#Blinken speech

[wherepond]

Masks are off. I see Nazi Germany.

[xtruss]

Arab World Sees Crackdown on RT as Admission of Role Russian Media Plays 'Conveying Truth to People'

— Ilya Tsukanov | Saturday September 14, 2024

© Sputnik/Evgeny Biyatov

The State Department has leveled fresh accusations against RT, claiming the Russian broadcaster is linked to Russian intel and engaged in a global influence operation. Journalists from the Arab World told Sputnik about the real reasons for the crackdown.

"You've asked questions for months and months about the Global South, and why there's not more support for Ukraine in this part of the Middle East or that part of Latin America or this part of Africa," US State Department Global Engagement Center director James Rubin told reporters at a briefing in Washington on Friday as the US government rolled out fresh allegations and restrictions against the Russian foreign language broadcaster.

"One of the reasons why so much of the world has not been as fully supportive of Ukraine as you would think they would be...is because of the broad scope and reach of RT, where propaganda, disinformation and lies are spread to millions if not billions of people around the world," Rubin said, complaining about Russian media's global reach and ability to get alternative viewpoints across.

Secretary of State Blinken, President Biden and other officials will be "talking" with counterparts "in Latin America, in Africa, in Asia and are going to be working with their colleagues to try to show all of those countries that...to broadcast, with no restriction of control, RT and allow them free access to their countries," and "has had a deleterious effect on the views of the rest of the world about a war that should be an open-and-shut case," Rubin added.

'Shocking' Hypocrisy and Duplicitousness

“These events clearly show that the world has once again been deceived by [US] claims of supporting a free media. Blinken leading the campaign against RT is more shocking than it is surprising, especially since the US is making these accusations against a channel expressing the views of many people around the world, not just in Russia,” Palestinian-British Journalist Abdel Bari Atwan told Sputnik.

“The US has a regime closer to a dictatorship than a democracy, and the campaign against RT contradicts Washington’s false claims that it seeks different opinions and democracy, which Americans no longer have,” Atwan suggested.

The Biden administration is “projecting onto RT its own favorite method of using the media for insidious purposes,” Ibrahim Awad, vice president of Lebanon’s National Media Council, told Sputnik.

It’s stunning “that the foreign minister of a superpower has become involved in such a matter, but on the other hand, the US’s deceptive position and attempts to sit on two chairs at once is not surprising,” Awad said.

US Sanctions on Russian Media Reveal Fear, Insecurity of Dying Empire – Ex-CIA Analyst! Former US State Department official and retired CIA intelligence officer Larry Johnson spoke with Sputnik about the new sanctions against Russian media announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken Friday.

“Freedom of speech in America is under assault,” said Johnson as the Biden administration announced its latest punitive measures against Rossiya Segodnya, the parent company of RT and Sputnik. “I'm waiting to see if they're going to come down and sanction me, for example, for daring to appear on RT and offer commentary. I'm not compensated for that in any form or fashion.”

“The only thing that can kill free speech is this kind of persecution,” said the former CIA analyst.

— Ex-US Defense Department Analyst Karen Kwiatkowski:

“This really is divorced from reality.”

“They are creating news and media coverage of something that very much fits into their narrative, which is an anti-Russian narrative which is related to the campaign.”

What this reflects is just… one more symptom of a dying empire where they have to go out and attack others.”

“The only thing that can kill free speech is this kind of persecution,” said the former CIA analyst.

“It's irrational. And again, I think it's a symptom of a weakness on the part of the United States. Weakness and fear. That's where this originates… the United States is acknowledging that what it can't handle is the truth.”

“We are not allowed to speak freely about American foreign policy,” Kwiatkowski warned. “We see it in terms of the demonstrations across the country in support of Gaza, trying to end that genocide. We are not allowed in this country to criticize the American neoconservative foreign policy. That is a done deal. We do not have freedom of speech in that area at all.”

Zombie ‘Russiagate’ Conspiracy Persists as US Stokes Fear, Hatred of Moscow! — John Miles

The narrative has proven to be a useful tool as the United States supports economic, diplomatic, and military aggression against Russia.

“Russiagate continues to survive like a science fiction monster, resilient to bullets,” writes former CIA analyst Ray McGovern in a piece on the website Consortium News, noting the longevity and usefulness of the conspiracy in continuing to stoke hostility towards Moscow among the American public.

The notion that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election or played a role in hacking leaked Democratic Party emails has persisted even after sworn testimony from the cyber security firm CrowdStrike confirmed the lack of evidence for the claim.

“The mainstream media has been incredibly adept at suppressing all this stuff,” McGovern noted on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Wednesday. “No matter what we write in Consortium News or other outlets – it's on antiwar.com now, too – or however much you and I share this information, we're fighting an uphill battle.”

“Why is this important? Just to remind folks who might not reflect on this, Russia has been demonized to the point where Donald Trump has been blamed on the Russians – think what you will of that,” he continued.

“And all kinds of other things have been blamed on the Russians to the point where if these not very emotionally stable people in the White House decide to go after the Russians in Ukraine or even get involved against the Russians in Syria or elsewhere in the Middle East, most of the American people say, ‘oh yeah, those damn Russians, didn't they give us Donald Trump?’”

The ingrained hostility towards Russia from the American public – and from Democratic Party supporters, in particular – has served as a useful tool in justifying continued US involvement in Ukraine’s proxy war against the country.

Former CIA head James Clapper, who presided over the agency’s illegal surveillance of the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 election, has been instrumental in perpetuating the narrative. Clapper has made his distrust of Moscow clear, appearing to suggest nefarious qualities are somehow hardcoded into the DNA of Russian people.

“[Clapper claimed] the historical practices of the Russians [make them] almost genetically driven to co-opt, penetrate, gain favor, whatever, which is a typical Russian technique,” McGovern recalled, calling him a “Russophobe extraordinaire.”

“I Was The CIA Director… We Lied, We Cheated, We Stole,” Declared Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo During a Candid Moment In 2019. “We Had Entire Training Courses.”

A gene for dishonesty has yet to be found. But if one exists, Pompeo’s comment suggests it is most likely to predominate among CIA officials like Clapper, who have been responsible for the overthrow of dozens of world leaders and the deaths of millions of civilians.

Truth Hurts

Nasser Abu Bakr, head of the Palestinian Union of Journalists, says Washington’s assault on RT is an “admission of the role the channel plays in conveying the truth to people.”

The US elite “only wants one version of the world – their version, which entails falsification, lies and propaganda, and they don’t want the world to see the truth, hence the attempts to restrict all free media spreading truth and justice,” Bakr said.

Algerian professor of media studies Hakim Bugrara says the US regularly “undermines the humanitarian and democratic values it claims to defend” when someone falls outside its orbit.

“Washington does not accept the existence of strong media contradicting its position, and the Americans are particularly worried about Russian media, which has enormous reach and distribution, despite all attempts to interfere with its broadcasts.” Russian journalists have broken through the information blockade with their content and diversity of opinions, and most importantly, offered the world “a different perspective on current events and their underlying causes,” Bugrara said.

US Recognizes Russian Media Play Important Role in Reporting Truth - Experts

On September 4, the United States imposed sanctions against the Rossiya Segodnya media group, RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik, and Ruptly. The new measures also affected Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group.

Commenting on the US accusations against RT, political scientist and international relations expert Ruhollah Modabber told Sputnik that the US recognizes that Russian media, especially RT and Sputnik, play an important role in reporting the truth and countering false Western propaganda.

"People around the world turn to Russian media for the truth. RT and Sputnik have attracted a large audience. Western information sources fail at the same time as they try to show another reality through censorship. The Russian media have once again defeated the hegemony of the US and Europe in the information space", Ruhollah Modabber said.

The US wants to achieve information "censorship" against Russia because it has "failed" in Ukraine, Chilean political scientist Ingrid Urgelles, PhD told Sputnik, commenting on Washington's introduction of new sanctions against Russian media.

"This is another of the many attempts by the US to censor platforms that broadcast a point of view that differs from the imperialist agenda they promote. In this case, it is the conflict in Ukraine, and because the US lost, it also lost [global] support. That is why they are resorting to such extraordinary measures to blame the media, which is quite absurd, because it is not just about RT, but about the form in which people receive information," Ingrid Urgelles said.

In her opinion, RT as a media outlet has "always shown the other side of the coin and criticized US colonialism in different parts of the world."

The editor-in-chief of Russia's Rossiya Segodnya international media group and the RT broadcaster, Margarita Simonyan, said on Friday that she felt she had made a difference with her work, commenting on the new US sanctions.

"The US Department of State says RT is one of the reasons why Ukraine does not have larger support in other countries. I haven't lived my life in vain. Seriously," Simonyan wrote on Telegram.

RT Editor-in-Chief Cites Channel's Success as Key Factor Behind US Sanctions! © Sputnik/Evgeny Biyatov/Go to the mediabank

VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) - The editor-in-chief of Russia’s Rossiya Segodnya* international media group and the RT broadcaster, Margarita Simonyan, called RT's success as one of two reasons for US sanctions against Russian media, along with the elections in the United States.

"Why did they do it now? For two reasons — firstly, the projects turned out to be incredibly successful: our audience has grown very significantly compared to what it was when we broadcast openly. Last year alone, our English-language projects had almost 14 billion views. This hurts them. This is more than our closest competitors BBC and CNN," Simonyan said on the air of Rossiya 1 broadcaster.

"Plus they have elections — this is a scenario they have already worked out: as soon as there are elections, they need to quickly distract everyone with Russia," she added.

Simonyan recalled earlier that after the start of the Russian special operation, a number of Western countries supporting Ukraine had restricted the work of the TV channel and media group, including revoking licenses.

"In these countries and, in particular, in the US, we began to work, how can I say, underground. Guerrilla warfare is a well-known, familiar, and beloved business for any person born in the Soviet Union, and raised on Soviet textbooks, and educated in a Soviet school. We organized a number of 'guerrilla' projects," the journalist said.

She also emphasized that the audience in other countries had even increased.

"In addition to what we, of course, have left, broadcasting has been strengthened in those countries that allow us to do this. This is Latin America, this is the Arab world, we have grown very well in Africa," Simonyan said.

On September 4, the US Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against Simonyan and her deputies Anton Anisimov and Elizaveta Brodskaia. Deputy Director of the RT English-Language Information Broadcasting Andrey Kiyashko, RT’s Digital Media Projects Manager Konstantin Kalashnikov and a number of other employees of the broadcaster were also added to the sanctions list.

The US State Department, in a parallel move, tightened the operating conditions for Rossiya Segodnya and its subsidiaries, designating them as "foreign missions." Under the Foreign Missions Act, they will be required to notify the department of all personnel working in the United States and disclose all real estate they own.

US authorities also announced restrictions on the issuance of visas to individuals they allege are "acting on behalf of Kremlin-supported media organizations." However, the Department of State refused to disclose the names of those subject to the new visa restrictions. Commenting on the new sanctions, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller claimed the measures did not target any particular individual Russian journalists, but rather the employees of the targeted companies who were involved in "covert activities."

Meanwhile, US authorities have charged Kalashnikov and another RT employee, Elena Afanasyeva, with money laundering conspiracy and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

*Rossiya Segodnya is the parent media group of Sputnik News.

[rodaportal]

Viktor Orbán’s Call for Ceasefire: Global Context

Join us as we explore Viktor Orbán’s urgent call for a ceasefire and peace talks in the midst of the Ukraine conflict. 🌍✌️ Featuring powerful insights from global leaders like Ursula von der Leyen, Antony Blinken, Jens Stoltenberg, Donald Trump, and Vladimir Putin, this video dives deep into the complexities of achieving global peace. Don't miss this critical discussion!

Watch now 👉 Viktor Orbán’s Call for Ceasefire: Global Context

📌 Highlights: 🔹 Viktor Orbán on the urgency of peace 🔹 Ursula von der Leyen on independence and freedom 🔹 Antony Blinken’s support for Ukraine 🔹 Jens Stoltenberg on NATO’s strength 🔹 Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s perspectives

[allthegeopolitics]

Pro-Israel advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over sanctions issued against individuals involved in settler violence in the occupied West Bank.  The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit in Amarillo, Texas, are composed of two NGOs, Texans for Israel and the Israeli nonprofit, Regavim, as well as two dual US-Israeli citizens who live in the West Bank. The defendants named in the lawsuit include the US Department of Treasury; US Department of State; Department of Homeland Security; Office of Foreign Assets Control; Financial Crimes Enforcement Network; and their department chiefs, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen. In February this year, Biden filed an executive order allowing federal agencies to impose financial sanctions and visa restrictions against individuals who attack or intimidate Palestinians and destroy or dispossess Palestinians of their property.

Continue Reading.

[athena5898]

(MPN) A speech by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is interrupted by a protester calling him “bloody Blinken” and vowing to hold him accountable

The woman who stood up and called out the Secretary of State accused Blinken of having the blood of hundreds of thousands on his hands, pointing out his role in enabling the Gaza genocide and vowing to hold him to account.

[mariacallous]

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Azerbaijan may be preparing for military aggression against his country as the term "Western Azerbaijan," has become increasingly popular in public discourse in Azerbaijan.

During a Nov. 18 speech at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Yerevan, Pashinyan claimed Azerbaijan media, schools, and universities had started calling Armenia this way, warning the rhetoric could signal Baku's desire to start an offensive military operation.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned a select group of lawmakers that Azerbaijan might be planning to invade Armenia in the coming weeks, Politico reported on Oct. 13.

Officials familiar with the discussion told Politico that Blinken spoke about the possibility of an invasion in a conference call on Oct. 3.

The call addressed officials' questions about the U.S. response to Azerbaijan's September offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.

During the call, Blinken reportedly told lawmakers that the State Department will not renew an established agreement that permits the U.S. to offer Azerbaijan military aid. The agreement has been renewed every year since 2002 but lapsed in June.

In the same conversation, Blinken warned that Azerbaijan may invade southern Armenia.

Of particular concern is the southern region of Syunik, which Azerbaijan calls the Zangezur Corridor and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly referred to as "Western Azerbaijan."

In mid-September, the Azerbaijani military launched a lightning offensive against the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, an unrecognized Armenian state within the territory of Azerbaijan. Local authorities eventually surrendered in a ceasefire mediated by Russia.

A formal decree was later signed, dissolving all official institutions of the breakaway state from Jan. 1, 2024. Following Azerbaijan's victory, around 100,000 people have left Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia.

[eretzyisrael]

by Adam Kredo

A Washington, D.C., rabbi is suing two pro-Palestinian agitators for assaulting him last month during a prayer session outside of the Israeli embassy, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, an Orthodox rabbinic leader at the Yeshivas Elimelech Jewish school, says he was hosting a small prayer group outside the Israeli embassy in late March when two pro-Palestinian protesters began blaring sirens and bullhorns, interrupting the session and ultimately causing damage to Herzfeld’s hearing.

Herzfeld is charging the two protesters—named as Hazami Barmada and Atafeh Rokhvand—with "assault, battery, outrage, and other violations" as a result of their actions. Herzfeld claims he "suffered acute acoustic trauma and other harm" following the incident, which the filing dubs a hate crime. Both Barmada and Rokhvand are identified in the suit as the leaders of ongoing demonstrations outside Israel’s Washington embassy and in front of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s private residence.

The case comes amid a flurry of clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators across the country, where violence has repeatedly broken out. Herzfeld’s case highlights the aggressive tactics being used by some protesters as they seek to disrupt pro-Israel gatherings and foment unrest.

Herzfeld and his group were praying for the Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas, as well as for the innocent Gaza Strip residents caught in the violence, when "they were surrounded" by the alleged "pro-Hamas protesters" who were sporting "earplugs or sound-canceling headphones—and who were already encamped in front of the embassy," according to the suit.

The sound equipment deployed by the pro-Palestinian demonstrators was "intended to prevent any speech or other support for Israel," the suit charges. When the group continued its prayer session, the protesters allegedly "increased the volume of the siren-like sound being generated by the bullhorns, sirens and loudspeakers to levels that are far in excess of those allowed by District of Columbia law."

Security staff from the Israeli embassy ultimately had to bring Herzfeld and his group into the building to prevent the situation from spiraling further out of control.

"The effort to drown out Rabbi Herzfeld’s prayers persisted for several minutes, without abatement," the suit states. "As Rabbi Herzfeld and his group tried to pray, the sound level increased as Rabbi Herzfeld tried to make himself heard over the din."

The rabbi is seeking an unspecified amount in damages and a court injunction to stop the two protest leaders "from harassing, obstructing, or interfering with Rabbi Herzfeld’s activities, including his leading of prayer, protests, or other lawful activities."

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 15, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Jan 16, 2025

It is somehow fitting that President Joe Biden’s farewell address to the nation, scheduled for 8:00 Eastern time tonight, was overshadowed today by the dramatic announcement that after months of negotiation backed by the United States and facilitated by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, negotiators from Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire and to exchange Israeli hostages taken on October 7, 2023, for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

From when he broke his foot playing with his dog shortly after he was elected in 2020 and opted to forgo time-consuming physical therapy to address the stiffness in his gait in order to focus on his work, to the day of his January 2021 inauguration when he went straight to the office, through his decision to negotiate the historic 2024 Ankara prisoner exchange involving 26 prisoners and at least five nations at the expense of his reelection campaign, to today’s focus on the long-awaited ceasefire rather than his final speech, Biden has approached the office of the presidency as an opportunity to work for the goals he thinks advance the interests of the United States of America and its people.

This afternoon, Biden appeared, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Good afternoon,” he said to the press. “And it’s a very good afternoon, because at long last I can announce a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. [After] more than 15 months of conflict that began with [Hamas’s] brutal massacre of October the seventh, more than 15 months of terror for the hostages, their families, the Israeli people, more than fifteen months of suffering by the innocent people in Gaza, fighting in Gaza will stop and soon the hostages will return home to their families.”

“The elements of this deal were what I laid out in detail this past May,” Biden said. That plan “was embraced by countries around the world and endorsed overwhelmingly by the U.N. Security Council.” It has three phases.

Phase one is a six-week ceasefire in which Israeli forces will withdraw from all the populated areas of Gaza and Palestinians can return to their homes. Hamas will release the women, elderly, wounded, and American hostages it holds. Humanitarian assistance will surge into Gaza.

“During the next six weeks,” Biden said, “Israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements to get to phase two, which is a permanent end of the war.” The ceasefire will continue throughout the negotiations, even if they take longer than six weeks. Once phase two begins, the remaining living hostages will come home and all remaining Israeli forces will be withdrawn from Gaza.

In phase three the final remains of hostages who have been killed will be returned to their families, and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza will begin.

Biden noted that he has worked in foreign policy for decades and that “[t]his is one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever experienced.”

Tonight, Biden began his farewell address by reiterating that negotiators had reached a ceasefire deal. Although incoming president Trump has already tried to take credit for the deal, Biden said: “This plan was developed and negotiated by my team. And it will be largely implemented by the incoming administration. That’s why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed. Because that’s how it should be. Working together as Americans.”

Biden then turned to his farewell message to the nation. He began by reflecting on the need to protect our institutions against the abuse of power. “Our system of separation of powers, checks and balances…may not be perfect,” he said, “but it’s maintained our democracy for nearly 250 years, longer than any other nation in history that’s ever tried such a bold experiment.”

“In the past four years, our democracy has held strong,” he said, “And every day, I’ve kept my commitment to be president for all Americans through one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history.” He praised Vice President Kamala Harris as his partner, calling it the honor of his life to see Americans working together to come through a once-in-a-century pandemic, “standing up for our rights and our freedoms instead of losing their jobs to an economic crisis,” with “millions of entrepreneurs and companies creating new businesses and industries, hiring American workers, using American products.”

“Together,” Biden said, “we’ve launched a new era of American possibilities, one of the greatest modernizations of infrastructure in our entire history, from new roads, bridges, clean water, affordable high-speed Internet for every American.” We brought back semiconductor manufacturing to the United States, “creating thousands of jobs.” We have given “Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for millions of seniors” protected children and families “by passing the most significant gun safety law in 30 years and bringing violent crime to a 50-year low,” and met “our sacred obligation to over one million veterans so far who were exposed to toxic materials and to their families, providing medical care and education benefits.”

“We’ve created nearly 17 million new jobs—more than any other single administration in a single term. More people have healthcare than ever before. And overseas, we’ve strengthened NATO. Ukraine is still free. And we’ve pulled ahead of our competition with China…. I’m so proud of how much we’ve accomplished together for the American people. And I wish the incoming administration success. Because I want America to succeed.”

Then Biden issued a warning that will stand alongside other prescient warnings outgoing president’s have delivered, like President George Washington famously warning about the dangers of foreign entanglements, and President Dwight Eisenhower warning about the dangers of the “military-industrial complex.”

Biden warned the country of “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultrawealthy people.” There are dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked, he said. “Today an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

Biden pointed out that a century ago the American people stood up to the robber barons and made them “play by the rules everybody else had to…. And it helped put us on a path to building the largest middle class in the world [and] the most prosperous century any nation in the world has ever seen.”

He and his administration worked to accomplish this plan for the last four years, he said, with legislation aimed at both “protecting the environment and growing the economy,” but “powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interests for power and profit.” He warned about “the concentration of technology, power, and wealth.”

While President Eisenhower warned of the rise of the military-industrial complex and “the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power,” Biden said that six decades later he is “equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well.”

“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation,” he said, “enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling [or] disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit…. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is the most consequential technology of our time, perhaps of all time.”

Going forward, Biden said, “it’s going to be up to the president…, the Congress, the courts, the free press, and the American people to confront these powerful forces.” He called for reforming the tax code to make billionaires pay their fair share, and for getting rid of the flood of dark money in politics.

He called for ethics rules and an 18-year term limit for Supreme Court justices, and for banning members of Congress from trading stock. He also called for a constitutional amendment to make it clear that no president is immune from crimes they commit in office. “The president’s power is not unlimited,” he said. “It’s not absolute.”

The concentration of wealth and power threatens democracy, Biden warned, by eroding “the sense of unity and common purpose,” noting that when people feel they don’t have a fair shot at success, staying engaged in the process becomes “exhausting and even disillusioning.” It is essential to democracy for people to feel like they can go as far as their hard work and talent can take them.

Biden noted the “short distance between peril and possibility” but promised that “what I believe is the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. It’s up to us to make our dreams come true.”

After thanking members of his administration, public servants and first responders across the country and around the world, U.S. service members and their families, Vice President Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and their family, Biden offered his “eternal thanks to you, the American people.”

“After 50 years of public service,” he said, “I give you my word: I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands. A nation where the strengths of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure.

“Now it’s your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith.

“I love America.

“You love it too.

“God bless you all.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[stupittmoran]

Top 10 headlines the media didn't tell you this week, Repost & Follow for more

Thomas Massie has introduced a bill to abolish the Fed.

Andy Ogles calls Trump trial a joke.

Peru classifies trans people as “mentally ill”

Slovakia PM shot after rejecting the WHO Global Pandemic Accord and aid for Ukraine.

CNN to host presidential Trump Biden debate, no audience will be present.

Ashley Biden confirms authenticity of diary.

President Biden invokes Executive Privilege blocking release of recordings of mishandling of Classified Documents.

Elon Musk wins Australia court dispute over free speech.

Democrats vote AGAINST bill to detain, deport any iIIegal immigrant who assaults a police officer.

Video goes viral of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken playing guitar in a bar in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Why won't they allow an audit of billions being sent to Ukraine?

If you appreciate this Top 10 recap, remember to Repost and FoIIow me for another week in a clown world 🤡🌎

TaraBull

@TaraBull808

[tomorrowusa]

Sweden officially joined NATO on Thursday. It had been neutral since 1814.

One of Putin's pretexts for his illegal invasion of Ukraine was to prevent NATO expansion. What the invasion really did was to cause NATO to become reinvigorated and expanded.

With Finland and Sweden joining NATO, the land border between Russia and NATO has doubled in length. And the Baltic is now a Sea of NATO with Russia holding only a couple of relatively short strips of coastline near Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg. This represents a spectacular strategic failure for Putin.

Sweden on Thursday formally joined NATO as the 32nd member of the transatlantic military alliance, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality as concerns about Russian aggression in Europe have spiked following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided at a ceremony in which Sweden's "instrument of accession" to the alliance was officially deposited at the State Department. "This is a historic moment for Sweden. It's historic for alliance. It's history for the transatlantic relationship," Blinken said. "Our NATO alliance is now stronger, larger than it's ever been." Kristersson wrote in a social media post that "we are therefore a safer country." Later Thursday. Kristersson will visit the White House and then be a guest of honor at President Joe Biden's State of the Union address to Congress.

Ukraine will eventually join NATO but it probably won't happen while active hostilities continue. Expect to hear Sweden mentioned at the State of the Union address.

Biden, in his speech to Congress, is expected to cite Sweden's accession to NATO as evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin's intent to divide and weaken the alliance has failed as a direct result of the Ukraine invasion. And, the Democratic president is expected to use Sweden's decision to join to step up calls for reluctant Republicans to approved stalled military assistance to Ukraine as the war enters its third year. Biden and his NATO counterparts have vowed that Ukraine will join one day, too.

Russian imperialism of the past 300 years has caused its neighbors to seek more protection against it. Few people in Eastern Europe have fond memories of being Russian or Soviet colonies. With Putin acting like a хуйло for the past 20 years, the only safe option is NATO membership.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

AKIVA VAN KONINGSVELD

Slightly more than three in four Palestinians have a positive view of Hamas in the wake of its Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, according to a survey by the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) research firm.

The Ramallah-based institute polled 668 Palestinian adults in the southern Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7. (The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points, AWRAD said.)

The Palestinian poll—the first of its kind since the Oct. 7 attacks—found that 48.2% of respondents characterize Hamas’s role as “very positive,” while 27.8% view Hamas as “somewhat positive.” Almost 80% regard the role of Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades “military” wing as positive.

The Al-Qassam Brigades killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and wounded thousands in the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. In addition, terrorists took some 240 people hostage.

When asked whether they supported or opposed Hamas’s actions on Oct. 7, 59.3% of the Palestinians surveyed said they “extremely” supported the attacks and 15.7% said they “somewhat” supported the murderous spree.

Only 12.7% expressed disapproval with 10.9% saying they neither supported nor opposed the attack.

Almost all (98%) of the respondents said the slaughter made them feel “prouder of their identity as Palestinians,” with an equal percentage saying they would “never forget and never forgive” the Jewish state for its ongoing military operation against Hamas.

Three-quarters said that they expect the Israel-Hamas war to end in a Palestinian victory.

In response to the question “What would you like as a preferred government after the war is finished in Gaza Strip,” 72% said they favor a “national unity government” that includes Hamas and Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction.

Approximately 8.5% said they favor a government controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

In addition, more than 98% of Palestinians surveyed by AWRAD hold negative views of the United States.

On Nov. 8, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Gaza must be handed over to the P.A. following hostilities. The solution “must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority,” stated Blinken.

During an Oct. 18 visit to Tel Aviv, U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a speech in which he claimed that “Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”

AWRAD said that “the poll’s sample includes all socioeconomic groups, ensuring equal representation of adult men and women, and is proportionately distributed across the West Bank and Gaza.”

[melhindips]

Day 357

🇱🇧 Health Ministry estimates Beirut death toll to rise to 300, has so far only confirmed 6 killed, 90 wounded as medical staff report that bodies evaporated from intensity of bombs

🇱🇧 Israel again bombs Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut 7 times in past hour

🇱🇧 25+ people confirmed killed by IOF today. Likely severe undercount

🟡 Hezbollah launches rocket barrages at occupied Safad, Tiberias, and colonies in Galilee & Haifa area. Strikes sites in Safad. Also claims targeting Tel Aviv, Ashkelon

🇺🇸 Calls for Secretary of State Blinken to resign after evidence emerged of him dismissing reports that Israel blocked US aid to Gaza & lied to Congress saying the US didn’t assess it

🇵🇸 North Gaza: IOF kills 4 people in Jabalia home incl. 2 kids. IOF bombed home on Hamid Street killing & injuring many people. 1+ killed in IOF attack on Gaza City St

🇵🇸 At least 1 killed, others wounded, in IOF strike on displacement camp in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital (central)

🇺🇳 UN delegates walk out in protest of Netanyahu speech as he vows to continue war & shows map showing West Bank, Gaza as part of Israel

🪖 Israel to recruit African asylum seekers to fill 10,000 soldier shortage, in exchange for residency

🇸🇾 UN: 30,000+ crossed into Syria from Lebanon in 72 hours

🌾 Israel destroys food storage facility in Qalqilya (West Bank)

🇵🇸 West Bank raids: IOF fire tear gas, sound bombs at Bethlehem residents & protestors in Nablus, injuring 1+. Also opened fire at people in Hebron

[leftistnewsnetwork]

Reasons not to vote for Joe Biden

-Nordstream pipeline bomber. Biggest eco terrorist in human history

-Approved of the willow project

-Broke the rail strike

-Gave federal contracts to union busters

-Sent Covid-19 relief money to the police

-Funded ICE to record levels. 6 billion more than Trump

-Illegally pressuring social media companies to crack down on free speech

-Fighting proxy war with Russia by sending weapons to nazis in Ukraine

-Stealing BILLIONS from Afghanistan, starving their people

-Absolutely unhinged China policy

-Sent weapons to Taiwan

-sent nuclear submarines to Australia

-Hunter Biden pay the play corruption

-Hiring Neera Tanden as White House Domestic Policy Advised

-Hiring Antony Blinken

-Hiring Lloyd Austin from Raytheon as Defense Secretary

-full fledged support to the genocidal state of Israel

-pushing the privatization of water

-Insulting Maui response

-said he would veto medicare for all

-Kamala Harris could become president

If This Doesn't Convince You Here Are A few more

-stole Iranian and Syrian oil

-escalated Cuban embargo

-Actively trying to kill Julian Assange

-Bombed Somalia

-cut SNAP benefits

-Hired notorious war criminal Elliot Abrams

-Hired Victoria Nuland as Deputy Secretary of State

[arctic-hands]

Logically I knew the U.S. was never going to do anything meaningful about Shireen Abu Akleh's murder despite her being an American citizen–hell, the U.S. didn't even do anything meaningful about Rachel Corrie's murder by the IDF, and she was a white American–but it's still infuriating. I saw footage of protesters calling out Blinken as he spoke about the importance of press freedom–two hours into the speech and he never mentioned Abu Akleh.

[thecursivej]

SOTU - 2024

Well, I'm forcing myself to watch the State of the Union while I grade speeches, so I figured I'd record my reactions and thoughts here.

Do I hope for the words "Immediate Ceasefire"? Absolutely. Will we get them? Looking at the track record, probably not. But I remain optimistic because otherwise I'd be six feet under by now; ANYWHO here is a list of my reactions/thoughts/general feelings of the evening's watch.

I do want to give a point of clarity: I technically am identified as a democrat; truly, I'm a socialist, but seeing as how the U.S. is stuck in this godforsaken two-party-system, that is where I am. Though both sides have me feeling very french-revolutionary-esque.

Of course the first thing I see if MTG rifling through her purse on screen. I quite literally despise her.

AP is discussing Ukraine's need for weapons and funding; I would truly rather us align with Ukraine than Isr@el. I will stand unapologetically firm for Palestine and Ukraine.

Who is actually in the cabinet? I know Blinken, Garland, and Buttiegeg. Damn, wish he was running again. Would rather have him than Biden.

How insane is it that the Sec. of Defense didn't even let the White House know that he had to go in for surgery because of cancer. Like, that's just bonkers to me.

Republicans truly look like fucking robots right now. No warm greetings, no hellos, simple nods.

Republicans out here wasting fucking time with that impeachment of Mayorkas. Like how about we house the homeless populations with the money they wasted on this circus.

Oh funky fresh look at the Ultra-Mormon(TM) Mitt Romney.

MTG with that stupid fucking MAGA hat on is just... disgusting. Like this bitch is crazy.

Okay Joe, speed it up down the fucking aisle please. I got papers to grade.

Lowkey Joe looks like he might have had a five-hour energy drink with that big-ole look in his eyes.

I do appreciate that Joe still smiles and is kind to MTG. She truly doesn't deserve it.

Okay this is getting just a wee bit too monarchy for me.

MTG holds up a button saying "Laken Riley..." (couldn't read the rest). Riley was a 14 year old girl murdered by a man who was an illegal immigrant of venezuela, and instead of handling this situation with grace, empathy, and love; MTG and others seem to be capitalizing on her death to push their anti-immigration rhetoric.

Okay, cool selfie skills Joe, but let's get on with it.

ALSO HOW IS JOE BIDEN GONNA BE SO IN DEPTH WITH TECH AND "Savvy" WITH IT WHEN MOTHERFUCKER WANTS TO BAN TIKTOK!? Hello?!

BERNIE AND RAPHAEL! I feel like I haven't seen these guys in 10 million years.

Oh thank god we're starting.

Aww the little hand shake thingy he does with Kamala makes my heart happy.

Did Joe just yell "tony"?!

Wow, even got some republicans clapping for him (probs not a good thing but here we are)

Okay, good bit of humor at the top; and a throwback to the 40s. Funky fresh.

Yeah we ain't living in ordinary times for damn sure.

Interesting point of democracy being attacked here in the U.S. AND Internationally. (Mentions Ukraine and Putin; no word on Gaza yet).

Someone busted out a Ukrainian flag and shook it; rock on.

OH SHIT HE GOT MIKE JOHNSON TO CLAP!

Appreciate the insistance that the U.S. won't send troops to UKR.

Good use of Reagan to connect with the Repubs; and compare to the predecessor (aka Tr*mp).

Mike Johnson nodding instead of clapping about the predecessor comment, trying to save his ass in Orange Man's eyes.

Welcome to NATO, Sweden!

If there is one thing that should connect Democrats and Republicans; it's hatred for Putin. Yet there's a mix of Repubs standing in agreement and sitting to back up the predecessor's comment on Putin doing "whatever the hell he wants"

Talking about Jan 6. What breaks my heart? My parents still believe it wasn't an insurrection. Yikes on Bikes for me.

The line "You can't love your country only when you win" hits hard and even got Mike Johnson to applaud in agreement.

Foreign AND Domestic. Need a hefty focus on that with the right-wing republican group (@ MTG, Gaetz, Cruz, etc.)

Discussing IVF in Alabama; good connection to the overturning of Rowe v. Wade. It sucks that Republicans HAVE THE POWER to protect IVF nationally but shot the damn bill down not even a week ago.

ABORTION IS A HUMAN RIGHT. BODILY AUTONOMY IS A HUMAN. FUCKING. RIGHT. (@ The Missouri Senators who support taking away bodily autonomy).

WOMEN AREN'T WITHOUT ELECTORAL AND POLITICAL POWER; WE ABOUT TO TURN UP IN FORCE MOTHERFUCKERS!!! Bring back the strats from the 1900s; time to use our power and go bonkers.

Someone get Joe a glass of water please. Motherfucker looks a bit parched and keeps coughing. I get that when my throat goes dryyy

Can Biden not restore RvW? Can he not by an executive order make RvW the law of the land already?

Revisiting COVID's start from 2020 (Next week is the four year anniversary since the global pandemic).

PFFT idk who just yelled "LIES" but that was comical AF.

Well, the pandemic still controls a big part of our lives... so...don't agree with that shit.

Man, everyone sitting-and-standing must be getting a HELLA calf work out.

Sure, unemployment is down and new jobs are built; but corporate greed is quite literally killing us. Can Congress or Biden do something, damn it?!

Are we beginning to feel it, though? Are we feeling good economics? I doubt we are.

Good job pointing out how both parties have failed to buy american products, but how this admin has established that.

There's a good two rows of Republicans who stand in applause; but the rest just... sit there. Like robots. It's freaky as fuck.

Joe is actually doing pretty great with the flow of this speech. Only a couple of stumbles, but overall pretty gucci. (He'd get a 9/10 on delivery in my public speaking class).

God these fuckers are really gonna make me run for office at this damn point.

Removing poisonous lead pipes... but there's still a water crisis in Flint, Biden. Like, what the fuckeroni do you mean?

Yes, let's invest in family farms; lets stop selling our farmland (especially in Missouri) to foreign countries (@ China buying up TONS of Missouri Farmland).

I love that the UAW president is here, because he straight up is my kind of people. Dude wears eat-the-rich shirts and calls out the unethical-ness of billionaires.

UAW President pointing to Biden saying "It's you!"; nah dawg, it's you Sean.

MIDDLE CLASS DID BUILD THE COUNTRY AND UNIONS BUILT THE MIDDLE CLASS MOTHER FUCKERS!!!

Yes we get back up but right now...we might be getting more french revolutionary-esque if y'all don't stop PLAYING WITH OUR LIVES.

Oh jesus not the 4-more-years chants.

Oh now we talking about the future

YES PLEASE END TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMIES.

Says he's not anti-corp; but points out how trickle down economics has only helped the wealthy.

Yeah, how the fuck does it hurt the wealthy to pay just a weeee bit more in taxes? Like dawg, what are you gonna do with another million? What's the point?

Ooooh is Biden about to rope the repubs into some bipartisan shit? Please do.

What is Republicans huge issue with capping insulin? Truly? Who does it harm? Billionaires still get billions.

[mariacallous]

Israel and Hamas have reached a cease-fire deal that would bring about a much-needed pause in fighting in Gaza after 15 months of war and secure the release of 33 hostages held there, the governments of Qatar and the United States announced on Wednesday.

The deal—which is based on a proposal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden in May 2024—will see an initial six-week cessation in fighting and a surge of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons will be released in the exchange. The agreement will also see the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with the broader goal of laying the groundwork for a permanent end to the fighting under the second and third phases of the deal.

The agreement is expected to come into force on Sunday, Jan. 19, on the eve of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. 

“At long last, I can announce a cease-fire and hostage deal has been reached,” said Biden, who spoke to the press flanked by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris in what is likely to be his last major foreign-policy speech as president. 

“The road to this deal has not been easy,” said Biden, whose senior officials have made dozens of trips to the region over the past 15 months in a bid to secure a deal. 

The president cited the storied U.S. diplomat George Mitchell, who once described diplomacy as “700 days of failure and one day of success.” 

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim confirmed to Foreign Policy that a deal had been reached. 

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Wednesday that remaining details of the deal were still being finalized. Israel’s security cabinet is set to meet at 11 a.m. local time on Thursday to approve the deal, according to reports in the Hebrew press. The agreement would then go to the country’s parliament for a vote. 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called for the government to approve the deal in a speech on Wednesday.

Herzog met on Wednesday with Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Red Cross, which will facilitate the handover of hostages. 

Previous attempts to secure a cease-fire deal in recent months have fallen apart at the eleventh hour as Hamas and Israeli officials struggled to reach an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Senior U.S. officials have been signaling since Monday that a deal was imminent.

Trump, who warned Hamas that there would be “hell to pay” if hostages weren’t released by his inauguration on Jan. 20, became the first leader to confirm that an agreement had been reached in a post on Truth Social. “WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!” Trump said.

In a speech announcing the deal, Qatari rime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani—whose country has brokered talks between Israel and Hamas—said that negotiators had seen momentum start to build toward securing a deal in the past month. 

Al Thani said that the involvement of Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was a “clear signal” of enduring U.S. interest in reaching an agreement, and the Qatari official credited officials from both administrations for the deal.

A monitoring mechanism based in Cairo and led by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States will observe and report on any violations of the agreement, Al Thani said. 

The cease-fire, which is poised to bring about the first break in the fighting in more than a year, is expected to play out in three phases. Biden emphasized in his remarks on Wednesday that there are a number of details to be negotiated to move from phase one to phase two. 

“But the plan says if negotiations take longer than six weeks, the cease-fire will continue as long as the negotiations continue,” the president added. Phase two will see all remaining living hostages released and all remaining Israeli forces withdrawn from the enclave. Additional negotiations during this stage will focus on bringing about  a “permanent end to the war,” Biden said. The final phase will involve discussions on Gaza reconstruction efforts and the return of the remains of dead hostages. 

More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, the majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave. Some 98 hostages are believed to still be held in Gaza, and Israeli officials estimate that around half are alive. 

Biden also said he was “confident” that the deal would hold, despite the many challenges that lay ahead in terms of maintaining peace between two bitter enemies with fundamentally conflicting visions for the future of Gaza.

At the end of a press conference, a reporter asked Biden whether he or Trump deserved credit for the deal. Biden turned and smiled. “Is that a joke?” he said.