Giordano of Juice Media asks world-renowned intellectual, activist, and political dissident Noam Chomsky about the unfolding train wreck of the 2020 US election, the state of humanity, the breakdown of democracy, the rise of conspiracy theories, the prosecution of Julian Assange, the role of satire – and what helps to keep him going amidst all this.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
On Reality Asserts Itself, actor Gabriel Byrne says his journey as an Irish immigrant helped to radicalize him, as did his disillusionment with leaders who promised transformation and delivered conservatism with a “different tie” – with host Paul Jay. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced December 26, 2017.
Liz Cheney represents militarism without restraint, as did her neocon father. Trump served the military-industrial complex but outlived his usefulness when he wouldn’t transition power. Both trends are a threat to what’s left of American democracy. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson on theanalysis.news with Paul Jay
Mr. Robock says a nuclear war between the United States and Russia would produce so much smoke that temperatures would get below freezing even in the summertime, crops would die and there would be no food for the entire planet. This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced May 5, 2014.
During the hyper-masculine clown car that was the Republican National Convention, Trump and his VP nominee, J.D. Vance, spewed absurd anti-migrant accusations and supposed pro-worker policies. Journalist and author Jonathan M. Katz breaks down the reactionary rhetoric of MAGA Republicans and argues that Vance’s populism is anything but worker-friendly, given his well-established ties to Silicon Valley.
Gilles Billen shows that industrial agriculture, propelled by international trade and specialization, has disturbed the nitrogen cycle. This has provoked the crossing of planetary boundaries and endangered the possibility of feeding the world. Alternatives do not require new technologies but different ways of organizing production and regional networks. Lynn Fries interviews Gilles Billen on GPEnewsdocs.
With the death of Sheldon Adelson, we replay this interview with Max Blumenthal. The CIA used an Adelson controlled company to spy on Julian Assange. Billionaire Casino owner Sheldon Adelson was a key player in making Trump president; has a history of money laundering; consorting with organized crime families; is a fervent supporter of the Israeli right, and advocates for attacking Iran. Max Blumenthal joins Paul Jay on theAnalysis.news podcast.
Noam’s beard looks just like a wise man’s should.
Noam says we have to vote for Biden even in safe states because Trump’s contribution to climate change is incalculable. Obama’s rhetoric was different, but not his actions. On the contrary, he bragged about being the president under whom more pipeline was laid than any other. His regime granted unprecedented licenses for oil drilling. His Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar was responsible for approving the very kind of deep sea oil drilling that gave us Deepwater Horizon. “That was me who did that,” said Obama in the famous YouTube video of the US regaining its place as world’s leading producer of oil. And not even for domestic use. But to ship it overseas like one more ka-ching. We have Obama and the Dims to thank for Trump. What makes Noam think a cleverer Mussolini-like Trump won’t be the result of the regime of the senile Joe Biden? I expect Illinois to be double-digits Dim. In which case I’ll vote for the Orange Menace to register my contempt and disgust with the enabling Dims. Even if it’s close I would trust Biden any more than I do Trump to make things a shade better. I’ll vote third party.
More likely the October surprise will be that it becomes impossible to ignore Biden’s increasing dementia and Trump wins a second term. The Dims have put up two of the worst imaginable candidate to challenge the worst. You have to acknowledge the Dims for their unfailing ineptitude. And corruption.
Since the presented interview, the President has been afflicted by coronavirus. How badly we do not know. His spokespersons, medical and otherwise – those who themselves are not afflicted – have not given the public a reliable, consistent evaluation. What seems true is that Joe Biden will benefit in the coming election from the President’s disability. Sen. Biden was not soliciting the Left for votes before Pres. Trump’s illness was announced, and he has no reason to do so now.
The case for voting for him made by Prof. Chomsky is less urgent now. People like me who find Biden unprincipled, a political opportunist, may now afford the luxury of voting for a minor candidate whom they would really like to see in the White House, even if that is next to impossible – the chances of a Trump victory seem to have been so greatly diminished.
Chomsky is a lot of things, all of them heroic. He sets before us an example of what a virtuous life can look like. As far as I can ascertain he is without vanity or the slightest hint of self aggrandizement. What a beautiful fragrance !