Mate’s article serves as a helpful update to a talk Ray gave a year ago titled “Can You Handle the Truth?” ( See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngIKjpucQh8 , which has gotten over 200,000 views so far on YouTube. )
Ray now suggests, not totally in jest, that Robert Swan Mueller III may wish to call in sick — or perhaps say he needs to spend more time with his family — rather than show up to testify in Congress on July 17.
Are there any further questions as to why Mueller desperately hoped no one would be allowed to ask him, well, further questions? .. or about how dumb the Nadler/Pelosi House “leadership” is in compelling his testimony? Is it possible they believe their own propaganda? Stranger things have happened.
If Nadler were smart, he would cancel the hearing. But Nadler is not smart, and neither is Pelosi.
And so the Dems continue to be the proverbial “gift that keeps giving” toward re-election of the worst U.S. president in history. They should impeach him, and stop playing games.
Here are links to Ray’s tweets earlier this morning:
Scrappy Brooklyn-born journalist Aaron Mate, half the age of swank patrician Robert Swan Mueller III, flunks Mueller outright on his error-ridden report. Has Mueller reached the age of statutory senility? https://t.co/SNMWKi1bum III will call in sick on July 17; wanna bet?
The correct link for Aaron Mate's vivisection of Robert Swan Mueller III and those who helped him write his shoddy, drivel-full report Is: https://t.co/6Pw4wo7pGK
By Ray McGovern, July 4, 2019 At his first White House performance with other senior officials of the incoming Reagan administration, freshly appointed (but veteran covert action operative) intelligence chief William Casey told President Reagan and the others assembled:“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”
Hard to believe? Read below what an eye-witness has attested to:
“I am the source for this quote, which was indeed said by CIA Director William Casey at an early February 1981 meeting of the newly elected President Reagan with his new cabinet secretaries to report to him on what they had learned about their agencies in the first couple of weeks of the administration. The meeting was in the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing of the White House, not far from the Cabinet Room. I was present at the meeting as Assistant to the Chief Domestic Policy Adviser to the President.
As he did to all the other secretaries of their departments and agencies, Reagan asked Casey what he saw as his goal as director for the CIA, to which he replied with this quote, which I recorded in my notes of the meeting as he said it. Shortly thereafter I told Senior White House correspondent Sarah McClendon, who was a close friend and colleague, who in turn made it public.” Barbara Honegger
There are hundreds of examples that could be adduced to show that the major corporate-owned media — whether by intimidation, misguided “patriotism,” or self-censorship — have made Casey’s dream come true. Such is the case, of course, with the bogus Russia-gate story, by which the media have succeeded, inter alia, in further tarring the reputation of WikiLeaks founder Julia Assange. A glaring Assange-related example has come to light — all right, maybe not to light for those of you who depend on the “mainstream media” for “news.” The following story tells itself. It is worth reading in full — and reflecting upon, as we celebrate this July 4 the freedoms the Founders gave us. In a word, absent a free media, there is no freedom. None.
As UN Special Rapporteur for Torture Nils Melzer ends his “untouchable” op-ed (full text below), he aptly warns: For once telling the truth has become a crime, while the powerful enjoy impunity, it will be too late to correct the course. We will have surrendered our voice to censorship and our fate to unrestrained tyranny.
It is a warning we would do well to heed — and do something about.
+++++++++++++++++ Demasking the Torture of Julian Assange By Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture This Op-Ed has been offered for publication to the Guardian, The Times, the Financial Times, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian, the Canberra Times, the Telegraph, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and Newsweek. None responded positively. On the occasion of the International Day in Support of Torture Victims, 26 June 2019 I know, you may think I am deluded. How could life in an Embassy with a cat and a skateboard ever amount to torture? That’s exactly what I thought, too, when Assange first appealed to my office for protection. Like most of the public, I had been subconsciously poisoned by the relentless smear campaign, which had been disseminated over the years. So it took a second knock on my door to get my reluctant attention. But once I looked into the facts of this case, what I found filled me with repulsion and disbelief. Surely, I thought, Assange must be a rapist! But what I found is that he has never been charged with a sexual offence. True, soon after the US had encouraged allies to find reasons to prosecute Assange, two women made the headlines in Sweden. One of them claimed he had ripped a condom, and the other that he had failed to wear one, in both cases during consensual intercourse — not exactly scenarios that have the ring of ‘rape’ in any language other than Swedish. Mind you, each woman even submitted a condom as evidence. The first one, supposedly worn and torn by Assange, revealed no DNA whatsoever — neither his, nor hers, nor anybody else’s. Go figure. The second one, used but intact, supposedly proved ‘unprotected’ intercourse. Go figure, again. The women even texted that they never intended to report a crime but were ‘railroaded’ into doing so by zealous Swedish police. Go figure, once more. Ever since, both Sweden and Britain have done everything to prevent Assange from confronting these allegations without simultaneously having to expose himself to US extradition and, thus, to a show-trial followed by life in jail. His last refuge had been the Ecuadorian Embassy. Alright, I thought, but surely Assange must be a hacker! But what I found is that all his disclosures had been freely leaked to him, and that no one accuses him of having hacked a single computer. In fact, the only arguable hacking-charge against him relates to his alleged unsuccessful attempt to help breaking a password which, had it been successful, might have helped his source to cover her tracks. In short: a rather isolated, speculative, and inconsequential chain of events; a bit like trying to prosecute a driver who unsuccessfully attempted to exceed the speed-limit, but failed because their car was too weak. Well then, I thought, at least we know for sure that Assange is a Russian spy, has interfered with US elections, and negligently caused people’s deaths! But all I found is that he consistently published true information of inherent public interest without any breach of trust, duty or allegiance. Yes, he exposed war crimes, corruption and abuse, but let’s not confuse national security with governmental impunity. Yes, the facts he disclosed empowered US voters to take more informed decisions, but isn’t that simply democracy? Yes, there are ethical discussions to be had regarding the legitimacy of unredacted disclosures. But if actual harm had really been caused, how come neither Assange nor Wikileaks ever faced related criminal charges or civil lawsuits for just compensation? But surely, I found myself pleading, Assange must be a selfish narcissist, skateboarding through the Ecuadorian Embassy and smearing feces on the walls? Well, all I heard from Embassy staff is that the inevitable inconveniences of his accommodation at their offices were handled with mutual respect and consideration. This changed only after the election of President Moreno, when they were suddenly instructed to find smears against Assange and, when they didn’t, they were soon replaced. The President even took it upon himself to bless the world with his gossip, and to personally strip Assange of his asylum and citizenship without any due process of law. In the end it finally dawned on me that I had been blinded by propaganda, and that Assange had been systematically slandered to divert attention from the crimes he exposed. [Emphasis added.] Once he had been dehumanized through isolation, ridicule and shame, just like the witches we used to burn at the stake, it was easy to deprive him of his most fundamental rights without provoking public outrage worldwide. And thus, a legal precedent is being set, through the backdoor of our own complacency, which in the future can and will be applied just as well to disclosures by The Guardian, the New York Times and ABC News. Very well, you may say, but what does slander have to do with torture? Well, this is a slippery slope. What may look like mere «mudslinging» in public debate, quickly becomes “mobbing” when used against the defenseless, and even “persecution” once the State is involved. Now just add purposefulness and severe suffering, and what you get is full-fledged psychological torture. Yes, living in an Embassy with a cat and a skateboard may seem like a sweet deal when you believe the rest of the lies. But when no one remembers the reason for the hate you endure, when no one even wants to hear the truth, when neither the courts nor the media hold the powerful to account, then your refuge really is but a rubber boat in a shark-pool, and neither your cat nor your skateboard will save your life. Even so, you may say, why spend so much breath on Assange, when countless others are tortured worldwide? Because this is not only about protecting Assange, but about preventing a precedent likely to seal the fate of Western democracy. For once telling the truth has become a crime, while the powerful enjoy impunity, it will be too late to correct the course. We will have surrendered our voice to censorship and our fate to unrestrained tyranny. [Emphasis added.]https://medium.com/@njmelzer/demasking-the-torture-of-julian-assange-b252ffdcb768
If a modern-day Gibbons were to write about the decline and fall of the American empire, s/he would surely feature Trump’s bringing road crushing Abrams tanks and F15 fighter planes into Washington DC. Gibbons wrote about Julius Caesar who brought his imperialistic troops into Rome. To do so they had to cross the Rubicon river. This ended the Roman Republic.
Today, July 4, 2019 symbolically marks the American crossing of the Rubicon. You can’t have democracy at home and imperialism abroad. That was the lesson of Gibbons’ three volume history. But that won’t be discussed on “Fox and Friends,” so Trump will remain ignorant.
The rest of us should be scared. If there is a shattering event in our country those tanks and planes will be aimed at us. And of course if they do use troops against us it will all be legal. No one can predict if or when this would happen but is certainly a possibility. Gibbons wrote around the time of the American revolution. He would have certainly appreciated the irony.
Michael Steven Smith is host of “Law and Disorder.” He is an author, speaker, and New York City attorney in the estimable tradition of the late Michael Ratner, who had been President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and of the National Lawyers Guild.
Moderator Peter Lavelle noted Ray’s dishevelled appearance, a sign of solidarity with Ray’s friend Julian Assange, whose beard was so prominent in the photos of Julian being unceremoniously carried out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, arbitrarily ending his political asylum. ( Ray’s earlier piece on the “Julian Assange Beard,” JAB, movement got lots of “looks” but no joiners: https://raymcgovern.com/2019/05/28/the-julian-assange-beard-jab-movement-a-suggestion/ .)
The discussion on DMZ diplomacy and possible next steps addressed the main substantive points as well as obstacles — like how long John Bolton and Mike Pompeo are likely to be employed by Trump. Bolton, who was exiled to Mongolia lest he play skunk at the DMZ picnic, seems clearly in jeopardy.
But so is Pompeo. We posted Ray’s brief commentary on a highly interesting NY Times article last week, written by well plugged-in journalists who rang several changes on that theme. ( See: “The Last Days of Pompeii-o? at https://raymcgovern.com/2019/06/23/the-last-days-of-pompeii-o/ ).
Discussion of the almost 70-year Korean conundrum, especially the still formidable obstacles to real progress, was so heavy-weighty that Ray thought he would throw in a frivolously hopeful throwaway line: “Pompeo has been told there is a weight limit on the Rapture.” Thus, the immediate danger of Pompeo’s bringing on Armageddon to hasten the Rapture has receded. As for the longer term, Pompeo is still in a bind. Surely, he does not want to miss being “lifted up,” while most of the rest of us are “left behind.” But, if he slims down enough to meet the Rapture’s weight requirement, he may end up in Mongolia — like Bolton. Generally speaking, President Trump, like Caesar, likes to keep men about him who are fat.
“Bureaucratic Tapeworm” (hat-tip to Tucker Carlson) Bolton is a notable exception. By all indications, he would not mind being “left behind,” so long as he can continue to linger in neocon intestines and in those of the body politic.
As the Germans say, “Ein bisschen Spass darf sein,” or, It’s OK to have a little fun — even with these weighty issues.
After brief intro to the program, moderator Steve offers some personal comments on the Democratic debates (from minute 1:45 to 5:38). He then turns to Ray with some good questions, leading to a relaxed, discursive (sometimes funny) discussion of several front-burner issues for the next 99 minutes. Included are:
Iran; Israel; the greater Middle East; why relations with Russia went so sour in early 2014 (clues: HRC and MICIMATT); Russia-gate/Deep-State-gate; how the Department of Justice recently threw James Comey under the bus; Comey’s odd behavior in deferring to the shadowy firm CrowdStrike for forensics on DNC computers, and then never insisted on a final report from CrowdStrike; Ray’s friend Julian Assange; and Tulsi Gabbard.
