Puppet MastersS


Attention

Out-Thought, Out-Bought, Out-Fought: Why the '9/11 truth' movement failed

Never Forget
© Unz.com
Sometimes you have to lie to others to buy time to deal with a problem.

But never lie to yourself. -Lt. Gen Bernard C. "Mick" Trainor, USMC (Ret.)
I have cited my late friend "Mick" Trainor's words elsewhere, and kept them in mind since he said them to me in the late 1980s.They ought to be graven in granite in the minds of everyone of good heart in public life. They are also an indictment of the "9/11 Truth" movement as a whole, which tried to speak the truth about this atrocity to the people as well as to those in power, but increasingly lied to itself about the effect it was having. It finally ended in complete failure, lacking only a decent funeral oration.

An Overview

It gives me no pleasure at all to write these words. I personally came to the movement late in 2009, then met many excellent people and worked with many fine editors at a time when overt censorship was still minimal. The best of the "Truthers" shared one thing in common: they were right that the US Government explanation of the 9/11 attacks was singularly flawed, in whole and in all its major parts. But they - and I include myself here - were never able to convey that message in a politically significant way to enough of the American public to matter.

The net effect is that despite innumerable articles, speeches, seminars, videos, protests and the like by tens of thousands of activists, the 20th anniversary of 9/11 came and went with barely a whimper. It was preceded by the collapse of the 9/11 lawyers effort in New York City on which so many had staked their hopes, and the dismissal of Richard Gage - the founder of the seminal "Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth" - from his own organization by his own board. It is tragic enough when evil triumphs, which is what the real planners and perpetrators of 9/11 did. It is even worse when the collapse of the efforts to expose them and to bring them to justice ends in farce.

Newspaper

Sudan's army seizes power in coup and detains prime minister, thousands flood the streets in opposition

Sudan
Protesters march in Khartoum after Sudan's military launches coup
Sudan's military has seized power in a coup, arrested leading civilian politicians including the prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, and declared a state of emergency as thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Khartoum in opposition.

The Sudan Doctors' Committee said late on Monday that three protesters had been killed and 80 people wounded after security forces fired on demonstrators. As night fell in Khartoum, witnesses described gangs of young men armed with sticks reportedly beating anyone found on the streets.

Sudan has been on edge since a failed coup plot last month unleashed recriminations between military and civilian groups who have been sharing power since the toppling of the autocrat Omar al-Bashir two years ago.

Comment: See also:


No Entry

Manufacturing Ignorance: Keeping the public away from power

Prominent authoritarian
© Ben Stauffer IllustrationThe Authoritarian
In their classic book on the news media, Manufacturing Consent, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky presented a 'propaganda model' of how the major broadcasters and newspapers operate. Whereas the 'mainstream' media declare that their aim is to educate, inform and entertain the public, their actual societal purpose 'on matters that are of significance for established power' is to avert any 'danger' that the public can 'assert meaningful control over the political process'.

As media analyst Lance Bennett wrote:
'The public is exposed to powerful persuasive messages from above and is unable to communicate meaningfully through the media in response to these messages.... Leaders have usurped enormous amounts of political power and reduced popular control over the political system by using the media to generate support, compliance, and just plain confusion among the public.'
Thus, rather than manufacturing public consent for elite policies and priorities, manufacturing public ignorance is the more desirable and effective goal. After all, explicit public 'consent' is typically not required for the UK government, for example, to attack the welfare system, underfund and carve-up the NHS for commercial purposes, sell arms to Saudi Arabia to bomb Yemeni civilians, sabre-rattle in the Indo-Pacific to 'counter' China, or increase its nuclear weapons arsenal by 40 per cent.

Significant public activism and opposition to state-corporate power need to be rooted in widespread shared public knowledge. But, in the absence of adequate public knowledge, and thus the reduced 'threat' of an informed populace participating in a real democracy, power is more or less free to do as it pleases.

Cross

Doug Wilder, black former Virginia governor, rips Kamala Harris's church ad for McAuliffe

Harris/Wilder
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesUS VP Kamala Harris • Ex-Virginia Governor Doug Wilder
Douglas Wilder, the only black governor in Virginia's history, is no fan of the video endorsement Vice President Kamala Harris made for Terry McAuliffe, which is being played Sundays in hundreds of the Old Dominion's black churches.

The ad, which ethics and legal experts say is a clear violation of IRS rules, is set to continue playing right up until the Nov. 2 gubernatorial election, as the Democratic Party pulls out all the stops to ensure black turnout. But a thumbs-down from the 90-year-old Wilder, a Democrat and highly respected voice in Virginia politics for decades, is significant.

Referring to the Johnson Amendment, a rule that prohibits 501(c)(3) organizations, such as charities and churches, from engaging in any political campaign activity, numerous cases had been filed against both liberal and conservative groups, Holman said:
"Well, it's very good for her to do that, causing these churches to lose their tax-exempt status. If this is legal, then it's surprising to me."
In Branch Ministries v. Rossotti , the plaintiff was a church that lost its tax-exempt status after publishing two newspaper advertisements urging people not to vote for Bill Clinton, deemed electioneering.

Comment: The US VP has a touted legal background but for her, privilege and personal publicity is more important than rules and regulations. The consequences to ignoring them do not apply. And the beat goes on:
Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University who testified for Republicans during Donald Trump's impeachment proceedings, said on Fox News:
"Tax-exempt groups 'are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of [or in opposition to] any candidate for elective public office."
Jan Baran, a partner at Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC, suggested to Fox News that the Johnson Amendment may not apply to this video as it is not an endorsement from church leadership itself.
'This assumes the church is speaking. Are the pastors making the statements or Harris?'

Earlier this month a video of a teleconference meeting between McAuliffe and supporters surfaced in which the Virginia governor appeared to try and distance himself from the flailing Biden administration and its crises.

'We've got to get Democrats out to vote,' McAuliffe said in a 12-second video clip of a teleconference. 'We are facing a lot of headwinds from Washington, as you know.'

'The president is unpopular today unfortunately here in Virginia so we have got to plow through.'
See also: Shock waves in the Virginia gubernatorial election, can Biden help?


Folder

Tara Reade: Why exactly are Trump's records from January fair game but Biden's decades-old Senate files not?

Biden
© ReutersUS President Joe Biden
The University of Delaware is refusing to release Biden's Senate records which were donated in 2012. Meanwhile, the Trump White House's communications apparently can be released to the January 6 commission. I find this...curious.

The Roman Empire had its own megalomaniacs and the United States is no different. Congress and the White House are trying to hold on to every ounce of profit and power squeezed from its citizens' labors in a manner not dissimilar to Caesar. As such, I have no interest in defending oligarchs, Republicans, Donald Trump, or Democrats, and they certainly do not require it. However, the Department of Justice working on behalf of Joe Biden, like a litigious Praetorian Guard, to go after certain individuals is a political hypocrisy deserving of criticism.

Judicial Watch, joined by other media groups, is suing the University of Delaware to open up Joe Biden's Senate files to the public. In those files may be the written sexual harassment complaint I filed with the Senate and notes regarding the events in 1993. Biden donated his voluminous collection of almost 2,000 files spanning the last three decades for safekeeping to his alma mater in 2012. The case for opening the files is now awaiting a decision from the Delaware State Supreme Court.


Comment: Biden has been operating within Washington's inner circles for decades. Trump, new to the system, was a liability to the status quo.


Seismograph

Shock waves in the Virginia gubernatorial election, can Biden help?

Biden McAuliffe
© UnknownUS President Joe Biden • Virginia governor candidate Terry McAuliffe
With 10 days to go before Election Day, Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin are locked in a close battle for governor of Virginia...

GOP Gains in Governor's Race

Highly respected pollster Monmouth University reports GOP Gains in Governor's Race

Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin are locked in a close battle for governor of Virginia. The last Monmouth ("Mon-muth") University Poll of the race before the election marks a gain for the GOP candidate from prior polls. Youngkin's improved position comes from a widening partisan gap in voter engagement and a shift in voters' issue priorities, particularly around schools and the pandemic.

Youngkin (46%) and McAuliffe (46%) hold identical levels of support among all registered voters. This marks a shift from prior Monmouth polls where the Democrat held a 5-point lead (48% to 43% in September and 47% to 42% in August). A range of probabilistic likely electorate models* shows a potential outcome - if the election was held today - of anywhere from a 3-point lead for McAuliffe (48% to 45%) to a 3-point lead for Youngkin (48% to 45%). This is the first time the Republican has held a lead in Monmouth polls this cycle. All prior models gave the Democrat a lead (ranging from 2 to 7 points).

Comment: Pity the Democratic candidate who has the 'A' team out to rally for them.

See also: Doug Wilder, black former Virginia governor, rips Kamala Harris's church ad for McAuliffe


Footprints

Turkey to expel 10 ambassadors who called for activist's release

Erdogan/Kavala
© DPA/THISDAYLIVEPresident of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan • Osman Kavala
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday told his foreign minister to expel the ambassadors of 10 countries including Germany and the United States who appealed for the release of a jailed civil society leader.

The envoys issued a highly unusual joint statement on Monday saying the continued detention of Parisian-born philanthropist and activist Osman Kavala "cast a shadow" over Turkey.

The escalating row with the Western countries - most of which are also Nato allies - caps a torrid week for Turkey in which it was added to a global money-laundering and terrorism-financing blacklist and its currency plunged over fears of economic mismanagement and the risk of hyperinflation.

Erdogan, referring to a term used in diplomacy which signifies the first step before expulsion, stated:
"I have ordered our foreign minister to declare these 10 ambassadors as persona non grata as soon as possible. They must leave here the day they no longer know Turkey."
The ambassadors of the US, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden had called for a "just and speedy resolution" to Kavala's case.

Comment: See also:


Cult

UK health secretary Javid says exclusion zones around schools could be used to stop 'idiot' anti-vaxxers

Sajid Javid
Sajid Javid, UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said anti-vaxxers at school gates were idiots
Three children were recently injured in a protest outside a school while parents and teachers have been receiving letters with false information about the COVID-19 vaccines.

Exclusion zones around schools could be used to prevent "idiot" anti-vaxxers from targeting children with their "vicious lies", the health secretary has said.

Sajid Javid said the protesters are doing "so much damage" and it was "heartbreaking" that three children were injured during a recent protest after COVID-19 vaccines were opened up to 12-15-year-olds.

He told Sky News' Kay Burley: "You've got, frankly, these idiots outside their school spreading vicious lies. It is becoming a growing problem as time goes by."

Comment: In other words, the UK government is prepared to charge ahead with its program, regardless of the real science or the parents' concerns.


Bad Guys

Microsoft claims Russian hackers behind new SolarWinds attacks on US-based systems, allegation unconfirmed by other cybersecurity sources

Microsoft
© APPeople walk past a Microsoft office in New York.
The Russian-based agency behind last year's massive SolarWinds cyberattack has targeted hundreds more companies and organisations in its latest wave of attacks on US-based computer systems, Microsoft said in a blog post.

Microsoft, in a blog post dated October 24, said Nobelium's latest wave targeted "resellers and other technology service providers" of cloud services. Those attacks were part of a broader campaign over the summer, Microsoft said, adding it had notified 609 customers between July 1 and October 19 that they had been attacked.

Comment: Cyber security experts Kaspersky have already revealed that the CIA is capable of covering its tracks to make attacks like this look like other groups. Kaspersky also commented that, whilst every country is attacking each other online, Russia's hackers are some of the best in the business. It's also notable that there's a glaring lack of evidence and confirmation from other sources that these hackers were indeed Russian.

It remains to be seen, but it's more probable that these lame hacks are part of a larger campaign by the Build Back Better bunch and their associates who, back in 2020, at an event sponsored by the World Economic Foundation, warned of coming 'cyberpandemics'; and it just so happens that not long after this warning, there's been a surge in cyberattacks, mostly against the US, and often blamed on foreign actors. Why are other countries not also suffering similarly? Are they just more expert at repelling them? Or is it that these attacks actually serve to further an agenda by these same groups warning about them?

Note that the WEF & BBB's are made up of similar people and groups who, amidst a supposedly 'deadly coronavirus pandemic' - of which Bill Gates of Microsoft fame is heavily invested - decided that now was an opportune time to roll out their dystopian Great Reset agenda. An agenda that is perhaps the polar opposite of the Belt & Road initiative of which China is leading, with support from Russia: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: World on the Brink - Mass Acceptance of Tyranny Augurs Doom




Snakes in Suits

Best of the Web: In ABC interview, brazen Fauci lies about lying

rand Paul Fauci
© Reuters / Pool / HandoutSeantor Rand Paul (L), Dr. Anthony Fauci (R)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed Sunday on ABC's This Week that he had never lied or misled about the research funded by the NIH.

This Week With George Stephanopoulos said, "The controversy on if the U.S. is funding risky covered research in Wuhan, was kicked up again this week when the NIH released a letter about that research that showed that the subcontractor had not disclosed some results in a timely manner. Some have seized on that to say you, and others misled the public. The NIH says that is false. Our medical unit backs that up, but Senator Rand Paul steps up that criticism in the interview with Axios on HBO. Let's play that."

Comment: