Let's not talk too much about the faded nobody. She falls under wanna-be-media and Ava and I'll deal with her at THIRD. She's on the grift. Desperate times for her. Try to feel sorry for her, if you can, because she truly has become that damn pathetic. That's what happens with stunted women. They play like they're feminists, but they're not. They're just pathetic, whorish trash that will use the term "feminism" to hide behind but they're not feminists. She ran with Spencer Ackerman and that tells you right away that (a) she's craven, (b) she's pathetic and (c) she's not a feminist. She had a little hissy fit a decade after online where she trashed Hillary supporters who were apparently confronting her. As usual that crowd was late to the party. If they wanted to work up an argument against her, they had to drop back to 2008 where she really honed her anti-Hillary skills and used non-feminists slams against Hillary. But if she couldn't be sexist towards Hillary, she couldn't be Ackerman's roll dog. She's not a feminist which is why she never interviews women. It's so amazing to watch these turncoats use their gender to get media attention from others while failing to use their own platforms to promote women. Two YOUTUBE platforms and yet no women. Over and over. But she's a 'feminist' -- don't believe her crap. She's a spoiled brat who never grew up and has daddy issues which is why she constantly pairs professionally with one man after another. We called her out most recently for her claim that she does 'opinion journalism' so she doesn't need to make disclosures. If that is what passes for journalism, we're all in trouble. And, yes, even opinion journalists have to do disclosure -- you can ask any professional columnist or the editor of any newspaper or periodical. She failed in film, she failed in stand-up and she's since repeatedly failed on one platform after another. But thanks to wealthy parents, she doesn't have student loan debt which at least explains her silence on the Supreme Court there. She showed you who she really was on Friday: Trash. Feminists do not glorify pedophiles. It's a shame that standard isn't across the board for all leftists. So stop trying to figure out why a registered sex offender, a convicted pedophile was brought on her show and unidentified as such. Maybe just ask YOUTUBE what their policy on videos promoting registered sex offenders is -- because this man hunted his prey via the internet. These are not accusations against him. He was convicted in a court of law and he is now a registered sex offender. Also don't give us that nonsense that he was persecuted by Bully Boy Bush. He was twice arrested when Bully Boy occupied the White House. If it was because of Bush, he wouldn't have been able to avoid prosecution. More to the point, his third arrest and his trial took place after Barack Obama was elected president. That the ditzy, aged girl (don't call her a woman) chose to platform him -- grasp that she will bring on a convicted pedophile before she will bring on a female guest! -- tells you everything you need to know about how sad and pathetic she is. Probably sitting at home all lone right now, glass of wine in her hand as the tears roll down and she slams her fist on the table while exclaiming "So true!" as Helen Reddy sings, "She was forty-one and her daddy still called her baby" before breaking into sobs because, gasp, she's now older than 41! Which makes it all the more pathetic.
She really is that pathetic. And that lonely. And that sad.
But don't cry for her, she's a grifter. Just laugh at her and look away -- the same way her many former colleagues do.
Iraq. RUDAW reports:
Protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Friday, venting
their anger after an Iraqi man burned a copy of the Quran in Stockholm.
Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika stomped on and burnt pages of the Islamic
holy book outside a mosque in Stockholm on Wednesday as Muslims around
the world were celebrating the first day of the Muslim holiday Eid
al-Adha, sparking angry reactions from Muslim-majority countries.
Iraq’s firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his supporters to take
to the streets in protest on Thursday and Friday to demand the
expulsion of the Swedish ambassador and the extradition of Momika, and
to burn flags of the LGBT+ community.
We noted this already. We're noting this again because I was asked to.
Moqtada's a thug with fading influence. Which is why he grabs this and not something actually effecting the Iraqi people.
We grasp that, right?
And let's finger point back out ourselves, this is like the people in the US on both sides of Ukraine who have made this their overwhelming issue.
At some point, you have to say: Grow the f**k up.
The biggest problem with the proxy war is that the US is involved. Ukraine and Russia are in conflict. That's rooted in the past and it's rooted in US actions. On the second half, the US government needs to butt the hell out. On the first one? Are you in either Ukraine or Russia? Then why the hell is this your business?
You look as ridiculous as Moqtada's cult. What took place in Sweden is really not their issue or their business. But they want to control the whole world. Focus on fixing your own neighborhood.
The pathetic YOUTUBER we noted at the top? She's one of those turning her platform over this 'issue.' Issue because Sy Hersh is a joke. But they all sang from the same hymnal -- ignoring warnings -- and just knew this was the answer. It didn't do a damn thing.
I'm opposed to the US government's funding of Ukraine, I'm opposed to all that the US government did to push this war. But, grasp a clue, dumb YOUTUBERs, a proxy war. By it's very definition, a proxy war will never get the attention you want it to. You are not moving the needle and you won't.
Moqtada's actions did nothing to help the Iraqi people. And most are just dismayed -- judging by feedback of Iraqi community members and by Arabic social media -- by his actions. It has nothing to do with the daily lives of the Iraqi people.
It's the same in America for Ukraine.
Think of the Spanish Civil War. Some Americans felt the need to go to Spain and fight. Some. A small number. America didn't care. Dorothy Parker wrote some strong coverage but her work with regards to Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti was much more important. What was done to them was done on US soil. Her work, sadly, only was appreciated in real time by those already decrying the crimes, but the protest of what was being done to them (and what was done to them) has historical value and helped shape the way we see it today. They were killed in a media frenzy, they were killed as a fever gripped the American people.
When that happens, it's your duty to stand up. It's your duty to call it out.
And even if it has little immediate impact, it does have impact.
However, there was no helping the Loyalist by US media coverage because it wasn't taking place on US soil. Grasp that.
These idiot YOUTUBERs want to rule the media landscape but don't even understand their audience or their potential audience.
On the left, we reject the notion that the US should be "the cops of the world."
We get that. We grasp that. We can certainly point at the other side for their nonsense in cheering on war. It works both ways, kids. We also shouldn't be the buttinskis of the world. Everything that happens in this world does not require a US response.
The house is falling down around us. But we're instead trying to get people to focus on Ukraine?
How stupid are we?
WSWS has lost a lot of US readers recently. Not because of anything they've done wrong in terms opinion or writing. But because they focused so much on things outside the US. Hopefully, they're finding a balance now -- there have been some important US labor reports of late, for example.
We cover Iraq here. I'm fully aware that most Americans are unaware that US troops remain in Iraq. Barring some unfortunate attack, they're going to continue in that belief. I don't do greatest hits to begin with. You have to move forward, you have to keep growing and stretching or you are just churning it out. So that's one reason we're covering other things. It's also true that if I want any attention at all to Iraq from people in the US, I have to cover other things or they're not going to read what's up here.
The YOUTUBERs -- including those bringing on registered sex offender Scott Ritter -- don't grasp how little Ukraine matters to the American people. That's not going to change. They can continue doing these programs and continue running off their audiences, but stop pretending they're changing anything.
From the start, WSWS has done outstanding coverage on this issue. It has awakened some people. There is no further awakening for the American people. If the US openly sends in US troops, that could change -- but the government knows that and is attempting to avoid it.
I feel like Sarah Jessica Parker in ED WOOD right now, "You people are insane! You're wasting your lives making s**t! Nobody cares! These movies are terrible!"
I don't get why people who think they're in media are so damn stupid. I don't.
Before someone e-mails, "Well you thought the Iraq War was going to end!"
Oh, no, I did not. As long ago as 2006, I said in a roundtable at THIRD, that bummed everyone out, that this site would be dark before the Iraq War was over. In 2006, there was tremendous American opposition to the Iraq War and it had lost the majority support from the American people. That's not enough, historically that's not enough. And I knew that and I said it. And bummed out everyone participating in the roundtable as well as many reading it.
That didn't mean we stopped talking about the Iraq War. It meant I knew the wall we were hitting. And it's why, unlike Delta Dawn, I didn't spend 2008 tearing Hillary Clinton down. She would have been, for the Iraq War, a better president of the United States than Barack Obama.
We called out Barack here. It did no good. I knew it probably wouldn't but, historically, it was important to call him out. It was important to point out that Hillary had not fan bois and no one would cut her slack on the Iraq War if she were president. They would demand that she pull US troops. I'm not psychic. I just pay attention. And what you already saw was CODESTINK -- fakes that their leadership is -- attacking Hillary and John Edwards while pimping Barack (their leader was even a bundler for Barack's campaign -- a detail they didn't see fit to disclose -- not even to their membership). Of course they'd give Barack a pass as president, they did it his entire campaign.
Samantha Power goes on BBC and announces that Barack's 'promise' to pull US troops out within ten months of being elected isn't really a promise? We covered it. In real time. Find me someone else on the left outside this community that did. You won't.
We covered it in real time.
The others? THE NATION, MOTHER JONES, KPFA, Davey D and all the others? They were covering Samantha leaving the campaign because she called Hillary a "monster." In fact, John Nichols was whoring so much that he claimed that Samantha was Hillary's friend when, at that point, the two hadn't even nodded at each other. He published that garbage the day after BBC aired Samantha's comments on Barack's 'promise.'
You probably remember all that hoopla over the "monster" comment. All that garbage was nonsense.
Because you got distracted and lied to.
Samantha didn't leave the campaign because she called Hillary a monster. Please, Barack had flipped Hillary off in a speech. You think they gave a damn that she called Hillary a monster. Samantha had gone to the UK and opened her trap to try to appear important and given everything about the campaign away. Including that Barack's Iraq 'promise' wasn't a promise at all. Of course, she told the BBC, he'd really decide after he was elected what he'd do.
That's why Samantha resigned. She opened her big mouth and the BBC was about to air the interview. Had she still been part of the campaign, this could have really harmed Barack. The headlines would be "Obama's Chief Foreign Advisor Says He's Lying About Pulling US Troops from Iraq."
Now I knew Tom Hayden. I knew him when he was married to Jane and I knew him when he extorted money from her in the divorce. Please, you don't think a 'man' likes that can stand on his own. He was a leech. And he was a fake ass. Barack publicly mocked "Tom Hayden Democrats." Any real adult would've taken offense but Tom was born a bitch and died a bitch.
I bring it up because he wouldn't even call out Barack. We exchanged about 16 angry e-mails in March 2008 over this issue. But then, July 4, 2008, he tries to act like he just learned of it.
It was too late to help anyone.
There are stands I take that I hope will change something. And there are stands I take because they're worth taking even though I know they're losing stands.
The YOUTUBERS have tried to 'flood the zone' with Ukraine and all they've done is lost audiences. Americans don't care. The biggest US objection remains the amount of money sent to Ukraine. That's because that makes it an American issue. When you're cutting programs for people in need in this country but sending billions to Ukraine, that's an issue the American people care about. And it is the only issue regarding Ukraine that has traction with the bulk of the American people.
YOUTUBERs are a bunch of idiots with few exceptions. They don't know their own country.
Let's note a bit of reality, a little wake up call for them: When Congress was considering banning saccharine, they received more letters calling for them not to ban it than they received opposing the Vietnam War.
The reason they fail so much is because they have no connection to reality. They think the world began the day they opened their own eyes and they have no real connections to the lives of the average American.
They're like Moqtada, trying to score points.
They make no real difference but that reality eludes them.
There's been a war taking place on LGBTQ+ people in the US and that's eluded them too. In part, it's eluded them because people haven't held them accountable. They can't be on the grift and pulling their right-wing fundamentalists -- whom they flatter while attacking the left -- and still grift for money.
I was in both the public e-mail and private e-mail accounts tonight. Community members upset about ____ should notice, I've removed that link. A grifter. Suddenly wanting to make some right-wing money and it's pathetic and sad but ____ always was a reactionary. We thought ______ was left, but ____ was only speaking from a personal loss. Which is why ____ never had any interest in the Iraqi people then or since. _____'s move to the right is only confusing if you missed, among other things, ____'s earlier attacks on Susan Sarandon. Remember when _____ lost most of the left in 2008 and tried to come back via comments on COMMON DREAMS articles. I do too. I don't think they'll be a comeback this time.
UPDATE: I removed that site. After that, I went through the links and removed all sites that were dead. By dead, I mean nothing there. I've left up sites that still work even if it's been several years since they updated (with the exception of LAT and NYT who have both not posted on their war blogs in over seven years, they got removed). Among the sites removed our backup site at BLOGDRIVE. BLOGDRIVE no longer exists.
The following sites updated:
