Going Rogue With Caitlin Johnstone

Dude goes two years refusing to call a genocide a genocide, then issues a statement which begins by placing blame for the genocide on the victims of said genocide. Reading by Tim Foley.

It’s amazing how aggressively free speech in the United States is being torn apart in the wake of the Charlie Kirk killing. Jimmy Kimmel was fired after President Trump’s FCC threatened ABC when the late night comic suggested that Kirk’s killer was a Trumper. I personally dislike Kimmel, but this is about as naked a government assault on free expression as you could possibly imagine. Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil has been ordered deported to Syria or Algeria after the Trump administration targeted him for political speech critical of Israel. Trump has brokered a deal allowing TikTok to be purchased by a consortium that includes his billionaire buddies Larry Ellison and Marc Andreesen. US officials have acknowledged that Washington’s push to grab control of TikTok was because of the opposition to the Gaza holocaust that was circulating on the platform. Reading by Tim Foley.

The list of humanitarian institutions who accuse Israel of genocide now includes: 1. The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory 2. The International Association of Genocide Scholars 3. B'Tselem (an Israeli organization) 4. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (another Israeli organization) 5. Amnesty International 6. Doctors Without Borders 7. The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights 8. Human Rights Watch 9. The International Federation for Human Rights 10. The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention The list of humanitarian institutions who say Israel is NOT committing genocide in Gaza includes: 1. Nobody 2. No one 3. Zero 4. Nothing 5. Nada 6. Zilch 7. Sweet damn all 8. A complete absence 9. Diddly squat 10. Bupkis Reading by Tim Foley.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi just said on a podcast that "hate speech" directed at conservatives was responsible for Charlie Kirk's assassination, and that people responsible for such speech will be prosecuted by the Trump administration. Reading by Tim Foley.

"Hacks" costar Hannah Einbinder said "Free Palestine" during her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress at the Emmys on Sunday. Questioned by the press afterward, Einbinder said she has friends in Gaza, adding, "I feel like it is my obligation as a Jewish person to distinguish Jews from the state of Israel, because our religion and our culture is such an important and longstanding institution that is really separate to this sort of ethnonationalist state." I've followed Einbinder on Instagram for a long time because she's been one of the few people in Hollywood consistently using their influential voice to oppose this genocide, and it is very good that she said these things. Hopefully we see much more of this. But right now I can't help thinking about how unforgivable it is that all the other Hollywood celebrities haven't been using their platforms at these events to call for an end to the Gaza holocaust this entire time. For two years this nightmare has been normalized in the eyes of the public with

It's probably worth flagging the fact that the president of the United States is promoting the establishment of a Ministry of Truth to restrict information in a suggested law called the "Charlie Kirk Act". Reading by Tim Foley.

The McDonald's flag at Guantanamo Bay was lowered to half-mast in honor of the GOP swamp creature who was assassinated by a sniper the day before 9/11, which I think we can all agree is the most American thing that has ever happened. Reading by Tim Foley.

You cannot become a high-level pundit, politician or political operative in either mainstream party without being an evil piece of shit. It's part of the job description, because the job requires you to make excuses for the abuses of a globe-spanning empire which is fueled by human blood. Reading by Tim Foley.

The assassin appears to have been able to successfully escape after the killing, so nothing is known about what their motives were. Rightists are braying for civil war and demanding sweeping new authoritarian measures to crush what passes for the political "left" in the United States these days, based on nothing but vibes and feelings. Reading by Tim Foley.

Recent hours have seen too much Israeli depravity to write about, including an assassination strike in Qatar to sabotage peace talks, a second drone attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla, and a Guardian article featuring an IDF sniper who discussed killing civilians like a trophy hunter talking about game animals. Reading by Tim Foley.

A drone appears to have struck a boat from the Global Sumud Flotilla while it was docked at a Tunisian port on its way to bring aid into Gaza, temporarily starting a fire. Nobody on board was harmed. The boat was reportedly crewed by the same activists who had attempted to sail to Gaza on the Madleen this past July, including Greta Thunberg. And it is here worth noting that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir recently said that Global Sumud Flotilla activists must be designated as terrorists and treated accordingly, in order to "create a clear deterrent" against foreign parties attempting to bring aid into Gaza by sea. It is no mystery who the prime suspect is in this attack. Reading by Tim Foley.

In a sense all I'm ever really pointing at here is the importance of taking responsibility. Taking responsibility as westerners for the suffering and destruction inflicted upon the world by the western power structure that we live under. Reading by Tim Foley.

In the UK a terrorist is someone with a cardboard sign saying "I support Palestine Action". In the US a terrorist is a Venezuelan suspected of drug trafficking. In Israel a terrorist is someone resisting occupation. Reading by Tim Foley.

He hung up a sign that said Secretary of War, snapped a picture for the socials, shut the door, took a swig of Jameson straight from the bottle, then sat down and fondled the revolver in his desk drawer like a little boy playing with his penis. Visions of cruise missiles danced through his head, aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines and tiny middle eastern bodies blown to bits by glorious inventory. Mushroom clouds flashed in his eyes as he caressed the trigger with an index finger. "They call me the Secretary of War," he said. "They call me the Secretary of War." He did not feel the robins in his chest or hear the red-winged blackbirds trilling in his hair. The electricity of the flesh was a stranger to him. Exuberance was a deadbeat dad who never called. Outside the Pentagon walls a cicada roared unnoticed and the grass sang ancient hymns to the sun god. People bustled in and bustled out, their minds buzzing with Palantir porn, their lips casting spells of Raytheon and ruin. Under the rubble of a fa

Make no mistake about where the moral authority stands here. This isn’t something we need to be on the defense about. It’s something we need to be on the attack about. Reading by Tim Foley.

You always see Israel apologists saying "If Hamas lays down its arms there'll be no more war, if Israel lays down its arms there'll be no more Israel." But really the exact opposite is true. If the Israelis lay down their arms, a genocide ends. If Hamas lays down their arms, Israel's planned ethnic cleansing of Gaza happens quickly and without resistance. Reading by Tim Foley.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UN human rights experts, Israeli human rights groups like B'Tselem, and the overwhelming majority of genocide scholars all agree it's a genocide. The debate is over. The hasbarists lost. Reading by Tim Foley.

This is just what happens when bad people in your life reveal an ugly truth about themselves. If you learn that someone in your life is cool with their government supporting a genocide, you can just sort of let your feelings and natural inclinations lead the way on that. Reading by Tim Foley.

To be racist is to admit that you are a dull, vapid person. It's an admission that you are so intellectually, emotionally and spiritually shallow that you can only enjoy and connect with other human beings in the most superficial of ways. There is no depth to you. There has been no growth in you. You are stunted. You have been wasting your time on this planet instead of maturing and expanding your connectedness with the gift of human life. Reading by Tim Foley.

As if we didn't have enough ugliness in the world right now, Trump has deployed warships near Venezuela's coast, prompting Caracas to ready drone and naval patrols for conflict. Reading by Tim Foley.