Follow the money: Who gains from the Russia hysteria? Could it be US arms manufacturers and its vast so-called intelligence agencies that always need more funding? Could it be the US oil/gas industry trying to supply Europe and cut out Russian competition? The US is a fascist mafia state and its biggest weapon is propaganda, otherwise known as Western Media. But sometimes the mafia overreaches and blows its cover. This is one of those times. It's a freak show.
Potential complicating factor: many in the US establishment have burgeoning financial interests in Ukraine. How would engineering an economic collapse in the country enhance these arrangements? "Following the money" is of course always worthwhile, but I also think there's something deeply ideological/political about what the US is doing here. As Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security, told the NYT: “This is payback for 2016"
Yes, and there's also the pattern of economic destruction, as you ably report on above. I wonder who will come in and buy up the land / commodities / resources for pennies on the dollar? We're not allowed to talk about that of course, but it's possible.
Payback for what? Something that only happened in the fevered imagination of Hillary supporters who are in denial that she was simply an unfit candidate whom the public disliked intensely? People like Jeh Johnson are delusional. They're making up new lies because they confused their old lies with actual history.
Hillary was such a poor candidate in 2016 that she actually lost to a buffoonish, handpicked ringer who was aided into the GOP nomination by the press corps who figured he couldn't possibly beat even a weak candidate like Hillary. But Trump is a skilled marketer and said exactly what a disaffected blue collar class felt was true.
FFS Biden ruled the Ukraine and installed its government for the personal enrichment of his family. Will no one investigate what the Bidens are getting out of this?
Have your actual experiences with the federal government left you with the impression they are really playing next level chess? Mine have not. It seems more likely that analysts have taken a remote risk and elevated it in a CYA kind of way and some are choosing to run with the idea in order to manufacture a foreign policy success when the thing that wasn't going to happen doesn't happen.
This is all well and good, but I can't be sure until I hear from the part-time primetime epidemiologists Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, Keith Schicklgruber and Rachel Maddow whether or not Halyna Yanchenko is merely a Putin stooge, as I strongly suspect she must be, for so blatantly contradicting The Narrative.
Did you see Jimmy Dore? Maté pointed out a clip on NBC that showed Ukrainian grandmothers training to shoot Russian, but the clip turned out to be actual, literal Nazi propaganda. The soldiers doing the training were wearing the Wolfsangel on their armbands.
It is completely wrong and cowardly from establishment press to minimize Russia-gate hoax that St. Obama-Hillary-Biden-Jake Sullivan inflicted on us and that is still going on.
Jake Sullivan had a key role in launching Russia-gate hoax. Same people that launched the Russia-gate hoax are now hyperventilating about Russia invasion of Ukraine is "imminent".
All to "save democracy" in Ukraine -- in order to distract from the fact that St. Obama organized in 2014 coup against democratically elected Ukraine government. In reality, they need a distraction; they knew that Durham is coming with another filing -- exposing the lying team (St. Obama, Hillary, Biden, Jake Sullivan) that concocted their Russia-gate hoax crime of the century.
St. Obama installed Biden and his CIA pal Brennan as de facto governors of Ukraine -- immensely enriching US "elite" and posting and removing government members, judges and heads of industry with billions of corrupting cash -- in "fight against corruption".
US key exports today are – coups, wars and an all-encompassing corruption.
Watergate (a break-in to install microphone in DNC office) pales in comparison....
OMG, this situation is so complicated it can hardly be contained in a short article like this, even with all the comments.
To make it as simple as possible, the Oligarchy of the USA is using Ukraine as a way of extracting even more wealth from, well, everywhere.
I could write on this for an hour and still not cover everything.
Russia has no intention of invading Ukraine. As Scott Ritter says, its main goal is to show NATO for the toothless tiger it is. However, at the same time, this is strengthening the alliance with China and expanding the Belt and Road across the globe. China has made a deal with Nicaragua to build a canal. Russia may deploy a fleet to Cuba and Venezuela.
"You can’t help but conclude that the primary effect of the US Government and media throughout this entire affair has been to 1) sow panic that wouldn’t have otherwise existed, and 2) inflict massive economic damage on Ukraine — all from the comfort of thousands of miles away."
It is almost like the US is intentionally trying to weaken Ukraine until Russia gives in and finally invades. At what point do we need to concede that the "very smart people" in charge are malicious not merely incompetent?
So Panic is the name of my new band. The music and libretto are designed to hunt out and destroy the narrative Matrix wherever it rears its ugly eff'n head.
Thanks Mr. Tracey for continuing to do the work others in the ms media are unwilling to do, namely talk to actual people on the ground who are involved. And of course, the destabilization you mention is happening thousands of miles away. Not a chance they could be bothered by that.
Among my peers here in middle America, the propaganda is working. I have a friend saying he's quite anxious "to see those Russkies cross that border and watch the US beat their butts." I see no way to break the spell the fake news has on him.
Anyone remember Wag the Dog? I think one of the reasons, or even the main one if we're being honest, that all of this is happening is that the current establishment, all of it, no matter how they label themselves, feel like they're losing control over the population. And if you ask would they actually destabilize not only Ukraine's economy but perhaps the global economy and kill thousands for a mere "distraction," you really haven't been paying attention.
Our country has hit peak kakistocracy. There isn't anyone in charge in DC who isn't corrupt, incompetent, or morally unfit to lead a government branch. What the Biden administration is doing, in the interests of the MIC and the DNC false narrative machine is to demand to "protect" a country that doesn't want their protection because it doesn't see any need for US "protection".
It makes me wonder if the real goal is to have US forces go in and either destroy evidence of some past Biden crime or plant evidence of some crime that never existed that could be pinned on Trump.
With friends like the US, the Ukraine doesn't need enemies. I see the US media as mostly acting as stenographers for the Biden administration. For weeks I've had to ask myself whether they want Russia to invade, as they emphasize crisis and panic rather than quite diplomacy. After all, what is the US going to do if Russia invades? Sanctions, for sure. But the US is not going to get involved militarily to any great extent. Hysterical rhetoric from the US is particularly inappropriate given these facts.
I also wonder whether the panic emanating from the White House, with overwrought calls for Americans to evacuate and the closure of the embassy, is a more or less direct result of - and over reaction to - the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. That would explain the apparent indifference of the US to the harm caused to the Ukraine from panicked rhetoric. Perhaps the White House is more concerned about the potential for a negative hit on Biden's job approval should an invasion actually happen with stranded or killed Americans. As Obama warned, don't underestimate Joe's capacity to f*%k things up.
There's a satirical novel called "Scoop" by Evelyn Waugh which tells the story of a British journalist in the 1930s sent to a small country in Africa by his publisher to report on an imminent civil war. When he arrives, however, he discovers the country is at peace, but hundreds of journalists have flooded in from around the world looking for scoops to publish on the front page of their newspapers.
One journalist shares an anecdote about a similar assignment when he was sent to Eastern Europe to report on a violent conflict only to discover no such conflict existed. His publisher, however, demanded front page news, so the journalist literally makes up a conflict to publish back home in England. The hysteria starts with white lies about "tensions" between the two countries and eventually blows up and becomes more violent (again, it's a fake narrative).
People in England start to believe a war is actually happening, which crashes the Eastern European country's economy, which causes actual tension, which snowballs into an actual violent war, which could have easily been avoided had the British publishers stopped meddling in foreign affairs to provide the 1930s equivalent of clicks.
I see the same exact thing happening with US journalists reporting on Ukraine and Russia. They're essentially starting a war to get clicks and a blue check mark.
Follow the money: Who gains from the Russia hysteria? Could it be US arms manufacturers and its vast so-called intelligence agencies that always need more funding? Could it be the US oil/gas industry trying to supply Europe and cut out Russian competition? The US is a fascist mafia state and its biggest weapon is propaganda, otherwise known as Western Media. But sometimes the mafia overreaches and blows its cover. This is one of those times. It's a freak show.
Potential complicating factor: many in the US establishment have burgeoning financial interests in Ukraine. How would engineering an economic collapse in the country enhance these arrangements? "Following the money" is of course always worthwhile, but I also think there's something deeply ideological/political about what the US is doing here. As Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security, told the NYT: “This is payback for 2016"
Yes, and there's also the pattern of economic destruction, as you ably report on above. I wonder who will come in and buy up the land / commodities / resources for pennies on the dollar? We're not allowed to talk about that of course, but it's possible.
Payback for what? Something that only happened in the fevered imagination of Hillary supporters who are in denial that she was simply an unfit candidate whom the public disliked intensely? People like Jeh Johnson are delusional. They're making up new lies because they confused their old lies with actual history.
Hillary was such a poor candidate in 2016 that she actually lost to a buffoonish, handpicked ringer who was aided into the GOP nomination by the press corps who figured he couldn't possibly beat even a weak candidate like Hillary. But Trump is a skilled marketer and said exactly what a disaffected blue collar class felt was true.
I’d like your post except Trump was hardly ‘buffoonish’, although we do know Hillary is corrupt.
FFS Biden ruled the Ukraine and installed its government for the personal enrichment of his family. Will no one investigate what the Bidens are getting out of this?
Have your actual experiences with the federal government left you with the impression they are really playing next level chess? Mine have not. It seems more likely that analysts have taken a remote risk and elevated it in a CYA kind of way and some are choosing to run with the idea in order to manufacture a foreign policy success when the thing that wasn't going to happen doesn't happen.
This is all well and good, but I can't be sure until I hear from the part-time primetime epidemiologists Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, Keith Schicklgruber and Rachel Maddow whether or not Halyna Yanchenko is merely a Putin stooge, as I strongly suspect she must be, for so blatantly contradicting The Narrative.
Did you see Jimmy Dore? Maté pointed out a clip on NBC that showed Ukrainian grandmothers training to shoot Russian, but the clip turned out to be actual, literal Nazi propaganda. The soldiers doing the training were wearing the Wolfsangel on their armbands.
Yeah, we're at the point we need Canadian journalists like Aaron Maté do do the reporting American journalists won't do (no offense, Michael).
Thank you Michael very, very much !!
It is completely wrong and cowardly from establishment press to minimize Russia-gate hoax that St. Obama-Hillary-Biden-Jake Sullivan inflicted on us and that is still going on.
Jake Sullivan had a key role in launching Russia-gate hoax. Same people that launched the Russia-gate hoax are now hyperventilating about Russia invasion of Ukraine is "imminent".
All to "save democracy" in Ukraine -- in order to distract from the fact that St. Obama organized in 2014 coup against democratically elected Ukraine government. In reality, they need a distraction; they knew that Durham is coming with another filing -- exposing the lying team (St. Obama, Hillary, Biden, Jake Sullivan) that concocted their Russia-gate hoax crime of the century.
St. Obama installed Biden and his CIA pal Brennan as de facto governors of Ukraine -- immensely enriching US "elite" and posting and removing government members, judges and heads of industry with billions of corrupting cash -- in "fight against corruption".
US key exports today are – coups, wars and an all-encompassing corruption.
Watergate (a break-in to install microphone in DNC office) pales in comparison....
OMG, this situation is so complicated it can hardly be contained in a short article like this, even with all the comments.
To make it as simple as possible, the Oligarchy of the USA is using Ukraine as a way of extracting even more wealth from, well, everywhere.
I could write on this for an hour and still not cover everything.
Russia has no intention of invading Ukraine. As Scott Ritter says, its main goal is to show NATO for the toothless tiger it is. However, at the same time, this is strengthening the alliance with China and expanding the Belt and Road across the globe. China has made a deal with Nicaragua to build a canal. Russia may deploy a fleet to Cuba and Venezuela.
Oops.
Excellent original reporting. Funny MSM only speaks to government sources they never speak to people on the ground, I wonder why?
"You can’t help but conclude that the primary effect of the US Government and media throughout this entire affair has been to 1) sow panic that wouldn’t have otherwise existed, and 2) inflict massive economic damage on Ukraine — all from the comfort of thousands of miles away."
It is almost like the US is intentionally trying to weaken Ukraine until Russia gives in and finally invades. At what point do we need to concede that the "very smart people" in charge are malicious not merely incompetent?
"1) sow panic that wouldn’t have otherwise existed,"
Well, to be fair the Covid hysteria is finally winding down. We need something to take its place.
If you aren't rooting for an extinction level event, you aren't paying attention.
So Panic is the name of my new band. The music and libretto are designed to hunt out and destroy the narrative Matrix wherever it rears its ugly eff'n head.
Thanks Mr. Tracey for continuing to do the work others in the ms media are unwilling to do, namely talk to actual people on the ground who are involved. And of course, the destabilization you mention is happening thousands of miles away. Not a chance they could be bothered by that.
This is a point well made, and this article deserves much broader circulation.
Among my peers here in middle America, the propaganda is working. I have a friend saying he's quite anxious "to see those Russkies cross that border and watch the US beat their butts." I see no way to break the spell the fake news has on him.
“Never underestimate Joe’s ability to fuck things up” _ Barack Obama, 2020
Anyone remember Wag the Dog? I think one of the reasons, or even the main one if we're being honest, that all of this is happening is that the current establishment, all of it, no matter how they label themselves, feel like they're losing control over the population. And if you ask would they actually destabilize not only Ukraine's economy but perhaps the global economy and kill thousands for a mere "distraction," you really haven't been paying attention.
Our country has hit peak kakistocracy. There isn't anyone in charge in DC who isn't corrupt, incompetent, or morally unfit to lead a government branch. What the Biden administration is doing, in the interests of the MIC and the DNC false narrative machine is to demand to "protect" a country that doesn't want their protection because it doesn't see any need for US "protection".
It makes me wonder if the real goal is to have US forces go in and either destroy evidence of some past Biden crime or plant evidence of some crime that never existed that could be pinned on Trump.
With friends like the US, the Ukraine doesn't need enemies. I see the US media as mostly acting as stenographers for the Biden administration. For weeks I've had to ask myself whether they want Russia to invade, as they emphasize crisis and panic rather than quite diplomacy. After all, what is the US going to do if Russia invades? Sanctions, for sure. But the US is not going to get involved militarily to any great extent. Hysterical rhetoric from the US is particularly inappropriate given these facts.
I also wonder whether the panic emanating from the White House, with overwrought calls for Americans to evacuate and the closure of the embassy, is a more or less direct result of - and over reaction to - the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. That would explain the apparent indifference of the US to the harm caused to the Ukraine from panicked rhetoric. Perhaps the White House is more concerned about the potential for a negative hit on Biden's job approval should an invasion actually happen with stranded or killed Americans. As Obama warned, don't underestimate Joe's capacity to f*%k things up.
There's a satirical novel called "Scoop" by Evelyn Waugh which tells the story of a British journalist in the 1930s sent to a small country in Africa by his publisher to report on an imminent civil war. When he arrives, however, he discovers the country is at peace, but hundreds of journalists have flooded in from around the world looking for scoops to publish on the front page of their newspapers.
One journalist shares an anecdote about a similar assignment when he was sent to Eastern Europe to report on a violent conflict only to discover no such conflict existed. His publisher, however, demanded front page news, so the journalist literally makes up a conflict to publish back home in England. The hysteria starts with white lies about "tensions" between the two countries and eventually blows up and becomes more violent (again, it's a fake narrative).
People in England start to believe a war is actually happening, which crashes the Eastern European country's economy, which causes actual tension, which snowballs into an actual violent war, which could have easily been avoided had the British publishers stopped meddling in foreign affairs to provide the 1930s equivalent of clicks.
I see the same exact thing happening with US journalists reporting on Ukraine and Russia. They're essentially starting a war to get clicks and a blue check mark.