W. Niederhut

Meanwhile, the Trumplicon scoundrels in the GOP -- including Kevin McCarthy-- are lying about Trump's misconduct, and even calling for violence. More evidence of Trump's pseudo-patriotism. He would burn the country down to save his own crooked ass. 'Scary as hell': Militia expert says Trump tweet from GOP's Clay Higgins is call for 'civil war' - Raw Story - Celebrating 19 Years of Independent Journalism

Huh? FDR allied with the brutal mass murderer, Joseph Stalin, out of necessity. And, at the time of his death, he was still seeking Soviet assistance in defeating Japan, right? Is that your definition of naivete? As for JFK, do you diehard Putin apologists really believe that JFK would have done nothing in response to Putin's invasion and annexation of Ukraine? Study his June 1963 Berlin speech.

Yeah, Steve, and, according to WaPo today, Trump is guilty on 30 counts of illegal possession of classified military intelligence regardless of whether he shared the intel with anyone.

Nothing new here, Jeff. Obviously, FDR (and even Churchill) turned to Stalin as an ally-- a necessary evil, if you will-- in the critically important task of defeating the N-a-z-i Wehrmacht in Europe. And the Red Army did the lion's share of the fighting. 80% of all Wehrmacht military casualties in WWII occurred in Russia. Churchill was very reluctant to re-commit troops to the Continent after Dunkirk, and the D-Day invasion happened almost FIVE YEARS after WWII commenced in Poland. It was FDR who responded most sincerely to Stalin's request for a Second Front-- in Italy (and up the Rhone Valley.) By the time Germany surrendered, in May of 1945, the Red Army was gargantuan-- far and away the most massive military force in Europe. And Stalin had no intention of relinquishing his occupied territories in Eastern Europe after May of 1945. In fact, he had entered into a pact with Hitler, (Molotov-Ribbentrop) to partition (and annex) Poland in August of 1939. Stalin was always secretive, and deceptive, about his pre-war (and post-war) Soviet genocide-- the Purges, executions, and forced labor camps of the Gulag, which also involved the mass incarceration of ethnic Poles, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, and other ethnic non-Russians after 1939. Soviet supporters in the West were generally shocked and disillusioned when the truth about Stalinism surfaced in the publications of Solzhenitsyn after 1960. Stalin was not an enlightened, humane autocrat. He murdered millions of his own citizens. So, IMO, the Stone/Kuznick narrative blaming Truman and the Cold War hawks in the West for the tragedy of Cold War history is one-sided. The "untold" half of the story is about the Kremlin. The same thing is true about current narratives blaming the U.S. and NATO for Putin's brutal 2022 invasion of Ukraine-- and the 25 year-old Dugin/Putin agenda of annexing Ukraine.

Jeff, This is the basic Cold War narrative of Peter Kuznick and Oliver Stone's Untold History series, and it was the only historical narrative in the series that seemed partially erroneous, in my opinion. Certainly, Stone & Kuznick were correct about the machinations of American capitalists and Cold War hawks to kick Henry Wallace off of FDR's 1944 Presidential ticket, and to use Truman and the Bomb to end our WWII era alliance with Uncle Joe Stalin and the Soviets, launching the Cold War. But were Stone & Kuznick correct about Stalin's totalitarian police state and his post-war agenda in Europe? We can ask an analogous question about Oliver Stone's benign opinion of Putin's agenda in the 21st century. Stone has focused, primarily, on telling the Untold History of the United States-- the grim machinations of Wall Street, the CIA, and military-industrial complex. Conversely, he and Kuznick have not really focused on the very dark, untold history of Stalinism, the Soviet Union, and the 21st century Russian Federation. Using your paradigm, (above) how do you explain the 20th century Stalinist genocide against Soviet citizens, (including the Holodomor) the Gulag Archipelago, and the multi-decade oppression of Eastern Europeans by the Soviet police state? Hungary in 1956? Prague in 1968? Soviet genocide in Poland? Ukraine in 2022? Are those Soviet (and Russian Federation) crimes against humanity primarily the fault of U.S. (and British) Cold War hawks?

Fox Brings On 'Expert' Who Claims Wildfire Air Pollution Is Harmless | Crooks and XXXXX

Get a clue, for once, Ben. I posted back in 2020 that the proximity of the alleged COVID pandemic origin near the Wuhan lab was suspicious. You weren't involved in our detailed discussions here at the time. I was never sold on the Wuhan market origin theory. What does the COVID origin debate have to do with the increased mortality and morbidity resulting from subsequent Trump/Fox/RFK, Jr. COVID disinformation? Have you studied the differential U.S. COVID mortality rates for Trump counties vs. Biden counties, and vaxxed vs. un-vaxxed citizens? Hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of disinformation (and mismanagement of the COVID pandemic) by Trump and other poorly educated morons, including RFK, Jr. As for your (above) condemnation of censorship, I gave you multiple counter-examples which are directly related to Trump, Fox News, RFK, Jr., and Elon Musk. Toxic disinformation that results in mortality and/or violence (including hate speech and stochastic terrorism) should be censored, when feasible. Are you aware that hate speech on Twitter increased significantly after Elon Musk's disastrous takeover of the company?

Gee, thanks for the update, Ben. I'm sure that we're all shocked to hear that the JFK Records are still censored. As for your question about when censorship is a good thing, how about in the case of hate speech? How about speech that incites violence against the citizenry or the Congress? How about unscientific disinformation that endangers the public health? How about propaganda from a foreign adversary that undermines the security and welfare of our nation or that of our sovereign, democratic allies?

I have great respect for Jeffrey Sachs, and I read his article (above) at Common Dreams with interest this morning. I considered posting it on the Education Forum. But my first reaction to this morning's Sachs op-ed was that JFK's June 26, 1963 Berlin speech --and his showdown with Khruschev over Berlin-- is a better example of how JFK would have responded to Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine. JFK took a strong stance in defense of freedom and democracy in Berlin-- in response to Russian imperialism and oppression. And JFK's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech was delivered after his American University "Peace" speech. Admirably, JFK sought peace, but he was also willing to defend democracy from totalitarianism.

Yeah, for a former heroin addict, RFK, Jr. is surprisingly ignorant, and inappropriately negative, about therapeutic psychopharmacology. It's a shame, because he has a fan club that believes his anti-scientific bunk. His inaccurate beliefs about Prozac mirror the Scientology disinformazia on the subject. In contrast, JFK inspired America's Mental Health Center legislation.

RFK, Jr.'s most serious flaw, IMO, is that he doesn't understand science-- as in the case of his anti-vaccine disinformation, and blaming antidepressants for America's epidemic of gun homicides. It's a total cop out on the gun control issue. And, not surprisingly, our main RFK, Jr. booster on the forum is a guy who repeatedly denied Trump's historic J6 coup attempt and refused to watch the Congressional J6 hearings.

Ron, Equally shocking to me was RFK, Jr.'s recent praise for Elon Musk, for allegedly "saving Democracy." Meanwhile, the right-wing MAGA media moguls continue to fluff RFK, Jr.-- presumably to undermine Biden and the Democratic Party. Right-wing media are continuing to prop up RFK Jr.'s bid for president | Media Matters for America Does anyone really believe that Rupert Murdoch, Elon Musk, and the right-wing media moguls are progressive Democrats? 🙄 One RFK, Jr. critic lately is Russ Baker, my favorite investigative journalist (and JFKA Truther.) Baker has been getting flak from some of his subscribers for pointing out RFK, Jr.'s serious errors in judgment. More Indications RFK Jr.’s Anti-Vaccine Claims Have Little Basis - WhoWhatWhy

Exactly right, Denny. And the daily RFK, Jr./anti-Biden spam started appearing on the JFKA forum after the 56 Years thread was shut down (as a result of MAGA spamming.) The concept was for the MAGA spammers to use the Water Cooler MAGA Spam board, but they never did.

The East Coast is getting a tragic whiff of what we've been dealing with out here in the Rocky Mountain West during the last few summers-- unprecedented forest fire smoke. Hopefully, this will raise public awareness back East about catastrophic climate change.

I looked at my MSN news feed this morning, and there was a frontpage blurb about RFK, Jr. posing a serious threat to Biden's re-election. It was a fluff piece from Rupert Murdoch's New York Post. * This doesn't pass the sniff test. Let's recall that Rupert Murdoch once bragged about heavily promoting the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. He has consistently promoted climate change denial. He also aggressively promoted Donald Trump's disastrous Presidency, beginning in 2016. Then he promoted the 2017 Trump tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. Then he aggressively promoted Trumplicon disinformation during the COVID pandemic. Then he promoted Trump's Stop-the-Steal scam. Then he promoted false narratives about Trump's January 6th coup attempt, while censoring coverage of the Congressional J6 investigation. Now Murdoch is using his propaganda empire to fluff RFK, Jr.'s campaign against Joe Biden. Hmmmm... 🙄 Why? * RFK Jr. has the White House sweating, and rightly so (msn.com)

Says our J6 coup-denying Donk-basher. Go back and re-read your opening sentence on this thread, Ben. You bashed Joe Biden again today-- in your preface. In point of fact, you've been bashing Joe Biden on the JFKA forum all year-- usually in the guise of redundant threads about RFK, Jr.'s candidacy, and the lone issue of the release of the JFK Records. Whoop-dee-doo. We all know that the CIA covered up the JFK assassination, and that Trump and Biden blocked the release of the records. What new information are you presenting in your redundant daily Biden-bashing threads on the subject?

Yes, and Boebert's rural, western Colorado district is heavily Republican. It was extremely disappointing to see her eke out that last electoral victory. Colorado has elected some flamers to Congress over the years, but Boebert takes the proverbial cow pancake.

Ben, speaking of Enablers-in-Chief, do you have any thoughts about why Donald Trump did a "snuff job" on releasing the JFK Records in October of 2017, when they were originally mandated for full release by the terms of the 1992 JFK Records Act? You and Glenn Greenwald have been unusually quiet about the 2017 Trump snuff job, while posting redundant, daily anti-Biden threads here (ostensibly about the snuff job) on the JFKA forum. Isn't your working theory about Russiagate and January 6th that Trump is a Deep State adversary, and an innocent victim of nefarious Deep State machinations? If so, why did Trump kowtow to the CIA and do a snuff job on releasing the JFK records in 2017? 🤓

Ben, You're a broken record, stuck in a cacophonous groove. So, you still, apparently, believe that all opinions are "no better or worse" than any other opinions, regardless of their relationship to the facts? That we need to respect the opinions of people who believe that the earth is flat, and of those who believe that the January 6th attack on Congress was a Deep State "patriot purge" scrum? Meanwhile, you seem to imagine that your redundant RFK, Jr. political posts on the JFKA forum are entirely "germane," while any contextual criticism of RFK, Jr. is not? Talk about yer cancel culture... 🙄

Jim, I have great respect for JFK and RFK, but if RFK, Jr. is now praising the right-wing tycoon Elon Musk for "saving democracy," and fear-mongering about Mexicans in the Southwest, it's time for us to get off of the RFK, Jr. bus. RFK, Jr. is, apparently, missing a few screws in the cabeza. Let's recall that his father, RFK, was a friend and advocate of Cesar Chavez and our Mexican migrant workers-- not a white nationalist xenophobe. Perhaps RFK, Jr. needs to spend less time in Malibu, (and on Fox) and more time with indigenous Catholic Mexican communities-- as his uncle and father did in their younger years. Incidentally, Twitter has now lost half of its value, since the disastrous Elon Musk takeover. RFK Jr heaps praise on Elon Musk saying he is ‘rescuing American Democracy’ during Twitter event | The Independent

Thank You, Achmed! June 5, 2023 Our Century Link internet service abruptly stopped working on May 24th. My wife called Century Link Customer Service and the call center representative (in India?) scheduled a repairman to come to our house the following week-- on June 1st. One week without an internet link felt like a century! My wife even drove to some stores to use their Wi-Fi for downloads. I tried using my tiny, primitive Android cellphone, which I rarely use. (I had to purchase additional "data" to read the newspapers on the tiny screen of my phone.) We were told that the repair guy would come to our house on June 1st between 8 AM and 5 PM-- a 9 hour window. So, we skipped our daily walk around the park and took turns house sitting last Thursday-- waiting 9 hours for the Century Link repairman to show up. He never showed, or called, and we had no direct phone number with which to contact him. So, my wife called the Century Link call center (in India) and they told her they would re-schedule our internet repair for the following week-- on June 8th. It was Kafka-esque. My wife, a very patient lady, was furious. After demanding to speak to a manager and being put on hold and transferred to various bewildered call center representatives, who had no idea who she was or why she was transferred to them, she finally told the last apologetic rep that she was firing Century Link. She called Xfinity on Friday, and the Xfinity/Comcast guy came out to our house this morning and spent an hour replacing an old cable and some other malfunctioning stuff. Very polite guy. Great service. Everything works. He had a heavy Arabic accent and his name was Achmed. I shook his hand before he left, and said, "Thank you, Achmed!" After he left, I turned to my wife and said, "Thank God for these immigrants. Trump and the MAGAts are always railing against them, but where would we be in this crazy country without them?

Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin - The Debrief

RFK Jr heaps praise on Elon Musk saying he is ‘rescuing American Democracy’ during Twitter event | The Independent 😬