usefulidiots

Click here for the full interview with former CIA agent Ray McGovern: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ex-cia-agent-reveals-the-truth-about?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: If you're voting for Joe Biden, you ain't 18-29 https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/if-youre-voting-for-joe-biden-you?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web When asked who he wants to win the Ukraine proxy war, Trump responded that he doesn't think of it as winning or losing: he just wants people to stop dying. As disingenuous as Trump is, he's somehow better than CNN and Rep McCaul, who can't fathom that Trump doesn't want the war to continue killing Ukrainians.

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Katie Halper and Aaron Maté go over the worst moments of the Sunday morning news shows that they watch so you don’t have to. Join Katie and Aaron with your questions right after the stream at Callin Just download the free app to ask a question or listen on the web. https://www.callin.com/room/worst-media-moments-FWmVwVXrqJ If it's Monday Morning, it's #MondayMourning

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: If you're voting for Joe Biden, you ain't 18-29 https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/if-youre-voting-for-joe-biden-you?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Click here for the full interview with Branko Marcetic: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/kremlin-droned-tucker-carlson-debate?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Biden Toasts Media for Ignoring Julian Assange https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/biden-toasts-media-for-ignoring-julian?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web “Humanity escaped by the skin of its teeth.” But you wouldn’t know it without journalists like Branko Marcetic, a returning Useful Idiot revealing the contents of the Pentagon leaks that the media has tried so hard to bury. And after this week’s attempted drone strike on the Kremlin, these leaks of US aggression become even more important. “One of the topline revelations,” he tells us. “Was that despite the fact that Joe Biden said early in the war we’re not going to send US troops, it turns out that there are boots on the ground.” What they’re doing there, we don’t know yet. What it means for the war, Branko explains. Another major revelation, he explains, is that “last year there was a run-in between a Russian and British plane. It turns out, we know from these documents, that a Russian plane fired at a British spy plane because the pilot misunderstood the instructions he was getting from the ground.” The only reason the plane wasn’t shot down, potentially leading to World War III: “The plane malfunctioned. And humanity escaped by the skin of its teeth.” But our heads of military in both the Pentagon and the media can’t let Americans know how dangerous this increasingly escalating war is for fear of losing support for the billions of cash we spend on it. And that’s where Branko gives the third revelation from the Pentagon leaks: “US officials lied about Ukraine winning the war. Privately, they believe Ukraine can make modest land gains at best. But if Americans believe that Ukraine is winning, they’re more likely to support sending further military aide.” The Pentagon leaks are being censored to keep a deadly proxy war alive, to keep support for sucking Ukraine dry until we fight to the last Ukrainian. Branko Marcetic is uncovering it. Watch the full interview to hear the scary extent of the Pentagon leaks, the depressing reelection campaign of “yesterday’s man” Joe Biden, and a heated debate: Is Tucker Carlson actually anti-war?

Click here for the full interview with Matt Taibbi: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/matt-taibbi-reacts-to-dems-prison?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: "Arm Taiwan to the teeth (for peace)" https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/arm-taiwan-to-the-teeth-for-peace?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web If you thought beef with Elon Musk and threats of imprisonment from Congress would stop Matt Taibbi from breaking more of “the biggest story” of his career, you underestimate the power of a Useful Idiot: Matt returned to the show this week to drop an explosive new Twitter Files. What he and journalists Matt Orfalea and Andrew Lowenthal uncovered was Project Osprey, Twitter’s secretive method of categorizing threats to the establishment as Russian agents. Twitter had two different algorithmic lists of Russians: “A Priori Russians” and “Inferred Russians,” the latter including presidential candidate Jill Stein and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. “It’s another example,” Matt explains, “of how there’s lots of stuff in the Twitter Files that if the quote unquote “left” cared, there’s stuff pertaining to them.” The reports consistently show collaboration between media companies, private corporations, and the US government to control a narrative of information and censor whatever doesn’t fit into it. As Collusion author (and “Buzzsaw” victim) Luke Harding wrote in his Orwellian view of the future of journalism: “Rivalry between media titles is a thing of the past. The future is collaboration, the hunt for evidence a shared endeavor.” Matt translates: “What these people are really talking about when they’re making decisions about content, it’s not just a First Amendment violation, it’s not just an antitrust violation, it’s a complete demolition of the whole model of how democracy is supposed to work.” And this, not Hunter Biden’s penis, is the underlying theme of all the Twitter Files: “It’s this collaboration between a tightly-knit group of insiders who have decided that they’re gonna do this thing together without the input of the public.” For all the unprecedented revelations of government censorship and control, Matt can’t understand why no one in the mainstream media seems to care about the story: “In American history there’s never been a story like this.” Watch the full interview with Matt Taibbi where he responds to the infamous Mehdi Hasan interview, spills some Elon gossip, and reports on a story you won’t hear in corporate media: the indictment of four U.S. citizens accused of being Russian agents for speaking out against the US government. It makes us wonder who’s next.

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Katie Halper and Aaron Maté go over the worst moments of the Sunday morning news shows that they watch so you don’t have to. Join Katie and Aaron with your questions right after the stream at Callin Just download the free app to ask a question or listen on the web. https://www.callin.com/room/worst-media-moments-BvQFQxwmSK If it's Monday Morning, it's #MondayMourning

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Click here for our full interview with Lee Fang: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/lee-fang-on-pentagon-leaks-twitter?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Build Back Better in Ukraine https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/build-back-better-in-ukraine?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Corporate media routinely refuses to mention Marianne Williamson's name, even after she officially announced her candidacy for president. And this week, they announced they would not hold a Democratic debate. Perhaps their fear of challengers comes from this new poll: only 26% of Americans want Joe Biden to run again.

Click here for the full interview with Lee Fang: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/lee-fang-on-pentagon-leaks-twitter?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Build Back Better in Ukraine https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/build-back-better-in-ukraine?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Lee Fang, an independent and highly accomplished investigative journalist, is needed this week more than ever. His in-depth research and reporting, increasingly foreign to “intellectually lazy” corporate pundits like Mehdi Hasan, is a superpower for independent journalism in the fight against a mainstream media which has become little more than a traffic cop for the US government. But the more the Twitter Files reveal about the government, the harder corporate media tries to bury them. After Mehdi Hasan’s embarrassing attack on Matt Taibbi (with enough name-calling and avoidance to make Trump proud), Rep. Stacey Plaskett sent a letter to Taibbi threatening him with jail time for committing perjury in his Congressional testimony. Lee’s response: “That is bullshit. What Matt Taibbi said in his testimony is 100 percent accurate.” He proves it point by point. One bright side, however, is that Mehdi, whose flashy punditry needs no actual research, clearly chose the wrong people to go after when he attacked real investigative journalists. Lee’s entire career is highlighted by his willingness to go in the weeds with mountains of documents and sift through years of archives. So he decided to comb through Mehdi’s entire career. And what he found: multiple instances of plagiarism. Watch the full interview with Lee Fang where we read Mehdi’s articles side-by-side with the originals he lifted and decide for yourself if Mehdi Hasan can be considered a journalist.

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Build Back Better in Ukraine https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/build-back-better-in-ukraine?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web McCarthyite President Joe Biden indicts four members of the African People's Socialist Party, accusing them of being "Kremlin agents" and weaponizing free speech. The administration offers no evidence. How is this legal?

Click here for the full interview with Jacob Siegel: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/the-disinformation-hoax-of-the-century?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Matt Taibbi vs Mehdi Hasan https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/matt-taibbi-vs-medhi-hasan?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Read A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/guide-understanding-hoax-century-thirteen-ways-looking-disinformation “Something monstrous is taking shape in America,” warns journalist Jacob Siegel in an article at Tablet: Formally, it exhibits the synergy of state and corporate power in service of a tribal zeal that is the hallmark of fascism… A state organized on the principle that it exists to protect the sovereign rights of individuals is being replaced by a digital leviathan that wields power through opaque algorithms and the manipulation of digital swarms. America is ruled by a regime of censorship whose aim “is not to censor or to oppress, but to rule. That’s why the authorities can never be labeled as guilty of disinformation.” What is disinformation? It’s “whatever they say it is.” But, Siegel argues, “if the underlying philosophy of the war against disinformation can be expressed in a single claim, it is this: You cannot be trusted with your own mind.” Since 2016, the US has pumped out Orwellian programs like the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act and Nina Jankowicz’s (Scary Poppins) Disinformation Governance Board, claiming that protecting citizens from state spying was jeopardizing national security. The US was losing “influence warfare.” Make sure to watch the full Substack-only interview, in which Siegel weighs in on the Twitter Files, discusses the significance of Hunter Biden’s laptop story, and pushes back against the claim that they didn’t reveal any censorship. Plus, watch this week’s Thursday Throwdown: Matt Taibbi vs Mehdi Hasan. And join the Absurd Arena live discussion board with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est in the Substack app. 0:00 Intro 1:44 The Four Food Groups of News 19:41 Jacob Siegel interview 20:03 What is Disinformation? 28:52 Stealing the election with data 40:27 The Twitter Files and Hunter Biden's penis

Click here for the full interview with Congressman Ro Khanna: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/congressman-ro-khanna-vs-useful-idiots?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Even Trump-Crazed Media can't get it up for indictment https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/even-trump-crazed-media-cant-get?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web GOP Rep Tony Gonzales has high numbers and he's going on CNN to brag about it. The most prolific pro-lifer in Congress knows women, probably more than you do. But he doesn't want to talk about abortion. He wants to talk about real issues facing women. Watch the absurd interview.

Click here for the full interview with Congressman Ro Khanna: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/congressman-ro-khanna-vs-useful-idiots?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Even Trump-Crazed Media can't get it up for indictment https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/even-trump-crazed-media-cant-get?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Congressman Ro Khanna joins Useful Idiots to answer the question once and for all: can we still call him, or any member of Congress for that matter, a progressive? Aaron and Katie come ready with hard-hitting questions on the Ukraine proxy war, the strangling sanctions on Syria, Biden’s drilling hypocrisy, and more, challenging the corporate establishment’s propaganda, constantly shoved down the throats of progressive members of Congress. But did the establishment get to Ro? Watch the full episode as the interview turns to debate, with Aaron confronting the congressman’s version of history in both Ukraine and Syria; the idea that the US wants peace, even after multiple top officials have denounced a ceasefire as unacceptable; and the blind trust in a president who hasn’t fulfilled a single progressive promise. Katie and Aaron don’t pull punches, citing facts and history when given the White House narrative, calling out the president’s lies. In a time when sitting for an opposition interview is almost unheard of for US politicians, it’s a big deal to have Ro Khanna, the last willing member, on the show. Hopefully, other politicians will follow his lead and allow their policy to be challenged. We’re looking at you next, Adam Schiff… Plus, watch this week’s Thursday Throwdown: even Trump-crazed media can’t get it up for the indictment. And join the Absurd Arena live discussion board with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est in the Substack app. 0:00 Intro 3:29 The Four Food Groups of News 17:36 Congressman Ro Khanna interview

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Click here for the full interview with Sharmine Narwani: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/the-middle-east-kicks-out-the-us?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Aaron Maté vs British Diplomat at UN https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/aaron-mate-vs-british-diplomat-at?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web “It’s the biggest lie I’ve ever witnessed in my life. I’ve never come across this amount of misinformation.” The Middle East, known geographically correct as West Asia, is fogged with years of propaganda and misinformation, lies told to us from within and out. And from just reading western media, the perspective of the region is wholly different than what’s really going on. But Sharmine Narwani, columnist at The Cradle, is actually there, interviewing people in Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, and more, discovering the real story of West Asia. And now she’s sharing her findings with Useful Idiots. She explains the truth about the war in Syria and the propaganda coming out of it, lamenting that “a picture is no longer worth a thousand words.” She shares the unreported stories of the women in Iran and the truth about hijab laws. And she reveals a truth about Israel that isn’t told by the protective US media: “Israel is being hit from all sides. It’s so deeply fractured from within.” It’s a chance to learn about a culturally-rich region, outside the veil of western propaganda. Watch the full interview with Sharmine Narwani on the US’s “no values” policy on dictators in the region, the truth about the morality police in Iran, and the lie of the US fight against ISIS in Syria. Plus, watch this week’s Thursday Throwdown about Aaron’s testimony at the United Nations: “Aaron Maté vs British Diplomat at UN.” And join the Absurd Arena live discussion board with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est in the Substack app. 0:00 Intro 1:08 The Four Food Groups of News 11:27 Sharmine Narwani interview

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Click here for the full interview with Michael Tracey: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ceasefire-is-unacceptable-the-us?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: "Suck on this!" – Thomas Friedman celebrates 20 years in Iraq https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/suck-on-this-thomas-friedman-celebrates?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web The US has finally stopped pretending to be pro-peace: with China proposing a plan for a ceasefire, Secretary of War Antony Blinken announced that stopping the war is unacceptable. And when CodePink’s Medea Benjamin called for Blinken to act as a diplomat instead of a war hawk, she was dragged out of the room by security. The US does not want peace. So to dig deeper into the US’s aggression, we asked Twitter superhero Michael Tracey to help us unearth more evidence of warmongering weapons-dealers calling themselves politicians. What he found was a 2014 interview with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, after a trip to Ukraine with best bud John McCain, unknowingly giving away the US’s entire efforts of regime change. “With him being forthright about the decisive role that the United States played in ousting Yanukovych from power,” Tracey explains, noting that Murphy didn’t know this would become a hot topic. “He’s talking about it as though he’s recounting just an average day’s work that wouldn’t have any noteworthy political content.” But he tells us why Murphy’s confession is so important: “If today somebody who was not a US senator uttered the same exact words that Murphy did in these clips to describe US conduct in 2014 in Kyiv, they would be accused of being a Russian propagandist.” Watch the full interview with Michael Tracey on the state department-funded report that Russia is kidnapping Ukraine’s children, Ron Desantis pretending not to be a war hawk, and the House hearing on TikTok, where free speech and free market are only cool if the US gets to do it.

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Katie Halper and Aaron Maté go over the worst moments of the Sunday morning news shows that they watch so you don’t have to. Join Katie and Aaron with your questions right after the stream at Callin Just download the free app to ask a question or listen on the web. https://www.callin.com/room/worst-media-moments-wJeljelENs If it's Monday Morning, it's #MondayMourning

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Click here for the full interview with Michael Tracey: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ceasefire-is-unacceptable-the-us?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: "Suck on this!" – Thomas Friedman celebrates 20 years in Iraq https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/suck-on-this-thomas-friedman-celebrates?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web The US has finally stopped pretending to be pro-peace: with China proposing a plan for a ceasefire, Secretary of War Antony Blinken announced that stopping the war is unacceptable. And when CodePink’s Medea Benjamin called for Blinken to act as a diplomat instead of a war hawk, she was dragged out of the room by security. The US does not want peace. So to dig deeper into the US’s aggression, we asked Twitter superhero Michael Tracey to help us unearth more evidence of warmongering weapons-dealers calling themselves politicians. What he found was a 2014 interview with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, after a trip to Ukraine with best bud John McCain, unknowingly giving away the US’s entire efforts of regime change. “With him being forthright about the decisive role that the United States played in ousting Yanukovych from power,” Tracey explains, noting that Murphy didn’t know this would become a hot topic. “He’s talking about it as though he’s recounting just an average day’s work that wouldn’t have any noteworthy political content.” But he tells us why Murphy’s confession is so important: “If today somebody who was not a US senator uttered the same exact words that Murphy did in these clips to describe US conduct in 2014 in Kyiv, they would be accused of being a Russian propagandist.” Watch the full interview with Michael Tracey on the state department-funded report that Russia is kidnapping Ukraine’s children, Ron Desantis pretending not to be a war hawk, and the House hearing on TikTok, where free speech and free market are only cool if the US gets to do it. Plus, watch this week’s Thursday Throwdown: "Suck on this!" – Thomas Friedman celebrates 20 years in Iraq. And join the Absurd Arena live discussion board with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est in the Substack app. 0:00 Intro 0:50 The Four Food Groups of News 12:15 Michael Tracey interview

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Click here for the full interview with Christian Parenti: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/will-the-left-stand-up-to-the-deep?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Democrats' Matt Taibbi Meltdown https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/democrats-matt-taibbi-meltdown?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web CBS's Charlie D'Agata returned to Iraq 20 years after the US invasion. While he didn't actually interview a single Iraqi, he'll tell you that the people of Iraq are praying for the end of Iranian control. Nothing about the US occupiers destroying their country, just Iran. 20 years after lying about WMDs in Iraq, the US is spreading lies about Ukraine, Russia, and China to start World War III.

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Click here for the full interview with Christian Parenti: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/will-the-left-stand-up-to-the-deep?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Democrats' Matt Taibbi Meltdown https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/democrats-matt-taibbi-meltdown?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web “Why has the Left turned its back on free speech?” asks Christian Parenti, professor of economics and author of Radical Hamilton. As Democrats censor Matt Taibbi over the Twitter Files, smear journalists Seymour Hersh and Jeff Gerth for reporting facts they don’t like, bury coverage on the Ohio train derailment, and vote for censorship bills in the name of stopping Putin, Parenti recalls a time when it was the Left who were the defenders of the First Amendment. But now, as US leaders move deeper and darker into warmongering and censorship, lying to us at every turn to grow their power and wealth, Parenti instead asks: “When will the Left stand up to the deep state?” The most recent move by the rich and powerful is the bailout of Silicon Valley Bank. “This is triage,” Parenti explains. “This is a tourniquet on a shattered leg, and that has to happen. You cannot let the US financial system collapse and not bring down the rest of the economy.” But while he agrees that the bailout is necessary in the short run, Parenti explains that the collapse is the fault of the capitalist system itself. Hear his analysis on how to fix it. Plus, listen to the full interview on how the FBI intervened in the election, why liberal media is against free speech, and Christian and Aaron’s debate on Trump’s anti-war message. Check out this week’s Thursday Throwdown: Democrats’ Matt Taibbi Meltdown where Useful Idiot Matt Taibbi goes to Congress. And join the Absurd Arena live discussion board with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est in the Substack app. 0:00 Intro 2:05 The Four Food Groups of News 16:44 Christian Parenti Interview

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Click here for the full interview with Glenn Diesen: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/europeans-protest-the-proxy-war?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch the Thursday Throwdown: The Covid Lab Leak https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/the-covid-lab-leak?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Democratic Senator Mark Warner was one of only 17 Dem senators to vote to strip back rules for bank regulation, a direct cause for the deregulation of Silicon Valley Bank. The day before he voted for the bill, the president of SVB held a fundraiser at his house for Mark Warner. Hmmmm

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Click here for the full interview with Glenn Diesen: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/europeans-protest-the-proxy-war?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch the Thursday Throwdown: The Covid Lab Leak https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/the-covid-lab-leak?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web “You either fight to the last Ukrainian or you’re pro-Russian.” As this motto of CIA-backed corporate media and politics strengthens, there is suddenly a glimmer of hope: people are beginning to wake up. Protests, no matter how “random” Rachel Maddow may claim, are growing across the world, demanding peace, not backing down in the face of increasingly intense propaganda. Glenn Diesen, professor at the University of Southeastern Norway and author of the book Russophobia: Propaganda in International Politics, joins Useful Idiots to report on the largely-uncovered peace protests and explain what’s actually going on in Ukraine. “This is what we’re doing,” he says. “We’re shipping weapons in, we’re sabotaging all the peace agreements, and we’re accusing China of doing what we’re doing. I think it’s called projection.” The Chinese, if you ask the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman or MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, are prolonging the war to destroy the West. The truth, Diesen explains, is that China is the only country with a peace plan. “I think that China is the best actor at the moment to rally the whole world and push for negotiations because the West can’t. We’re part of this conflict. We’re sending the weapons. We’re giving the intelligence. We’re celebrating every time we see a dead Russian general.” Listen to the full interview, where Diesen explains why the Chinese peace plan is the most practical path to peace and who he believes blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Katie Halper and Aaron Maté go over the worst moments of the Sunday morning news shows that they watch so you don’t have to. Join Katie and Aaron with your questions right after the stream at Callin Just download the free app to ask a question or listen on the web. https://www.callin.com/room/worst-media-moments-jhoYCoIYQE If it's Monday Morning, it's #MondayMourning

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Katie Halper and Aaron Maté go over the worst moments of the Sunday morning news shows that they watch so you don’t have to. Join Katie and Aaron with your questions right after the stream at Callin Just download the free app to ask a question or listen on the web. https://www.callin.com/room/medias-worst-moments-BHfQmOpgVq If it's Monday Morning, it's #MondayMourning

See the full episode here: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/the-covid-lab-leak?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Click here for the full interview with Glenn Diesen: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/europeans-protest-the-proxy-war?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: The Covid Lab Leak https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/the-covid-lab-leak?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Watch NBC News spread anti-democracy in a sad attempt to bury Marianne Williamson, calling third-party challengers both a nuisance and a threat to democracy. Pick a lane, corporate media.

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and a chance to have your comment read on the show in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Katie Halper and Aaron Maté go over the worst moments of the Sunday morning news shows that they watch so you don’t have to. Join Katie and Aaron with your questions right after the stream at Callin Just download the free app to ask a question or listen on the web. https://www.callin.com/room/world-war-iii-prep-JHyrdAUxvg If it's Monday Morning, it's #MondayMourning

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and a chance to have your comment read on the show in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Watch the full interview with Chris Hedges here: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/chris-hedges-rallies-for-a-left-right?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Rage Against the War Machine Rally on Feb 19: https://rageagainstwar.com/#home Chris Hedges Substack: https://chrishedges.substack.com/ "If elected progressives are joining with the people who are funding the war, well, they've been bought off. I mean, they've been domesticated, including Bernie, so they should be out at this rally if they really oppose war." “If we do not build left-right coalitions on issues such as militarism, health care, a living wage and union organizing,” warns Chris Hedges, “we will be impotent in the face of corporate power and the war machine.” Award-winning journalist Chris Hedges returns to the show to argue for a left-right alliance and explain why he’s speaking at the Rage Against The War Machine rally on Sunday. The stakes are too high to not form a coalition: “We’re flirting with a nuclear holocaust.” “The Democrats made a conscious decision to become the Republican Party,” he says. They consciously and very cynically decided to sell out the underclass for political expediency. But the damage they did, the hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of families that they destroyed, we don’t talk about it. There’s just no accountability.” But people, on both the left and right, who were terrorized by these policies, know who hurt them. “They know what the Democrats did to their neighborhoods by militarizing police and creating internal armies of occupation. I teach at a prison and half the students wouldn’t be there but for Clinton. They know who did that to them.” But fighting the powerful from just one side has shown not to work: “It’s much scarier for politicians when you have people from both sides of the political spectrum making demands than it is from just one side.” A left-right coalition can’t be bought off, it can’t be smeared as partisan. It’s a movement. This is why Chris Hedges is joining activists from all across the political spectrum to rally this weekend to Rage Against the War Machine. If you can get to DC this weekend, your voice can make a difference. Watch the extended episode where Chris Hedges discusses how the silence on the Nord Stream story is an indication of how degraded the media has become, how mainstream consumers may never learn the truth of Russiagate, and his disgust for the leaders in our government: “These people are really frightening, amoral, they cover themselves in the veneer of Ivy League degrees and cloying snobbery, but they’re very limited intellectually. They’re drunk with their own power and hubris, and of course they have made a very good living being shills for weapons manufacturers. They’re pimps of war.” Plus, catch this week’s Thursday Throwdown where the White House takes a break from covering up the chemical explosion that devastated East Palestine, Ohio to cover up the other major story (not) in the news: Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh’s groundbreaking reporting that the US blew up the Nord Stream pipeline. And join the Absurd Arena live discussion board with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est.