Wednesday, January 11, was a full day for Ray (more on that below*). But the highlight was a hour-long impromptu interview with Radio Sputnik’s “Loud and Clear” host Brian Becker and Ted Rall that was taped immediately after Donald Trump gave new meaning to the term “bully pulpit” at his first press conference as President-elect.
The Sputnik interview covered a lot of ground – including comments on several front-burner issues that Ray had wanted (but did not have the time) to write about. It is Ray’s favorite interview of the dozen so far this year (live links to some of which are posted below).
https://sputniknews.com/radio_loud_and_clear/201701121049500452-behind-the-cias-covert-ops-against-trump/
It was the first time Ray can recall being bleeped – twice – for trying to say “wild-ass,” as in the not-very-sophisticated analytical tool we used to call “the SWAG Factor” – for Scientific Wild-Ass Guess – a tool upon which some intelligence analysts based their conclusions when evidence available was sparse, or nonexistent. He also took the opportunity to add to the reasons why there is no love lost between Trump and CNN, by trying to reproduce Christiane Amanpour’s manner in expressing shock that some folks have trouble believing what CNN publishes based on briefings from a government that never lies.
But seriously, a full hour allows for wide-ranging discussion and Ray was particularly happy to have a chance to vent upon returning, saddened, from his 15th annual noontime demonstration against Guantanamo.
Besides the topic of the day – the towering Trump Trump-Towers press conference – Ray was able to touch on:
-The history of CIA Director John Brennan’s hold on Obama; and the jeopardy Brennan fears when he and National Intelligence Director James Clapper are required to say “We’re outa here;”
-The bizarrely transparent, “bipartisan” cum media effort to discredit Trump;
-Prospects for a possible “reset” in relations with Russia;
-The curious calls to “retaliate” for the “act of war” represented by “Russian hacking” (stated as flat fact);
-Egregious behavior by the media reminiscent of the role they played in beating the drums for attacking Iraq;
-The role played by the NY Times David Sanger, in particular, as stenographer for the White House – both before Iraq and now regarding Putin and his many sins. Why did the NYT hacking experts avoid contacting former UK Ambassador Craig Murray, who has said publically that he knows the source AND that WikiLeaks’ DNC and Podesta disclosures were from a LEAK not a HACK – and that Russia played no role?
-The incestuous relationship going back decades between the CIA and “mainstream media;”
-The dubious credibility of anything that comes out of Britain’s CIA – MI6 – which plays all kinds of support roles for bellicose U.S. officials, as was the case in helping Cheney foster stories about yellowcake uranium from Niger to Iraq, later proven to be “not authentic.”
-The dangers to the Washington Establishment if Trump’s overtures to Russia are not nipped in the bud, and how strongly the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Media-Deep State Complex will try to prevent peace from breaking out.
Ray hopes that, if you like a martinus, pour one, relax, and enjoy what turned out to be a fun interview for otherwise pretty dark times.
* Ray’s Wednesday began, as usual, watching democracynow.org live; then a live radio interview (by telephone) with Frank Morano in NY City (970 AM) during morning rush hour; then a quick article for posting on opednews.com — http://www.opednews.com/articles/Brennan-Increasingly-Despe-by-Ray-McGovern-CIA_Cia-Director-John-Brennan_Evidence_Intelligence-170111-195.html — as well as here on raymcgovern.com; then a drive downtown to the demonstration against Guantanamo (with, fortuitously, Trump’s performance live on the car radio); then Sputnik interview (above); then remote video interview for Aljazeera news program; finishing with an interview on RT International. A full schedule not that unusual over these past several weeks.
