What hath America wrought? Trump fights Ninth Circuit to protect Americans “See you in court”

Statute:

Section 212(f) “Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or class of aliens as “immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.”

When Donald Trump was on the campaign trail and the San Bernardino terror attack took place Trump said he would place a temporary ban on travel from countries known as havens for terrorists until the government could figure out “what the hell was going on.”  Trump’s comments came after it was known that all of the terrorist attackers, from the Tsarnaev brothers, to the Pulse Nightclub shooter to the San Bernardino shooters were all well-known to the FBI before the attacks took place.  From the Activist:

Excerpt:

Was Orlando Shooting A False Flag? Shooter Has Ties To FBI, Regular At Club, Did Not Act Alone?

As mainstream media organizations continue to be afire with reports regarding the recent Orlando shooting, a number of details are escaping the public consciousness that might point to an even more sinister motivation for the killing of 50 innocent people at the Pulse nightclub. Most notably, that the attack could very well have been orchestrated by the FBI and other relevant U.S. intelligence agencies in order to guide public opinion, galvanize the American people, and for other “political” purposes.

Indeed, in my article “5 Reasons To Question The Official Story Of The Orlando Shooting,” I listed a number of questionable aspects regarding the shooting such as the fact that the FBI was well aware of Omar Mateen, his ideology, and his potential violence years before the attack yet did nothing, as well as the fact that his father is a Taliban-supporting TV host from Afghanistan. I also pointed out that Mateen himself had connections to a known ISIS recruiter and suicide bomber. In addition, I discussed the FBI’s history in relation to creating terrorist attacks in order to “bust” them and subsequently take the credit for stopping terrorist attacks…

According to CNN’s article, “50 Killed in Florida Nightclub, Shooter Pledged ISIS Allegiance,” two officials tell CNN that the FBI had investigated Mateen at some point for possibly having ties to or sympathizing with Islamic extremism…    One key aspect suggesting a false flag that should be looked for soon after the attack is any possible connection the suspect or group of suspects may have had with intelligence agencies…

For instance, on 9/11, many of the alleged hijackers had previously had close contact with the FBI, CIA, and other high-level intelligence agencies (both home and abroad). Likewise, the Tsarnaev brothers who have been accused of masterminding and carrying out the Boston Bombing had ties to the FBI before the attack.

The FBI did much more than simply “investigate” Mateen – they introduced him to “informants” as well. According to the New York Daily News in the article, “FBI spied on Orlando gay club terrorist Omar Mateen for 10 months in 2013: FBI Director James Comey…”  Mateen was not only connected to Mohammed Abu Salha, he also maintained ties with Marcus Dwayne Robertson, a notoriously violent radical Muslim/CIA Asset…

For some time Tony Cartalucci of Land Destroyer has been painstakingly documenting instances of the FBI organized, arming, funding, and directing domestic terror attacks only to foil those attacks later and claim success in preventing terror attacks on American soil as well as the possibility that many of these attacks simply do not get foiled but are allowed to take place for political purposes.

“If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're misinformed.”  ― Mark Twain

After the Boston bombing attacks and the Pulse Nightclub attack, the San Bernardino attack had similar aspects, such as the shooters were known to the FBI.  From VeteransToday:

Excerpt:

LA Times suppresses truth on San Bernardino false flag

Mainstream media's fake news must not be questioned

Today’s LA Times disinformation piece, published on this, the first anniversary of the 12/2/15 shooting at the Inland Regional Center, raises questions concerning the much-discussed problem of “fake news…” The mainstream media, backed by big internet companies like Google and Facebook, claim that dissenting alternative media outlets are the prime source of “fake news” stories. But what happens when the mainstream media itself publishes fake news?

In reality, the mainstream media is almost nothing but fake news: The vast majority of mainstream “news” stories begin as press releases, that is, lies or spin generated for profit by a private, interested party…  The people who blew up the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001, and have since then massacred thousands in such follow-up operations as Bali, Madrid, London, Mumbai, Boston, Paris, San Bernardino, and Orlando, are powerful players…

…The false flag terror perps chose this strategy as an attempt to blow smoke over the real questions about the attack raised by real journalists (the alternative media)… 

Why did multiple eyewitnesses report that the shooters were “three large white paramilitaries” – a shooter team that could not possibly be mistaken for a bearded brown-skinned Muslim guy and his diminutive female alleged accomplice?

Why did police (or intelligence agents/organized crime assets whose cover job is police work) handcuff and execute the two Muslim patsies in a police car, then dump the bodies on the sidewalk?

Why was the most important alleged crime scene (the patsies’ apartment) not preserved according to normal police procedure, but instead immediately opened for a media propaganda stunt so that any evidence there would be ransacked, contaminated or destroyed?

The LA Times refuses to even acknowledge the existence of false flag interpretations of the shooting, and ruthlessly suppresses any such mention from its comments section. Instead, the official “radical Muslims did it” myth is taken for granted, and the “questions” that the FBI is supposedly “struggling to answer” involve whether any MORE “radical Muslims” might have known something was up.

It appears to me that the outrage over Donald Trump’s Executive Order for a temporary ban on immigrants from countries where the CIA has been funding and arming terrorists to overthrow the elected governments and/or providing bombs and logistics to Saudi Arabia and Turkey to destroy their nations, has more to do with disrupting American intelligence assets/patsies.  These war-torn nations, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen are unable to properly vet who is leaving their country to enter the United States, brewing a perfect storm.

President Barack Obama used his veto power on Friday to protect the Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia from lawsuits by families of the victims of the 9/11 Islamic atrocity — Breitbart

Saudi Arabia, who aided and abetted the 9-11 terrorists was not happy when Donald Trump, on the campaign trail called for a temporary ban on Muslims from countries that the Obama Administration designated “hotbeds of terrorism.”  From the Express Tribune:

Excerpt:

Trump hits back at 'dopey' Saudi billionaire

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump hit back at a “dopey” Saudi Arabian fellow billionaire after the prince branded him a disgrace and said he should pull out of the race for the White House.  Prince Alwaleed bin Talal had reacted to the Republican presidential frontrunner’s proposal earlier this week that all Muslims should be temporarily barred from entering the United States.  Saudi Prince Alwaleed calls Trump a disgrace to US, asks him to quit presidential race.

“Dopey Prince Alwaleed Talal wants to control our US politicians with daddy’s money. Can’t do it when I get elected,” Trump wrote on Twitter, in the same typically confrontational fashion that has been the earmark of his bombastic presidential campaign.

It came after Alwaleed, a devout but moderate Muslim, took exception to what his office called Trump’s “anti-Islam statement.”  “You are a disgrace not only to the GOP but to all America,” Alwaleed had tweeted to Trump, referring to the Republican Party.  “Withdraw from the US presidential race as you will never win.”  Alwaleed is an unusually outspoken member of the Saudi royal family who chairs Kingdom Holding Co. The diversified firm’s interests include US-banking giant Citigroup.

Trump has been lambasted both in the US and abroad for his Muslim plan, which followed a shooting rampage by a Muslim couple in San Bernardino, California, which left 14 dead.

Forget about investigating Russian interference with the American presidential election, a known terrorist state has threatened Donald Trump and ordered him to drop out of the presidential election.  Investigate Saudi Arabia’s interference in American elections.

The job of the Ninth Circuit Court was to interpret the law and determine if Donald Trump was within his legal authority when he found that “the entry of any aliens from seven war-torn nations overrun by CIA backed terrorists was detrimental to the interests of the United States and therefore proclaimed that for a period of 90 days, he suspended entry of all immigrants or nonimmigrants until he could be assured that they were properly vetted, using extreme vetting.”

CIA-armed militias are shooting at Pentagon-armed ones in Syria - Chicago Tribune

The Ninth Circuit court decided to base their decision on emotion rather than the law.  In Syria, where the CIA and Pentagon have trained and armed terrorists on both sides of the US/NATO induced conflict, even Syria’s President Assad has stated the obvious, terrorists are among the refugees.  From Real Clear Politics:

Excerpt:

Bashar al-Assad: Terrorists Are Definitely Hiding Among Syrian Refugees

In an interview with Yahoo News's Michael Isikoff, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that terrorists were definitely hiding among the more than 4.8 million people who have been displaced by the Syrian Civil War.   Asked if some of those who fled are "aligned with terrorists," Assad quickly replied: "Definitely."

"You can find it on the Net," Assad went on. "Those terrorists in Syria, holding the machine gun or killing people, they [appear as] peaceful refugees in Europe or in the West."  "You don’t need a significant number to commit atrocities," he noted. He also said that the 9/11 attacks were pulled off by fewer than 20 terrorists, "out of maybe millions of immigrants in the United States. So it’s not about the number, it’s about the quality, it’s about the intentions."

Secret Pentagon Report Reveals US "Created" ISIS As A "Tool" To Overthrow Syria's President Assad – Zero hedge

And if you don’t want to believe Syria’s elected President Assad, there’s this from IJR.com:

Excerpt:

Remember Those 'Moderate' Syrian Rebels That The U.S. Armed? ISIS Got Some Of Those Weapons Too

As the Syrian Civil War has waged on over the past few years, the United States, along with Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, decided to arm the Syrian rebels under the “Free Syrian Army” umbrella.  The shipments of former Yugoslavian Army weapons held by the Croatians, along with newly manufactured Croatian weapons, began in November 2012, according to The Telegraph UK. The weapons were flown out of Croatia on chartered flights to Jordan and then smuggled into Syria.

Fast forward to the rise of ISIS and their blitzkreig campaign across northern Iraq. An investigation by the arms control organization Conflict Armament Research has found that various U.S. supplied weapons have wound up in the hands of ISIS.  The U.S.-made small arm in question is the M16A4 assault rifle. It is the main service rifle of the U.S. Marine Corps and sees limited use in the U.S. Army. More importantly, thousands of them were supplied to the Iraqi Army. The source of ISIS's M16s, along with other U.S. made weapons, is likely captured Iraqi Army stocks.

As for the M79s, they were part of the arms shipments from Croatia that were meant for the Free Syrian Army. The weapons were either captured, or acquired by former FSA fighters as they joined ISIS.

Forget about what our NATO “allies” think about President Trump’s Executive Order, what do Europeans thinks of Trump’s temporary ban?  From Chatham House:

Excerpt:

What Do Europeans Think About Muslim Immigration?

President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban citizens of seven Muslim-majority states from entering the US for 90 days, and temporarily freeze all refugee arrivals (including Syrians indefinitely), has been interpreted widely as an attempt to curtail the inward migration of Muslims, which Trump and his supporters argue pose a threat to national security.

Trump’s policy has generated a backlash among some of Europe’s leaders…

Amid these competing views, where do the public in European countries stand on the specific issue of Muslim immigration? There is evidence to suggest that both Trump and these radical right-wing parties reflect an underlying reservoir of public support.

Drawing on a unique, new Chatham House survey of more than 10,000 people from 10 European states, we can throw new light on what people think about migration from mainly Muslim countries. Our results are striking and sobering… 

In our survey, carried out before President Trump’s executive order was announced, respondents were given the following statement: ‘All further migration from mainly Muslim countries should be stopped’. They were then asked to what extent did they agree or disagree with this statement. Overall, across all 10 of the European countries an average of 55% agreed that all further migration from mainly Muslim countries should be stopped, 25% neither agreed nor disagreed and 20% disagreed.

Majorities in all but two of the ten states agreed, ranging from 71% in Poland, 65% in Austria, 53% in Germany and 51% in Italy to 47% in the United Kingdom and 41% in Spain. In no country did the percentage that disagreed surpass 32%.

It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything. - Joseph Stalin

Therein lies the problem, world leaders including in the United States, do not care what the people want.  The leaders, aided by a universally corrupt media, worry not about re-election for they control the electoral process.  For instance in France where Francois Fillon, member of the conservative Les Republicans political party upended the election with his surprise primary win has been savaged by the media.  Fillon has been the victim of a vicious media campaign to discredit him.  From RussiaToday:

Excerpt:

French media brands presidential hopeful Fillon as ‘Putin’s friend’

French presidential hopeful Francois Fillon is “Vladimir Putin’s friend” and intends to “work ardently” with Russia, French media trumpeted after the country was caught unawares by the Republican’s victory in the first round of the center-right primary.  During the first primary on Sunday, Fillon, who served as prime minister in Nicolas Sarkozy’s government from 2007 till 2012, not only beat his former boss, but also came in first ahead of Alain Juppe, the 71-year-old ex-prime minister and mayor of Bordeaux.

Contrary to the current French establishment, Fillon advocates lifting the EU sanctions imposed on Russia for what Brussels (NATO) insists was “undermining of Ukrainian sovereignty” following the 2014 Euromaidan coup in Kiev.

“Vladimir Putin can rejoice. If Francois Fillon enters the Elysee [Palace], he will count a new friend in the circle of Western leaders. Indeed, like Donald Trump, the former French Prime Minister intends to work ardently with Russia,” Le Point wrote on Monday…

 “With the victory of Donald Trump and the possible duel [between] Fillon-Le Pen in the second round of the French presidential election, Vladimir Putin could end up with ‘friends’ in power in two of the major capitals of the West, Washington and Paris,” according to the publication…

The French media’s take on Fillon “is not surprising,” … saying that it mainly supports Paris’ alliance with the US and French-German relations. “Yet in reality there is a large part of public opinion in France that not often speak out openly, but know that there can be no balance in Europe without a renewed and consistent alliance with Russia…

The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses. - Malcolm X

As if cordial relations with Russia is a bad thing.  So the French media took it upon themselves to destroy Fillon, serving their elite masters.  From the New York Times:

Excerpt:

Fillon Scandal Indicts, Foremost, France’s Political Elite

PARIS — The president of the National Assembly does it. The president of the Senate defends it. Dozens of rank-and-file parliamentarians do it, too. Hiring your spouse, son or sister in France’s Parliament is perfectly legal.

So, with François Fillon, until recently France’s leading presidential candidate, in deep trouble for payments of nearly $1 million from the public payroll to his wife and children, many French politicians are asking: What’s the big deal?  The answer has, belatedly, come roaring back from much of the country’s press and public: They just don’t get it.

“Penelopegate,” a scandal named for Mr. Fillon’s wife, now threatens to sink the ambitions of a man who little more than a week ago seemed all but certain to become France’s next president.

But the scandal has done more than add another volatile element to France’s presidential campaign. It has also tapped a wellspring of anger in the French electorate and called into question the standard operating procedures of the political class… 

The uproar has similarly lifted the hopes of Emmanuel Macron, the former Rothschild banker and economy minister in the Socialist government, who is running an insurgent campaign atop his own newly formed political movement.

But I digress, so let’s get back to the Ninth Circuit court’s decision regarding whether or not President Trump had the legal authority to temporarily ban immigrants that he believes pose a danger to American citizens.  From Breitbart:

Excerpt:

Turley: Trump Making Same Arguments as Obama in Defense of Immigration Executive Order

Thursday on MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour,” George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley reacted to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to uphold a stay by a lower to halt President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting immigration to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

Although the court ruled in the opponents of the Trump order’s favor, the law still was on Trump’s side and that the Trump administration was using the “virtually the identical arguments” the Obama administration had used in defense of its immigration policy.

“Well, it was a poorly crafted executive order, and it was a terrible rollout,” Turley said. “But I still think that the law favors the administration once you get to the merits. I don’t agree with many of those, some of those cases. But the courts have been highly deferential to the president, and they generally don’t second-guess. I think the people also have to acknowledge that the Trump administration here is making virtually the identical argument to the Obama administration.”

“The Obama administration argued the president’s judgment on administration was largely unreviewable,” he continued. “He argued that he could even refuse or order the failure to enforce immigration laws. But the arguments were very, very similar. And for all the Democrats objecting now, I didn’t hear a peep of objection from them when just last year these arguments were being made by the same Justice Department.”

I think a more pertinent question is not “was Trump’s order legal” but “what hath America wrought?”  The American courts have been corrupted to an unbelievable degree by the George W. Bush Administration.  From the Extreme Supreme Court to the lower and appellate courts, all are corrupt and packed with zealots, both right and left. 

It is not for the Ninth Circuit court to second guess the order but to read the law and interpret it.  Is it any wonder that Americans have lost all confidence in American jurisprudence?  Americans have nothing but contempt for the governing elite, the corrupt media and the courts.

By Patricia Baeten

Media in a panic as Donald Trump continues dismantling the juggernaut this time it’s the lying liar media weasels

In an unprecedented attack on an elected American president, America’s lying liar media weasels were in overdrive during Donald Trump’s first week as President of the United States.  The week started with the media tweeting out that Donald Trump removed the bust of revered civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office and placed it in storage.  This was a lie.  The tweet was retracted but only after it had been retweeted thousands of times.  The purpose of the false report was to incite racial hatred against President Trump. 

As Trump called for an investigation of “voter” fraud, claims that the GOP has been making for years in order to pass racially discriminatory voter elimination laws, the media in unison screamed “liar.”  After a week of continual media attacks against the fledgling Administration, one of Trump’s top advisors, Steve Bannon wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times calling the media the “opposition party.”  From Paul Craig Roberts:

Excerpt:

The Media Is Now The Political Opposition

Stephen Bannon Is 100% Correct—The Media Is Now The Political Opposition

Bannon is correct that the US media—indeed, the entire Western print and TV media—is nothing but a propaganda machine for the ruling elite. The presstitutes are devoid of integrity, moral conscience, and respect for truth… 

Who else but the despicable Western media justified the enormous war crimes committed against millions of peoples by the Clinton, Bush, and Obama regimes in nine countries—Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Palestine, and the Russian areas of Ukraine?

Who else but the despicable Western media justified the domestic police states that have been erected in the Western world in the name of the “war on terror”?

Along with the war criminals that comprised the Clinton, Bush, and Obama regimes, the Western media should be tried for their complicity in the massive crimes against humanity.

The Western media’s effort to sustain the high level of tension between the West and Russia is a danger to all mankind, a direct threat to life on earth. Gorbachev’s warnings are correct. Yet presstitutes declare that if Trump lifts the sanctions it proves that Trump is a Russian agent. It is paradoxical that the Democrats and the liberal-progressive-left are mobilizing the anti-war movement to oppose Trump’s anti-war policy!

By refusing to acknowledge and to apologize for its lies, euphemistically called “fake news,” the Western media has failed humanity in a number of other ways…  By taking the role of the political opposition to Trump, the media has discredited itself as an honest critic on topics where Trump needs criticism, such as the environment and his tolerance of oppressive methods used by police. The presstitutes have ended all chance of improving Trump’s performance with reports and criticism.

Trump needs moderating on the environment, on the police, and on the war on terror. Trump needs to understand that “the Muslim threat” is a hoax created by the neoconservatives and the military/security complex with the complicity of the presstitutes to serve the hegemony agenda and the budget and power of the CIA, Pentagon, and military industries. If the US stops bombing and slaughtering Muslims and training and equipping forces to overthrow non-compliant Muslim governments such as Syria, Iraq, and Libya, “the Muslim threat” will disappear.

Maybe Trump will add to his agenda breaking into hundreds of pieces the six mega-media companies that own 90% of the US media and selling the pieces to seperate independent owners who have no connection to the ruling elites. Then America would again have a media that can constrain the government with truth rather than use lies to act for or against the government.

Amen brother Roberts.  President Trump also requested and received the resignations from a slew of war criminals at the State Department, including Victoria (F*&K the EU) Nuland.  The State Department officials were a treasure trove of unnamed sources for the New York Times and the Washington Post.  From Counter Punch:

Excerpt:

The Anonymous Blacklist Promoted by the Washington Post Has Apparent Ties to Ukrainian Fascism and CIA Spying

Last month, the Washington Post gave a glowing front-page boost to an anonymous online blacklist of hundreds of American websites, from marginal conspiracy sites to flagship libertarian and progressive publications. As Max Blumenthal reported for AlterNet, the anonymous website argued that all of them should be investigated by the federal government and potentially prosecuted under the Espionage Act as Russian spies, for wittingly or unwittingly spreading Russian propaganda…

What the Washington Post did in boosting an anonymous blacklist of American journalists accused of criminal treason is one of the sleaziest, and most disturbing… things I’ve seen in this country…  The WaPo is essentially an arm of the American deep state; its owner, Jeff Bezos, is one of the three richest Americans, worth $67 billion, and his cash cow, Amazon, is a major contractor with the Central Intelligence Agency. In other words, this is as close to an official US government blacklist of journalists as we’ve seen—a dark ominous warning before they take the next steps.

Joe Scarborough of MSNBC’s Morning Joe has warned Donald Trump that he must cave and bow to the media, because the media always wins. “Taking on the press like that, it always works badly.  The press always wins, Washington always wins.  You figure out how to work with them or you’re going to get crushed.”  Scarborough continues “I said the same thing to the Obama Administration, I’ve said it to every administration and some people get it some don’t.”

Yes Joe, some people get it some people don’t.  From Poynter:

Excerpt:

Obama to the press: ‘America needs you’

President Obama praised the press as central to democracy Wednesday in a final "farewell" that was part ironic homage to the media and part admonition to the incoming Trump administration.

Democracy "doesn't work if we don't have a well-informed citizenship...America needs you, and democracy needs you," he said, before taking questions in a final press conference that followed a final speech last week in Chicago.

It was a premeditated (and well-signaled) pre-emptive shot at President-elect Donald Trump, whose views toward the press were at times openly hostile during the campaign. As his inauguration approaches Friday, Trump's shots at the media (mostly via Twitter) have persisted.

Obama underscored the need of a free press to "cast a critical eye on the powerful. You'd done it, for the most part, in ways that I could appreciate for fairness, even if I didn't always agree with your conclusions. Having you in this building has made this place work better. It keeps us honest, made us work harder."

So Obama says the press has cast a critical eye on the powerful.  He says the media weasels have kept his administration honest and made them work harder, really???  From Mint Press:

Excerpt:

Trump Is Anti-Environment, But So Was Obama

While the incoming Trump administration shows a callous disregard for the environment, liberals have conveniently forgotten that some of the most disastrous environmental and public health crises in U.S. history have occurred on President Obama's watch.

It’s rather easy, and undoubtedly necessary, to lambast President-elect Donald Trump and his team of corporate parasites who will soon head nearly every key agency in the U.S. government…

Indeed, it wasn’t Trump, but President Barack Obama, who held the reins of the federal government and did nothing while drinking water contamination poisoned the people of Flint, Michigan. It was Obama who expanded offshore oil drilling while paying lip service to environmental responsibility in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill — a 2010 disaster which continues to wreak havoc on the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem. It was Obama who signed off on new oil pipelines, approving the construction of the equivalent of 10 Keystone pipelines between 2010 and 2015 alone. Oil and gas shipments by rail continued under his watch…

These are just some examples of the countless other irresponsible policies. Forgive me if I don’t offer the liberals a post-consumer recycled handkerchief for their eco-friendly crocodile tears.

Obama: Owner of the water crises 

And while Obama did eventually make an appearance in Flint to pose for photos and, in typical Obama fashion, deliver an emotionally charged but politically vacuous speech, he has done almost nothing to address the underlying problem in Flint. With one word, one executive order, Obama could have brought the power of the presidency down on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and other public officials who are directly responsible for the crisis. But he never did, preferring instead to deliver the kinds of hollow platitudes that have become his trademark.

It is rather striking that more than a year after the Flint crisis came to public attention while Obama was finishing another round of golf or shoring up his “Commander-in-Cool” image with interviews for Vice and “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” the full scope of the crisis is now becoming clear.

In a shocking examination published on Dec. 19 by Reuters, researchers found that nearly 3,000 communities had recorded lead poisoning rates double those in Flint, with more than 1,100 of them showing elevated levels of lead in the blood that were at least four times higher than in Flint…

Such findings would undoubtedly be scandalous were it not for a corporate media more interested in political wrangling and Trump’s latest tweets than in covering the full scope of a story that amounts to intergenerational economic and physical oppression. For it is the poor and working class communities, most of which were formerly industrial cities, where the problem of lead poisoning is at its worst.

These communities are often predominantly comprised of people of color and immigrants who are disproportionately affected by this level of federal, state, and municipal neglect.

Yes, Obama took Joe Scarborough’s advice and learned to work with the press, good job.  What is more dangerous that a lack of a free press?  A monopolistic fake press.   Throughout the Bush/Obama Administrations the media has continually blamed every attack on “radical Islamic terrorists” a term made up in order to justify perpetual war.  

The attacks on the Pulse Night Club and the San Bernardino, which according to terrorism experts were false flags, were used to demonize immigrants of Muslim descent.  The Boston Marathon attacks were committed by Muslims who, the Russian Government had warned the American government, had been radicalized but were allowed to return to the US anyway.  Some believe the government knew they were planning an attack and allowed it in order for a police state mentality to take hold.

The GOP constantly talked about keeping radical Islamic terrorists out of the country but never really planned to, it was just to enable trillions of dollars to go to the military industrial complex and line their own pockets as well.   It is unfortunate that Trump took them literally and has imposed a religious litmus test on the seven countries that Bush/Obama have bombed.  Let’s hope some cooler heads prevail. Trump’s hold is for 120 days, let’s hope with new people at the State Department he will get better information and lift this ban.

Hopefully Donald Trump will take Dr. Paul Craig Roberts’ advice and break the media up into hundreds of pieces instead of six mega-media companies owning 90% of the US media.   “Then America would again have a media that can constrain the government with truth rather than use lies to act for or against the government.”  In the meantime, the media in a panic as Donald Trump continues dismantling the juggernaut this time it’s the lying liar media weasels who have morphed into the political opposition party.

By Patricia Baeten

Amy Goodman’s crime of journalism

First published in Blasting News:

Amy Goodman charged with the crime of covering the corporate private security attacking Standing Rock Sioux protesting Dakota Access Pipeline.

Amy Goodman has turned herself in to North Dakota authorities after being charged with criminal trespassing for covering a private militia’s violent crackdown on protesters in North Dakota.  Goodman announced on Thursday on her show Democracy Now! “I will go back to North Dakota to fight this charge,” she said. “It is a clear violation of the First Amendment." Goodman went on to say "I was doing my job as a journalist, covering a violent attack on Native American protesters."

Journalism criminalized

On Saturday September 3^rd as Goodman was covering the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline private security guards violently attacked the protesters.  Goodman’s live coverage showed guards attacking protesters using dogs and pepper spray and showed a dog with blood on its mouth and nose.  Goodman’s footage went viral.

Billionaires’ media ownership

Gone are the days of a vigilant press, here to stay are billionaire owned infotainment style misinformation.  Billionaire media moguls like Rupert Murdoch and Michael Bloomberg were once an anomaly but now are the norm.  The media has been bought out by billionaires like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.  Since the demise of the Fairness Doctrine under Ronald Reagan, billionaires now own part or all of several of America’s influential national newspapers, including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

Allegations are now facts

The fourth estate now publishes allegations as fact, a sort of lazy journalism that serves its bought-and-paid-for government officials rather than serving the people.  Media seeks to destroy the lives of those who lose favor with the government.  The Obama Administration, using the Espionage Act, has indicted or prosecuted six current or former government employees and two government contractors since 2009.  This is unprecedented since under all other presidents, only three prosecutions occurred under the Act since 1917.

Serving the war machine

The most egregious example of media malfeasance has to be the coverage of the west’s war of aggression in Syria.  As Steve Lendman pointed out in a recent article “Headlines and commentaries were virtually the same, shamelessly blaming Russia for vetoing France’s draft resolution—without explaining its adoption would assure greater war. Nor was Moscow given credit for its responsible cessation of hostilities draft proposal—despicably vetoed by America, Britain and France as expected.”

Amy Goodman herself has reported inaccurately on the events occurring in Syria.  A recent guest on DN was Yasser Munif, an assistant professor at Emerson College in Massachusetts.  Dave Alpert described the interchange between Munif and Goodman as such:  “His comments consistently focused on Russia and the Syrian Army as the sponsors of the “slaughter” of people in Aleppo. This is the kind of biased coverage one might expect from the N.Y. Times, MSNBC, or even Fox “News.”   The media coverage of the war in Syria will turn out to be the most shameful episode in the history of American press.

So Amy Goodman is returning to North Dakota to face charges of “criminal trespassing” for her raw coverage of a private company’s militia attacking the Standing Rock Sioux.  Goodman will have the best legal representation George Soros can buy, but at some point all journalists must be protected from prosecution.  Our democracy cannot survive without it.

By Patricia Baeten

Media barons endorse oligarchs for congress

First published in Blasting News:

Media barons throw their support behind the rich and famous for congress condemning the American people to poverty, hunger, ignorance and pestilence.

The American media are owned by billionaires who use the constitutional protections provided for a free press to spread lies and misinformation about candidates.  The media are doling out endorsements of candidates who are committed to continuing congress’ assault on the American people.  The Orlando Sentinel is endorsing Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Patrick Murphy in Florida’s August 30 primary.  Rubio and Murphy have both been endorsed by the establishment.  The Republican Party is running an ad against Murphy.

Vulture capitalist backs Rubio

Marco Rubio’s presidential aspirations were funded by billionaire hedge fund vulture Paul Singer.  Singer is famous for buying up the debt of distressed nations for pennies on the dollar, then forcing the country into bankruptcy and removing their democratically elected government.   After losing the primary, Rubio who has served his billionaire masters well in the US Senate, decided to run for reelection in Florida. 

Duopoly backs Murphy and Rubio

Both Murphy and Rubio have the full weight of the Democratic and Republican leadership to defeat populist Alan Grayson.   The media barons who are among the rich and famous select our leaders and they despise populist candidates, especially Alan Grayson.  They have the rich and famous congress that they desire and will do anything to keep candidates like Grayson out of their carefully crafted senate.  Congressman Murphy has sided with the GOP on key votes twice as often as with Democrats and yet Grayson is running against both parties for the senate seat.

People vs Oligarchs

Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer have all endorsed Patrick Murphy and demanded Grayson drop out of the race.  The Florida primary on August 30^th is truly a David vs. Goliath match, it is the people vs. the oligarchs.  The GOP ad against Patrick Murphy says “Florida’s senate seat is not for sale” I beg to differ.  With the media barons and oligarchs flooding money into the coffers of Rubio and Murphy while attacking Grayson it will be a real victory for America if the people prevail.

By Patricia Baeten

Media Monopoly Messaging: Savagely Attack Donald Trump and British Brexit Proponents

America’s Sunday morning political shows had a synchronized message; cite an ABC/Washington Post poll on Brexit and Donald Trump showing those Brits who voted for Brexit were old, uneducated, uninformed xenophobes and Donald Trump’s popularity is tanking.

The American media monopoly sets the messaging agenda for the week on Sunday morning.  Last Sunday the messaging centered on Brexit and an ABC/Washington Post poll showing Trump trailing Hillary Clinton by double digits.  What the media failed to reveal was, of the people polled 36% were Democrats and 24% Republicans.  The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos who is involved in a very public feud with Donald Trump.

The Trump/Bezos feud began when Trump leveled the charge that Jeff Bezos owner of Amazon, is using The Washington Post paper to attack him because as President he would force the massive online retailer to pay more in taxes.  Trump has threatened to go after Bezos for antitrust violations because he has a monopoly and is getting away with murder tax-wise.  Bezos denied he used the Post to go after Trump, but Bob Woodward, editor of the Post revealed a “20 man army” has been assigned to dig up dirt on Trump.

Trump has been a vocal supporter of Brexit and a believer in national identity, taxing the rich and border control.  After his “Trump emblazoned helicopter” landed in Scotland, Trump congratulated the British people for achieving an exit from the European Union.  Trump went on to state "I think it's a great thing that's happened. It's an amazing vote, very historic.”  "People are angry all over the world. They're angry over borders, they're angry over people coming into the country and taking over and nobody even knows who they are.”  "They're angry about many, many things in the UK, the US and many other places.

The media pounced on Trump citing tanking global markets and volatility.  The Clinton campaign released a campaign video stating “The last thing we need in volatile times is a volatile President.”

Now, we know why the media savagely attacked Trump, the biggest losers from Brexit are the world’s 400 richest people.  According to Bloomberg 15 of the wealthiest people in Britain lost $5.5 billion; Amancio Ortega, Europe’s richest person lost $6 billion and Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos lost $1 billion each.  So, it’s pretty evident who the beneficiaries of membership in the European Union are. 

Trump went on to further enrage the media when he criticized President Obama for interfering with the Brexit vote.  In May Obama spoke to the people of the UK threatening trade deals would take ten years if they voted to leave the EU.  Trump said “I was surprised that President Obama would be so bold to come here and tell people what to do.”  "I think a lot of people don't like him and I think if he had not said it I think you're result might have been different."

Nigel Farage party leader of the pro-Brexit UKIP also harshly criticized Barack Obama for interfering in the Brexit referendum saying "He has done the bidding of the giant American corporates who want Britain to stay in the EU.”  "Why? Because they want this Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership deal done so that the big American corporates can buy up chunks of our public services, including the National Health Service - that's a bigger motivation."

Minutes after the announcement of the Brexit vote, it was announced a petition bearing 3.5 million signatures requesting a referendum “do over” was presented to Parliament.  But in fact only 353,000 of the 3.5 million signatures are from Britain.  Steve Lendman is reporting “tens of thousands of fake names from America, Germany, France, Italy, other EU countries, even Middle East, Asian, Latin American and African nations as well as virtually uninhabited Antarctica” have been identified.

The global press is owned and funded by the same billionaires who financially benefit from wars, globalization and banking cartels.  In 2014 the European Union awarded Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB unconditional clearance for its acquisition of Sky Italia and at least 57% of Sky Deutschland.  That gave Murdoch’s media empire 20 million pay TV subscribers in the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria. Potentially, Sky Europe will be able to reach up to 97 million households.

In America, Public Broadcasting is funded in equal parts from government and the private sector and is governed by a board of directors that is selected by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.  C-Span is funded by the cable companies and provides a 24 hour a day platform for the neoconservative and neoliberal think tanks’ propaganda.

So wake up folks, anything you hear in the media is pure, unadulterated propaganda designed to intimidate and frighten you into submission.  The media wants you to believe that those Brits who voted for Brexit were old, uneducated, uninformed xenophobes and Donald Trump’s popularity is tanking.  Don’t buy it follow the Brits and say “we’re not gonna take it anymore.”

By Patricia Baeten