The Greenwald-Taibbi conundrum

I had long been an admirer and supporter of the work of these two people. Indeed, I first came across Greenwald when he was a mere blogger like me at his site Unclaimed Territory and would financially contribute to him because I found his take on politics to be bracing. It was not surprising that Edward Snowden picked him and Laura Poitras as the conduit to bring his leaks about the national security states to light, and his exposes of the way that Brazilian leader Lula De Silva was railroaded by the Brazilian elite was also highly commendable.

But Greenwald’s more recent stuff has been problematic to say the least. He seems to be spending most of his time and energy attacking people that tilt to the left of the political spectrum and even adopted some right wing tropes in criticizing them. He has become a fixture on Fox News and other right wing media.

Similarly Matt Taibbi was brilliant in the way he dissected Wall Street and the fatuousness of pundits like Thomas Friedman. But he too seems to have joined Greenwald in shifting his focus on attacking the left.
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How Edward Snowden confounded the US elite’s predictions

Soon after Edward Snowden was revealed as the source of the blockbuster leaks about how the US and other western countries were engaged in massive and illegal programs to spy on their own citizens and the citizens of other nations, the Obama administration went after him with a vengeance, trying to capture him even to extent of forcing the plane of Bolivian president Evo Morales, on his way home from a conference in Russia, to land in Austria to be searched because they thought that Snowden would be on it on his way to Bolivia where Morales had offered him asylum.
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Juneteenth and a remaining form of involuntary servitude

Given how slowly things move in the US except when it comes to war or benefitting the oligarchy, I was surprised at the speed with which legislation was passed declaring today June 19th, the day known as Juneteenth, to be declared a federal holiday. I was even more surprised that this move was widely supported by Republicans in Congress (despite some opposition), though there were efforts of some in the right-wing media world to turn it into yet another white grievance.

But attention needs to be focused on a remnant of the post-Civil War reaction during the period known as Reconstruction where white people used a clause in the Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery to enact laws that brought back involuntary servitude of black people, this time under the guise of making all manner of behavior criminal. There are calls to remove that clause.
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A more realistic view of US-Russia relations

I wrote yesterday that the Biden-Putin summit was surprisingly good and devoid of the saber-rattling and threats and ultimatums that Biden had been urged to pose to Putin by the political-media establishment in the US who had demanded that Russia be punished for its alleged misdeeds. Branko Marcetic writes that Joe Biden’s Russia policy has been, so far at least, surprisingly reasonable.

Left-wing critics of the Russiagate madness were often accused of covering for Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and other provocations through “whataboutism.” But the real issue was the need for the subject to be put in context. As they pointed out over and over again — indeed, as we teach children — you tend to lose your moral high ground when you criticize someone for doing to you something you yourself do to others all the time, however wrong and objectionable it might be.
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South Carolina asks people to choose their own method of execution

Having the death penalty is barbaric enough. The extent to which some states in the US go to maintain it is hard to believe. The state of South Carolina, for example, requires the condemned person to actually choose whether they want to be executed by electrocution or by firing squad if lethal injections are not available. These stories read like less of a report of reality and more like the screenplay of an extremely dark film, with a villain gleefully tormenting a captive to make an impossible choice.
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The outcome of the Biden-Putin summit

The summit between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin did not provide any dramatic moments and that is a good thing. We do not need drama between the leaders of the two major nuclear powers. What we need is evidence that they are cautiously taking each other’s measure and trying to find common ground in dealing with the issues that are really important to both countries and the world, and not trying to score media points by throwing tantrums.

This article discusses what the summit achieved.
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Good point!

This right-winger made a TikTok video to argue against free covid-19 vaccines but did not realize that her argument was actually a plug for socialized medicine.


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The Manhattan District Attorney election

The District Attorney for Manhattan is an important position because that region covers the main financial district in the US and thus the DA can prosecute wrongdoing by the financial giants. The position is an elected one and the current occupant Democrat Cyrus Vance, Jr. has long had a reputation for treating wealthy and powerful people leniently, especially those who happened to contribute to his election campaigns like Harvey Weinstein and the Trump family, while going hard after poor and minority communities. In the last couple of years he has changed course slightly and been investigating Donald Trump’s financial interests, convening a grand jury to present evidence and possibly seek indictments. He has announced that is not running for re-election this year and this has led to a scramble to replace him, with eight candidates.
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