and adept at critical thinking as we tend to believe we are. People have many cognitive biases which distort our ability to objectively process information and understand events, including one which causes us to believe something is true just because they’ve heard it said multiple times. This makes us easily susceptible to mass media propaganda, where our encounters with daily news headlines can shape our perception of what’s going on in the world regardless of whether or not those headlines are backed by actual facts.

This latest poll is a perfect example of how the plutocrat-owned media manipulate public opinion in the interest of establishment agendas using brazen propaganda campaigns, but it is just the most recent example. Over and over and over again we see public perception of what’s going on distorted by lies inserted into their minds by the corporate news media, like when half a year after the invasion of Iraq seven in ten Americans believed Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. All it took to trick them into believing this and supporting the invasion was repeatedly mentioning 9/11 and Saddam in the same breath, despite there never being any evidence whatsoever for any such thing.

This kind of manipulation is not rare, it is ubiquitous and ongoing. Every single day the plutocratic media are putting ideas in people’s minds which favor the establishment upon which said plutocrats have built their kingdoms, normalizing the insane status quo and manufacturing support for agendas which bolster it. This is not some delusional conspiracy theory, it’s a well-documented fact to which many mainstream journalists have testified.

As long as this remains the case in our society, democracy cannot exist in any meaningful way. As long as a loose alliance of plutocrats and government operatives are able to consistently manipulate the way a critical mass of people think and vote, then you cannot rightly say that the people are in charge of the fate of their nation. If the majority is consistently in alignment with the plutocrats whose outsized media influence enables them to dominate the public narrative, then voting necessarily reflects the will of those plutocrats, not the people.

Even if you changed everything else that is wrong with the current system, nothing would change if the plutocratic class retained its ability to manipulate the way people think and vote. You can fix America’s garbage election integrity, end gerrymandering, even get money out of politics, but as long as the plutocratic class is still using its wealth to manipulate public thought in support of its interests, people would keep voting the way they’re manipulated to vote.

Manipulation is a key ingredient in any long-term abusive relationship, because people don’t tend to stay in abusive situations unless they are manipulated into doing so. This is true whether you’re talking about romantic partnerships, governments, or globe-spanning power structures. We don’t use the power of our numbers to end this abusive relationship where we are at the whim of crushing austerity, exploitative neoliberalism, endless war and rapacious ecocide, because we’re being manipulated into staying.

And, just like with any other abusive relationship, there comes a time to leave before it’s too late. That time is now. We can begin by expanding awareness of what’s really going on, both inwardly in ourselves and outwardly by sharing truthful information with others. In so doing, we stand a chance at making ourselves impossible to propagandize effectively and using our strength in numbers to force real change.

________________________

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75 responses to “As Long As Mass Media Propaganda Exists, Democracy Is A Sham”

  1. We must delete the internet and ban all printing presses. This may be achieved once humanity grows out of its current phase. Just like how a heroin addict can quit, but it might take them a while. Once that is accomplished, we will become lucid enough to want monarchy again and there will be democracy on an appropriately small scale, with the permission and blessing of the libertarian monarch, inshallah.

  2. “In the case of philosophy, ‘getting it right’ may involve exploring paths that seem fairly dank and unrewarding.”
    https://manwithoutqualities.com/2015/03/07/on-hating-and-despising-philosophy/

  3. Democracy has never been anything but a sham. It is mob rule, plain and simple. Gang rape is democracy in action. There is no such thing as good government, never has been, and never will be. It is comprised entirely of forcing another to comply with edict by threat of violence, including murder. Painting happy faces on it and singing Kumbaya doesn’t make it any better. Since the CIA infiltrated Mockingbird Media is simply another tool of such government, why would one expect it to have any moral ethical attribute?

  4. Why would anyone pay a bounty to kill hogs?

  5. Science of No Mind Avatar
    Science of No Mind

    During the current ‘pandemic’ the UK government has employed ‘scientists’ and the 77th Brigade of the British army, to engage in information warfare using psychological operations online against British citizens to influence and control their behavior, with supporting propaganda and classical conditioning methods facilitated through the mainstream press and media.
    To what end?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNTTBQX-HQQ
    The sociopaths who are responsible for this catastrophe are the people who are in power.
    They want more and more power.
    They want the people to fully embrace their totalitarianism.
    But unenlightened people are always self-destructive.
    They are self-destructive because they don’t know why they are here, where they are going, what the meaning and purpose of their life is.
    Without knowing anything about themselves, whatever they do is going to be harmful.
    It is going to be harmful to you, and through you, to others.
    They cannot do anything but harm because their eyes are closed, they don’t have any inner sensitivity, they don’t have any creative joy.
    Society is created by people suffering from the disease called seriousness.
    The whole of society is dominated by this particular disease: mind.
    It has dominated everything.
    Society itself is ill.
    Psychology means “the science of the soul” and the present psychology is not only not the science of the soul, it denies even the existence of the soul.
    Western psychology studies only the mechanical behavior of the individual and the mechanics of mind.
    Its studies cannot go very deep for the simple reason that if mind is all, and there is nothing more to life than mind, you cannot ever become one, undivided.
    To be divided is the nature of the mind.
    Love and hate, courage and fear, yes and no, atheism and theism.
    Mind does not feel at ease unless it has divided a thing in two.
    It cannot conceive of light unless it is contrasted with darkness, it cannot conceive of life unless it is defined by death.
    And because psychology remains within the boundaries of the mind it cannot help individuals to grow to their potential heights.
    To realize themselves.
    Psychology will discourage you.
    At the most it can help the individual to be normal, at the most!
    “Just to be normal” is the goal of psychology.
    A great goal, just to be normal.
    And what is normal?
    What is normalcy?
    It simply means you are adjusted to the crowd.
    So Western psychology is doing only one thing.
    Whenever someone is maladjusted, western methods make that individual again adjusted to the crowd.
    The crowd is not questioned at all.
    Whether the crowd itself is okay is not the question.
    Western psychology is the psychology of people who are asleep.
    Yet it thinks it is the science of the mind.
    Western psychology does not yet believe in the being of the indivdual, it believes only in the mind.
    For Western psychology there is nothing beyond the mind… yet!
    Western psychology is really just therapeutic, just a part of medicine.
    It tries, it helps you to be readjusted, but it is not a transcendence.
    Western psychology has dropped the idea of being, of your innermost self.
    It is a very strange situation, because they say you become aware of the world through cognition, yet they deny you, they deny being.
    Western psychology is still a game, guesswork, with no foundation in reality.
    There is only one way to solve the mind and its problems, and that is to get out of it.
    So the first step toward a harmony and unity of the being is not discipline but knowledge of that which is within.
    The within has been so suppressed for centuries, for millennia, that this suppression has become a part of your self.
    And not only you but the whole of humanity has suppressed what is within, you are just a part of the process.
    You have not suppressed what is within you consciously, knowingly, it is part of your unconscious heritage to do that.
    The people who came to Sigmund Freud, the founder of modern psychology, were all sick people.
    That gave him the impression that the whole of humanity itself is sick.
    In a way he is logical because everybody he examined, everybody he analyzed, everybody he treated was psychologically sick.
    The whole world is a great madhouse yet we have hypnotized ourselves into thinking that we are sane, that we are normal.
    This is the hypnosis!
    Mind itself is the puzzle, it is its very nature to be puzzling.
    So all the efforts that are made to solve it make it more complex, make it more difficult.
    If you fight with it, you are fighting with yourself.
    There can never be any victory, you cannot defeat it by fighting.
    Because by fighting you will be dividing yourself into two, the fighter and the fought.
    The struggle becomes infinite and meanwhile energy is dissipated, meanwhile life is wasted.
    Remember, you cannot fight the mind.
    Mind is nothing but a faculty of imagination.
    No-mind is beyond mind.
    No-mind is not opposite to mind.
    It is a clarity, a silence, that can give you the deepest insight into mind.
    You can look into all the layers of mind, but this is possible only from the highest point.
    And because now you are no more in the mess of the mind, you are no more confined by your mind.
    You have gone beyond boundaries, you cannot only see your mind, you can see mind as such.
    And unless mind as such is known, modern psychology will remain just a fictitious game.
    Because the person who is in the mind cannot be objective about it.
    It is as if a mad person were doing research on madness.
    Apparently, it looks logical, because they are mad they can do research on madness.
    But it is not so in reality.
    Only one who is sane can look at all the dimensions of insanity objectively.
    The mad person is not in a position to see anything, to understand anything.
    It is an impossible task.
    They can create only a fictitious psychology.
    If you are studying tomatoes, one thing is absolutely necessary, that you should not be a tomato.
    Truth is not an object that you will find somewhere when you are silent.
    Truth is your subjectivity.
    Just try to understand.
    You are there, and the whole world is there.
    Whatever you see is an object, but who is seeing it is the subject.
    Truth is subjectivity.
    Your existence is the truth, and when you are silent you are in truth.
    And if the silence is absolute then you are the ultimate truth.
    The state of the awakened person is a state beyond mind.
    They can see from the top of the hill into the dark valleys of the mind.
    The hilltop is full of sunlight.
    Their vision is clear, they have no prejudices, they have no preconceived ideologies.
    They have left them far behind in the valley where everybody is a bigot, everybody is conditioned, everybody is divided.
    None of them is capable of finding real psychology because they don’t fulfill the basic requirement.
    The basic requirement is to go beyond mind, because only then you can see the functions of the mind, the subtle activities of the mind, the darkest corners of the mind.
    From the hilltop of no-mind the whole valley is available to you, and you are simply a witness, an objective witness.

  6. Peter in Seattle Avatar
    Peter in Seattle

    Alternative Headline: Most Americans are gullible morons, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows

  7. Until they have evidence (which they do not) they can spew vomit & BS as much as they like, their words are TOTALLY MEANINGLESS! For anyone to even consider charging Russia or ANY Nation, with ANY crime, first their must be evidence! The US dumb fucks that wear a military icon, DESERVE to be targeted, I would put a bullet in them, FOR FREE!

  8. Those who believe in bountygate are those representative of the dumbing down of America, the ones who go through most days nearly like automatons. their main concern in not for the future, nor even for their families, though they claim that it is. Mostly, all they want to do is not lose the tiny bit of inconsequential fluff that they think that they still have left to lose.
    For several years, I’ve been calling for a radically new sociopolitical system, that criminalizes the abuses of our current obsolete and corrupted system – and which puts the needs of the people first and foremost. Simultaneously, we must awaken the brain dead, or even another system will accomplish nothing long lasting and positive.
    One positive – there have been so many lies by the news media, the politicians and the top 1/10th of the top 1%, that I believe nothing they say unless I can prove it for myself.

    1. You have my support 100%
      Cheers mate!

    2. Stephan Williams Avatar
      Stephan Williams

      “For several years, I’ve been calling for a radically new sociopolitical system, that criminalizes the abuses of our current obsolete and corrupted system – and which puts the needs of the people first and foremost.”

      A “radically new sociopolitical system” that did what you described was developed by the National Socialists of Germany through the 1920’s and successfully put into play by them after Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany in 1933.

      Of course they had to be utterly destroyed for their sin of resisting the deliberate destruction of their nation and peoples by the same putrescent psychotic collection of thieves, serial liars and murderers who still control our nations.

  9. Robert Edwards Avatar
    Robert Edwards

    I’m sorry, but the vast majority of Americans are ignorant of the truth. So ignorant, that they have given up any possibility of reversing their spiral into chaos and self-annihilation.
    Unfortunately, the rest of us will be swallowed up into their black hole of apathy and ignorance.
    There is so much evidence that the corronavirus is a ruse for control of the public through fear, quarantine, lockdowns, etc., etc. The media and government are being told by a handful of very powerful families how to play the public into submission. Those who work the media and government have little or no knowledge of the real enemy, if they do, then their integrity has been exchanged for a paycheck and/or the power minions dream about. I heard just an hour ago of a couple who were waiting to be tested for the corronavirus and gave up waiting and returned home, a little while later they were contact to inform them their tests were positive. Folks wake up before you become a total zombie. Tests are to increase the Covid numbers and in some cases infect you with goodness knows what! There are three don’ts: don’t wear a mask, don’t get tested, and most importantly don’t allow yourself to be vaccinated. This whole scam is to get you ready for even worse things to come – it’s a giant rehearsal. Bill Gates and Dr. Faci are the criminals and perpetrators of the biggest hoax of all time. Live well, live long, and most important, be FREE

  10. The deception is immensely greater and more far-reaching than what even the most cynical conspiracy theorist could ever imagine. A relative handful of people have realized this, although not nearly enough.

  11. We do not have strength in numbers to force real change. The reason: Firstly, the Deep State uses powerful propaganda to ensure that most “numbers” continue supporting the status quo with only minor changes in the puppets on the political stage. Secondly, there is no power in numbers only. Power comes from money and weapons. Dissidents are a minority who have insufficient money and inferior weapons. Wealthy citizens who say they oppose oppression inadvertently buy into the status quo. The techno-military-industrial-complex must go through conflict, crisis and collapse so that only the wise among us will survive and build a new and better civilization in the next age of humanity. Read more of this here: http://www.wisdompage.com/2013%20Articles/Molyneaux%20essay.pdf

  12. Blair Schirmer Avatar
    Blair Schirmer

    .
    “What it does advance is pre-existing imperialist agendas like remaining in Afghanistan, killing the last of the remaining nuclear deals with Moscow,…”
    .
    —That there is one trillion dollars on the table over the next 30 years for the development of new and more “usable” (if you’re insane) nuclear weapons—an amount and duration first proposed by Obama—is all the information required to understand why it’s so important to the slags of empire to toss out nuclear treaties.
    .
    The amount of money to be made thanks to a new nuclear arms race is staggering.
    .
    .
    “If people were as objective and adept at critical thinking as we tend to believe we are,…”
    .
    —It’s amusing, in its way, to observe the hysteria generated among self-styled objective and critical thinkers after pointing out that women are scarcely arguably less violent than men, assuming one is interested in facts, or that women in the West, on average, do better than men in nearly every area relevant to well-being: in longevity, health, health care spending (even after accounting for maternal and reproductive care), education, homelessness, suicide, alcoholism, drug addiction, favoritism in the criminal justice system, reproductive rights (for all the assailing of women’s rights in this regard, men of course have no reproductive rights), violent crime victimization, and in the U.S. thanks to mass incarceration and its use as a coercive tool, likely even wrt sexual assault (according to Human Rights Watch, Prison Watch, and feminist icon Hanna Rosin).
    .
    To a compassionate, reason-based politics, then, and to going where the facts lead. Cheers,
    .

  13. Roundball Shaman Avatar
    Roundball Shaman

    “As long as a loose alliance of plutocrats and government operatives are able to consistently manipulate the way a critical mass of people think and vote, then you cannot rightly say that the people are in charge of the fate of their nation. If the majority is consistently in alignment with the plutocrats whose outsized media influence enables them to dominate the public narrative, then voting necessarily reflects the will of those plutocrats, not the people.”
    .
    All forms of government – whether they are full-on open dictatorships or so-called Western-style “democracies” – all end up with the same result: The real power all concentrated into just a few favored hands.
    .
    Manipulating how people “think” (it’s not thinking, of course) is the tool of choice for all forms of government to minimize how much noise the riff-raff will make. Keep feeding people a steady diet of empty-calorie horse manure and they begin to get used to it and even develop a taste for the stuff. They stop looking for alternatives after a while.
    .
    People are not going to be “in charge” of their nation, regardless of circumstances. History is our guide. Look at all the nations and forms of government and eras. People just don’t get to be in charge of anything, anywhere, no matter what the century.
    .
    But these sad outcomes do not relieve or remove a person’s responsibility to learn the truth about their lives and circumstances. Ignorance is not an excuse for one’s choosing a lifestyle of being lazy and uninformed.

  14. Calamity Jane Avatar
    Calamity Jane

    Nope Ciatlin thats not right.

    We’ve never had a democracy with a economic and political monopoly.
    The same banksters own the media conglomerate and have started all these little alt right blogs social media that pretend they are left and ” woke”.
    We don’t have Plutocracy we have Banksterism as the “wealthy cronies of banksters” that you described don’t create money or control nations.They are just media fronts that the poor are directed to dislike.

    Media -proganda and these alt right blogs is not the main problem its people reading it and believing it then thinking they know when they don’t. Ignorance is the problem.
    The electoral process reported in media itself is nothing but a bias an unfair media circus show.
    Media has been hard core propaganda since its invention, since finding out people believe the written word.

    Sad but not surprised to always see the same old mainstream warmongery memes here “Bad America good Russia”.
    Fake left social media blogs that is the trending main channels for propaganda, astro turf blogs like this reminds me of all the political parties that pretend to be left.
    Even without media …
    “No matter who you vote for the govt always gets in” GC
    “He who counts the vote counts”GC

  15. As polls show, “Bounty-Gate” got there. Sixty percent of Americans believe the crap. It’s been the same with the supposed involvement of Saddam Hussein in 9/11. Also, 60 percent of Americans believed this baloney. The US is a democracy in name only. The plutocrats run the country, and they allow themselves one party that has two wings; a democratic and a republican one, plus a vast propaganda industry, called the liberal mainstream media and Hollywood. Every four years, the plebs can vote,” which de facto doesn’t matter.

  16. When I began waking up to the flim flam media, I recall thinking “it doesn’t matter if I watch brain dead cable news and insanely stupid commercials, I know it’s all BS so it can’t affect me.” I was wrong.

    It seems extremely difficult for most of us (me) to understand, or recognize, all the ways we are being influenced and manipulated. Especially in real time with subliminal messaging (airplane mode when I’m not using my cel.) Not to mention peer pressure.

    I haven’t completely boycotted the MSM yet, but I stopped watching cable news and I mute the commercials. One of the best things I ever did. I feel like I’m much happier, not being jerked around by the nose, so much, by the propagandists.

    Muting the commercials is wonderful. You get good at knowing the times to unmute and even if you miss some audio, you realize, it doesn’t matter, it’s all fake anyway. Now I cringe when I hear even a few seconds of a commercial.

    About five years ago I changed my voting status from dem to “unafilliated.” I feel better about that, too. I’m no longer being jerked around, as much, in this unending, phony “us against them” propaganda circus the robber barons created to maintain and expand their power and control over people.

    Some of these changes might seem extreme and impossible to many people in their lives, but one or two might be possible. It’s a process..

    Love. Peace.

    1. One should consider that when people answer polls, they often tell the poll-taker what they think he or she wants to hear. After all, they’re usually talking to a complete stranger who could be a cop or an outright freelance psychopath. Often, then, we get reports of mainstreamish answers when we seldom hear them in real life. Back when the War in Vietnam was being ginned up, the media kept reporting that the prospective war was favored by a great majority, but when I asked around, for instance at an office hardly populated by leftists or hippies, most people were dubious about it or totally against it. Polls are not like votes or purchases or life decisions; they have little or no material basis.

    2. Joe Van Steenbergen Avatar
      Joe Van Steenbergen

      Take the plunge – ditch the MSM forever. No commercials in my home, ever. Can’t stand them. Ad blockers on my browsers keep ads off my screen, too. Please trust me when I tell you that spending your day without any television on is a liberating thing. Also, screen all phone calls and never answer unless you know who’s calling. That was liberating, too. Last, I highly recommend “The No Agenda Show” podcast, with Adam Curry and John Dvorak. They “deconstruct” the media in very entertaining ways. If you try it, please listen to more than one show, as there is a lot of “inside” information that will take awhile to understand, but it’s worth the time. If you hate the MSM, you will love The No Agenda Show.

      1. Great points JVS. It is a process and I think I’m getting there. For the past few months, when I do watch tv, I often find myself muting the programming for long periods of time, closing my eyes and spending the time just thinking and reflecting.
        ~
        Until I get to the point of ditching the MSM completely, what I like about muting the commercials is that it gives me a few minutes break to critique, think and reflect about what I just watched.
        ~
        I’ll give the “No Agenda Show” a look. Thanks for the tips.

  17. Caitlin missed perhaps the most significant episode EVER of the new and increasingly popular internet news show called “The Hill Rising.” Check out this recent episode so in sync with what Caitlin has been telling us:

    1. YES!! The fact that Prof. Stephanie Kelton’s new book, The Deficit Myth – Birth of the People’s Economy, has raced to the top of the NYT bestseller list is a good sign that people ARE very aware of how economic policy can and should be run. It’s been a crime against humanity that mere lack of political will is what has caused this social breakdown.

      “By both surprise and necessity, Modern Monetary Theory is here at our doorstep. And with neither major party remaining as the party of ‘fiscal responsibility’, it seems there is little standing in the way of MMT becoming the premise for US government spending initiatives.”

      https://www.realvision.com/shows/the-interview/videos/stephanie-kelton-mmt-and-the-deficit-myth?fbclid=IwAR2FXOUC3jXT7qLa0wXqE_DlceZPDC5Mh1J5R5fWSxMSJbVtb9F-b9aTaHo#.XwcUhjQDruM.facebook

      It’s nice to get a thank you from “Cowboy Economist” Prof. John Harvey for all non-economists who’ve been out there promoting the operational reality of the monetary system, once stubborn lies are removed. Politicians obviously have been gag-ordered from disclosing the truth.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcbyaaF4zaQ&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1O2f46lGe4YiSryLWir_DjQEOZyss7DbNyhbukBY7TwbI23-y-jaG2iQ8

      If we don’t demand a change in economic policy, the dystopians will continue down their dark path of implementing Technocracy via 5G and medical tyranny:

    1. Hmmm

      The terrible irony here is that the primary source of these claims comes from the zionists controlled media. While the preponderonce of the evidence indicates that israel is the country that has been funding terrorists groups which have attacked and killed American soldiers in the Middle East. In particular, 2 terrorist groups stand out Al Qeada and ISIS. Both of which have engaged and killed American soldiers. Both of which have received direct and indirect support from both the US and Israel for more than a decade, but never any from Russia. Interestingly enough, neither group “terrorist” has ever intentionally attacked israel….Though the one time “ISIS” accidently bombed israeli forces they immediately issued a public apology.

      The fact that our own intelligence agencies almost immediately denied these claims against Russian never deterred the “Media” at all. In fact, they actually doubled down and increased coverage of the lies….

      Means, motive opportunity and who benefits from these lies against Russia? One country once again stands out: israel……..Just as an aside since, 9-11 what country has been the primary source of intelligence later used to justify US military action in the Middle East? ISRAEL……

      1. So Israel controls saudis too. Since most of ppl in 9/11 were saudis I guess massad gave the king his orders snd he sent them over. Wow. Or perhaps they were all Israelis pretending to be saudis
        Maybe it wasnt even the guys implicated. Never realized Israel run thd world. Amazing.

        1. Hmmm

          Generally speaking I tend to lend far more credence to what countries are actually doing and who is benefiting as a result, than what is being said. The Mossad’s old motto which loosely translated means “by way of deception so shall we wage war” should not be underestimated.

          Obviously, from an average citizen’s vantage point, one’s conclusions are going to be drawn from those sources in which they have the most faith. But one thing is clear, compared to even a decade ago, there is no denying that Egypt’s position on israel has softened dramatically. So dramatically, that is clearly is in conflict at times with majority of Egyptians….Very much like the entirely one-sided pro-israel anti-Palestinian no matter what position of the US Congress, White House, Media etc., which polling has consistently demonstrated is often opposed by a majority of the American people.

          https://israelpalestinenews.org/idf-general-israel-behind-coup-that-installed-al-sisi-dictatorship-egypt/

          Considering that israel is a tiny country of roughly 13 Million people, despite nearly half being systematically denied basic human rights by the israeli government, and in the US they at most 3 percent of the population, there surely are a disproportionate number pro-zionist/pro-israeli entitites lurking at the ready on every single forum I visit. This forum being no exception.

        2. I’ve tried posting a reply here (thrice), but as it hits too close to home, some spooky monitor seems to have the ability to vanish it into the ether. Oh well. Your simplicity will have to stand unchallenged.

      2. Close, but the point I was attempting to make is:

        The U.S. MIC/Media is accusing Russia of offer aid/support to those who would harm American soldiers (soldiers busilly occupying that party’s country). Implying that that is inappropriate, scandalous behavior.

        While at pretty much same time, the US is claiming that our objective is to make Syria a quagmire for Russia – the implication of quagmire might be expected to include potential for loss of life. Russia being welcomed in Syria by it’s ally to defend against rebel groups.

        Meanwhile as you point out the US is busilly making it a quagmire by offering aid and support to acknowledged terrorist groups.
        Pretty much the classic example of defending yourself (to the public) by accusing the other party of doing what you have already been caught doing. It seems like some kind of intelligence test on the public to see if anyone is paying attention and so far it would appears that the public is not.

        So, it is not a democracy, the media lies to us all of the time, we are killing mass quantities of innocent people and nobody really cares – party on dude.

      3. Yes, Bolton certainly stovepiped Israeli “intelligence” to the White House in order to prod attacks on Iran.

  18. Nailed it Caitlin.
    We do not live in a democracy.
    – We have limited choices
    – Our choices are monitored
    – There is a bureaucracy which is indifferent to our choices
    – Said bureaucracy is influenced by third parties
    – The media is controlled by and covers for said bureaucracy
    – We have no means to know the truth other than by rumor
    – Alternative means to know the truth are crushed
    – Knowing the truth is dangerous
    – Speaking the truth is dangerous
    – We are increasingly monitored
    – We are increasingly subject to intimidation and repercussions

    – We are led by propaganda to defeat ourselves

    – Stop wasting time expecting the system to correct itself.

    – Stop feeding the system

  19. As I have said many times here, people need to push for media boycotts. We need to start a boycott MSNBC campaign, a boycott CNN campaign, a boycott the NYT campaign. Until they get hit in their bottom line, they won’t ever change. They are businesses, and we need to start boycotts against them.

    1. I boycotted MSM years ago. Only mention I hear about their nonsense is secondhand.

    2. And the trick is to boycott not only the media but even more their ADVERTISERS.

    3. Hmmm

      I though boycotting isn’t allowed by the majority of the states anymore! Oh wait! we just aren’t allowed to boycott israel…..But, isn’t’ content censorship unconstitutional? And didn’t the Supreme Court issue a unanimous ruling way back in 1982 that boycotting is a Constitutionally protected right of all Americans? I don’t understand, we are being forced to give up our Constitutional Rights to shield israel from accountability for its endless war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and apartheid? Of course our Kids can always publicly criticize the jewish/zionist/israeli lobbies and those that support because after all they are the ones that demanded and got this ban on boycotting right? No? you mean we have lost our Right to freedom of speech in order to protect those that are protecting and serving israel in America as well?

      I hadn’t realized that the United States had been made a vassel of israel. When exactly did that happen? Do we have to now swear an oath of allegiance to israel like all dual citizen israelis?

  20. The only reason the majority said they believed is because they did not give them one more choice. If they also asked if they cared that the Russians were paying bounties then 90% would have said no. Most Americans just could care less if it does not personally impact them. The result of a materialistic narcisstic society.

    1. Americans are probably the most misinformed/uninformed people on the planet. For the most part, they only read or listen to headlines, if they pay any attention at all. I plead with people to seek out alternative media such as this. I send them lists and links but when I ask if they have checked them out I hear nothing but lame excuses. It’s true–they just don’t give a shit until it affects them personally.

      1. That may be for the best. Think about it.

  21. The fault lies partly in the sheer size of the dominant nations on the planet. The larger the political unit, the more opportunity for abuse. Large nations with omnipotent central governments are not conducive to the welfare of their victims errr…..citizens.

  22. India’s philosophers were right about one thing: Ignorance is the root cause of most human problems. The solution to our troubles is the search for Truth and Reality. The scramble for money distracts us from our real need — Truth.

  23. Hmmm

    Is the problem really too much “propaganda”? No, the problem is that in 2020, mass media has been entirely co-opted by the zionists. While the people themselves are being systematically denied the right to speak out because all the major forms of public communication available today are owned/controlled by one tiny minority, zionists.Thus, the voices of the citizenry, not approved by the jewish/zionist/israeli lobbies have been effectively nullified. Essential Truths unwanted by the zionists have been silenced. Opinions other than the zionists, have been drowned out, or simply silenced.

    It has gotten to the point where the Congress, the White House and State governments are literally passing laws, rules and regulations dictating what content can/cannot be publicly discussed. Witness the anti-BDS laws which were long ago ruled gross violations of the 1st Amendment that not only remain on the books and enforced across the country, they remain essentially unchallenged by the judiciary. We have a President that forbids Americans to publicly criticize jewish/zionists/israel in public schools. Worse, the Congress not only refuses to challenge this travesty, they have openly condoned it. And all the while the judiciary ignores it. Zionism is responsible for the implosion of Republic. Zionism is the number one threat to our freedoms and way of life. Zionism is intent on destroying our Republic and turning it into a subservient State of israel.

    Caitlin, your steadfast refusal to attack the threat and dangers of zionism in America today head on makes you part of the problem, not part of solution. IMHO of course.

    The problem in America today is that the citizenry no longer has no voice, because no access to even remotely unadulterated information exists. Every medium of communication is controlled and dictated by the zionists. And the citizenry has no where to turn because every elected official in Washington is carefully and fully vetted and approved by the zionists.

    1. Zionists must have their fingers in everything. Are they behind climate change agenda, petroleum industry, BLM, etc etc or just the stuff you oppose. They are either omnipotent or not. Isnt it amazing that one small nation rules the world by pulling stringds behind the throne. A real life Rasputin.

    2. DDearborn

      You should know that in the last few days alone the Jews have:
      1. took over another federal department,
      2. have infiltrated your local grocery,
      3. planted microphones in all the garbage cans,
      4. sewn cameras into all Old Navy T-shirts,
      5. poisoned every cloud over San Diegeo

      AND tomorrow they are coming for you!

      1. Hmmm

        There are more “Christian zionists” in America than Jewish zionists. Thus the tactic of conflating zionist with jewish is at best disingenuous given the former is a political ideology and the later obviously a religion. The reality of course is this is an intentional deception perpetrated by zionists in hopes shielding zionism from legitimate and well deserved criticism by invoking the tired specter of antisemitism.

        As for the transparent attempts to deflect my comments by foisting patently ridiculous assertions on readers that are devoid of common sense, they do not in any way shape or form rebut the very specific statements I made regarding the influence and power of “Zionists”.

        Though I think people would however be interested to hear the logic behind you both making the leap from zionist controlled communications and the Federal government, particularly inside the Beltway, which is more or less universally accepted today as fact today, and your multitude of straw men which obviously do nothing to undermine those facts.

        The truth is that anyone with 5 minutes and access to a decent search engine can gather mountains of evidence supporting my statements. Which in turn goes a long way toward explaining why you both refused to offer any credible rebuttal….

        1. its hard to rebuttal a conspiracy theory. That is why I dont discuss alien sightings either.

  24. Polls are owned by the same people that own the newspapers, television and so on.
    You can start with an article followed by a poll …
    You can start with a poll, than an “important person” demands this or that
    depending to that poll, other important person join the “one-way-discussion”…
    Polls are part of the PUC*-system.

    *people under control

    1. Was thinking that as I read the article. Polls are just as fake as the news and computer simulations on climate change, covid infections etc etc.

  25. I’ve observed that when the CIA is trying to convince the American people to oppose troop withdrawals, they ramp up the false flags. Anyone with a brain knows that any enemy would let the troops draw down first, and THEN attack….IF, there is indeed such an adversary. The fact that they’ve created the story about Russia causes me to believe that the CIA themselves likely put out the bounty to keep us there. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

  26. Not reported is the study that finds 60% of Americans are too stupid to discern the distinction between their own arse and the overalls that cover it. 55% think the cleavage between each buttock is a storage device for excrement that is too hard (constipated?) or too tedious (lazy and metabolically deficient individual?) to remove with standard cleaning tools. A further study has found that a significant proportion of mainstream journalists fall within the above survey categories. Yet another study finds that studies do not really matter in America as most Americans assume they know what is real without feeling the need to actually know anything at all.

    So fuck all you foreigners (and we will). We Amercans rule!!!! (fart, burp, porno)

  27. It’s all just part of the baseless but endless Russiagate ploy by the Democratic Party to seize, hold and exercise power. Russiagate is like the vampire that just won’t die no matter how many stakes are driven through its heart, using facts, logic, and lucid articles in the independent on-line media. It’s been most conspicuously used against Donald Trump since he campaigned and was subsequently elected to the presidency, but really, Barack Obomber had already rolled it off the assembly line back in early 2014 when his operatives in the field instigated the coup in Ukraine and then concocted the whole “Russia invaded Ukraine and seized Crimea by force of arms” false narrative. In a related and equally unbelievable gambit Washington went so far as to arrange for a Malaysian airliner to be shot down by its Ukrainian puppets so the blame could be placed on Moscow in a blatantly transparent kangaroo court convened in the Netherlands. Russiagate was further embellished in a succession of upgrades by Hillary Clinton to explain away her well-deserved defeat and to gain revenge against Trump for daring to beat her. As bungling as Trump has been against the full court press by the Dems based mostly in Russophrenia, it will be an even bigger catastrophe for the “voters” to hand the presidency to a demented fool already ginning up the next acts of war against a hapless Russian Federation. Make no mistake about it, dopey Uncle Joe has already accused Putin of a litany of newly imagined offenses, including Bountygate, and has promised to deliver payback against Russia. If Uncle Joe becomes indisposed, I’m sure his duly appointed impersonator (whoever is presently narrating his television adverts) will be trotted out by the deep state to formally initiate hostilities before a joint session of Congress. Should the Dems capture majorities in both houses of Congress along with the presidency, look for maniacs like Schiff and Nadler, having no sense and no shame even in their foolish defeats, to feel very empowered to take the ship of state to ramming speed against Russia.

  28. “Overall, 60% of Americans said they found reports of Russian bounties on American soldiers to be ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ believable, while 21% said they were not credible and the rest were unsure,” says Reuters.

    That report is propaganda, and they got you! What is the difference between SOMEWHAT believABLE and unsure? Believable is not believe, so the headline “Most Americans believe Russia targeted U.S. soldiers” is a lie! So what is the breakdown of that 60%? What were the exact questions asked and in which order? Were they leading? And who paid for them to be asked?

    If you have no time for propaganda then ‘unsure’ or ‘somewhat plausible’ is a reasonable response to something you didn’t know the details of at the time of the question. It is not belief!

  29. Despite what is taught in school and the propaganda that is peddled by the media, the 2020 presidential election is not a populist election for a representative. Rather, it is a gathering of shareholders to select the next CEO, a fact reinforced by the nations archaic electoral college system.
    Anyone who believes that this election will bring about any real change in how the United States of American government does business is either incredibly naïve, woefully out-of-touch, or oblivious to the fact that as an in-depth Princeton University study shows, we now live in an oligarchy that is “of the rich, by the rich and for the rich.” This great article can be read here:
    https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/tyranny_without_a_tyrant_the_deep_states_divide_and_conquer_strategy_is_working

  30. America is on it’s knees begging for more lies. What’s that song? Tell me lies, tell me beautiful lies. Land of the already dead. Not worth killing.

  31. “If the majority is consistently in alignment with the plutocrats whose outsized media influence enables them to dominate the public narrative, then voting necessarily reflects the will of those plutocrats, not the people.”
    Not just voting, but all public behavior! I’m seeing this clearly with the COVID-19 scamdemic and public attitudes about mandatory masks, mandatory social distancing, and mandatory vaccines. People are scared because they have been deceived and manipulated by the sociopath-controlled media into fearing for their lives. Thus our freedoms are whittled away by mandatory compliance.

  32. LOL. Even here Disqus allows only more disinfo.org

    I think the real reason Americans believe such stories is because that’s the sort of thing that the average American does to their neighbors each and every single day of the week. We can talk about evil oligarchs but the poor and abused are also dirt and filth themselves. These poor abused citizens can proclaim their belief in God all day long, but at the end of the day their God is little more than just another demon from hell. You get what you sow.

  33. New evidence shows that Mr. Putin murdered Jesus!

  34. How am I supposed to know what to believe and what not to believe when I look at the news. I do not have the time or resources to investigate what gets published.

    1. How about investing an hour or so in watching this propaganda busting video from North Korea that goes to the core. Then you will see how far the murderous manipulation has gone but it’s still probably only scratching the surface. Be aware that there are one or two gory bits but that’s how it is under the veneer of our(?) ‘civilisation’.

      Distrust the government
      Avoid the MSM
      Fight the lies

      1. Has it ever occurred to you that this film is propaganda too.

        1. Yes, you’re right, there is a touch of propaganda but not on a scale anywhere remotely resembling the enormous narrative machines of the West. This film serves well to honestly illuminate the present condition of the anaesthetised western population. Know well how the narrative managers work to your absolute detriment. If nothing else, this film is worth paying attention to and please do watch it with critical eyes. Then speak to us about its message. Thank you.

          1. Definitely propaganda. Most scenes out of old movies. Indians mostly decimated by disease from Columbus but aome enslaved. He wanted to spread Christianity but like most people with sincere hearts he was coopted by the psychopaths of his day. Choose a country and I can make them look evil too. Amazing you tout a NK film from one of the most xenophobic, oppressive and unpredictable countries on earth. Even the Chinese handle them with kids gloves. This is just NK propaganda. It proves Caitlins point very clearly if that was your intent.

            1. Columbus? Is this how one spreads Christianity? https://youtu.be/UtBKDMN2U4s

              North Korea. Like [North] Vietnam, NK beat the invading US imperialist war machine but it cost the lives of 4,000,000 of its people. It has no fear of the US. It also supports Palestine. Hence the continued malevolence toward “one of the most xenophobic, oppressive and unpredictable countries on earth”. It’s reminiscent of the hatred against Gaddafi’s Libya. I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on the military grade hideous wall-to-wall corporate advertising/propaganda in the US but I suppose it’s easier to project all that oppression, et c., on one’s opponent. I do admit there are some angles of NK propaganda in the film but the redeeming feature is the merciless spotlight it shines on the propaganda and narrative of the US. Do, please, watch the film until the end. Oh, btw, old movies you say? What do you think movies pouring out of Hollywood are?

              1. Propaganda of course.

                1. Please explain and do give examples of why everyone should be grateful for the exploits of Columbus and his merry men and do include silly little things like the importation of syphilis into Europe. But first do please actually watch the full 1 hour 35 minute forensic dissection of propagandised Western life from an outsiders point of view. You might actually learn things of great value concerning, for example, advertising, religion, war, general narrative manipulation, blah blah.

  35. David Schonbrunn Avatar
    David Schonbrunn

    The thing that gets me: no one has stopped to think about what the CIA did to incentivize the Mujahideen to kill Russian troops in Afghanistan. They paid them, of course! This whole story is total hypocrisy and faux outrage.

    The CIA people that came up with this narrative could well be the same people that trained bin Laden to be a guerrilla leader. Remember–he was one of ours back in the day…

  36. And yet without mass media, democracy is impossible. The problem is a complete lack of any balance in reporting. No alternative facts or opinions. The sole hope is to nationalise all mass media, then ensure only the truth, facts and accuracy of all content.

    1. Or how about the DOJ enforcing the existing antitrust laws?

      1. Carolyn Zaremba Avatar
        Carolyn Zaremba

        Bill Clinton made the media monopoly possible when he signed the Telecommunications Act in 1996. Before that it was illegal for megacorporations to own all of the media.

    2. Nationalize it? You mean put the Psychopaths In Charge in direct control of it? Put a gang of professional liars in charge of the truth? The point you miss is that’s the way it already is. The same bank cartel is in charge of the government that’s in charge of the CIA infiltrated Mockingbird media.

    3. oh, I think it was always biased, it just wasnt so evident when information was more tightly controlled before the internet.

  37. Charles Andrew Robinson Avatar
    Charles Andrew Robinson

    Not related, but it is always important to take a break and ….

    1. Charles Andrew Robinson Avatar
      Charles Andrew Robinson

      One more,
      Man, I love the connection, individuality, respect, talent and fun.

      1. Charles Andrew Robinson Avatar
        Charles Andrew Robinson

        I guess one more. And no, this is not my SJW signaling. It is just a real time thing I just saw and I am sharing here. After all, who is gonna read the comments anyway? Ha,ha.

      2. Liked them all but really enjoyed this one the best. No one wants to mention the good from our past heritage only the bad. How we see life really affects how we live it. Thanks for posting it.

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