W. Niederhut

Addendum: Here's GHWB's formal statement on signing the JFK Records Act. If I understand it correctly, GHWB claimed that the POTUS has the Constitutional authority to limit the disclosure of records, in the interest of national security, and that this Executive branch authority cannot be limited by statute. George Bush: Statement on Signing the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (archive.org)

I'm starting a new "political discussion" thread dedicated to Benjamin Cole's latest notion that, "We're all MAGAs now." Ben's concept is based on his well-known indignation that Biden, like Donald Trump, has refused to release all of the JFK records. It's correlated with RFK, Jr.'s refusal to criticize Donald Trump's crimes, in the interest of national unity. We're All MAGAs Now... 🙄 Accused Jan. 6 rioter caught lurking around Obama's house had an arsenal at the ready (Salon) Taylor Taranto, the 37-year-old accused Jan. 6 rioter apprehended near the home of former President Barack Obama on Thursday, had several weapons and a slew of ammunition with him, according to recent updates. Per a report given by federal authorities on Friday, Obama's would-be attacker "had two guns and 400 rounds of ammunition in his van when he was arrested," as well as a machete. According to NBC News, "Taranto's van has been parked near the D.C. jail in recent weeks and he has appeared at protests in support of other Jan. 6 defendants . . . Noting that he lived in the van, a federal prosecutor said Taranto had 'nowhere to go.'" In a statement from a federal prosecutor, Taranto, a known Trump supporter, "has been in Washington to take House Speaker Kevin McCarthy up on his offer of letting Jan. 6 defendants review security footage of the Capitol riot relevant to their cases. https://www.salon.com/2023/06/30/accused-jan-6-rioter-caught-lurking-around-obamas-had-an-arsenal-at-the-ready/

Cory, Correct me if I'm wrong here. Wasn't "Mr. George Bush of the CIA" (GHWB) the POTUS who attached a rider to the 1992 JFK Records Act stipulating that the POTUS could withhold any records, at his discretion, in the interest of "national security," before he (GHWB) agreed to sign the bill?

Yo, Ben, I left a number of big items off of my list of questions (above.) Should RFK, Jr. criticize Donald Trump for stacking the SCOTUS with extreme right wing plutocrats who have now overturned Roe v. Wade and affirmative action --after greenlighting unlimited dark money funding of U.S. elections and blocking enforcement of the Voting rights Act? Should he criticize Trump for organizing slates of false electors in several states after the 2020 election, for the purpose of overturning the U.S. election? No biggie in your MAGA-verse?

Huh? We are all MAGAts now, Ben? On what strange planet? Are you suffering from heat stroke on the family farm in Thailand this morning? Should RFK, Jr. condemn Trump for staging a violent attack on the U.S. Congress in order to remain in power? For saying, "Take down the magnetometers. They're not here to harm me?" For inciting white domestic terrorism in the U.S.? For accepting money and election interference from Putin in 2016? For denying in Helsinki that Russia had interfered in our 2016 election? For insulting our EU allies and undermining NATO for Putin? For taking bribes from the Saudis, in exchange for aiding the genocide in Yemen? For taking bribes from Sheldon Adelson and Paul Singer, in exchange for moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and abandoning the Palestinians? For abruptly withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan in January of 2021, against military advice, and precipitating the collapse of the Afghan government and army? For disastrously mismanaging the COVID pandemic-- causing the preventable deaths of hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens?

Geez... "fulfilling the promise of transparency to the American people?" Shame on Joe Biden. Why is Biden doing this? Inquiring minds want to know.

I wonder if Trump's latest act of stochastic terrorism in this Obama case will be a sufficient cause for RFK, Jr. to finally criticize the psychopathic Orange Mastermind of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Congress... 🙄

Don't worry needlessly about my reading comprehension, Roger. It's excellent. Instead, try to better understand your erroneous false equivalence about Republicans and Democrats in matters relating to voting rights, election fraud, and political assassinations. Who was POTUS when Mossadeq was assassinated? How about Allende? How about Solemani? Which POTUS was mocked by Republicans for making "human rights" an issue in U.S. foreign affairs? Which POTUS launched the bogus Neocon "War on Terror?" Which POTUS stole the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, with the assistance of his gubernatorial brother in Florida and a 5-4 vote by a Republican majority SCOTUS?

Two questions for our forum's tireless Putin apologist and "Bidenescu" basher, Paul Rigby... 1) What do you have to say about Prigozhin's recent claim that Putin invaded Ukraine on false pretexts? 2) Which historic Biden debates and speeches have revealed evidence of alleged senility? A. Biden's acceptance speech at the 2020 Democratic Convention B. The 2020 Biden/Trump Presidential debates C. Biden's 2021 Inaugural Address D. Biden's State of the Union Addresses to Congress E. None of the above

Bingo, Joe. Opinion | Murdoch's Fox News Embraces Right-Wing Benefits of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | Common Dreams

Hmmmm... Rupert Murdoch's Sky News has taken quite an interest in promoting RFK, Jr. lately. Strange. And why is Murdoch suddenly interested in the JFKA? If only Murdoch had used his vast right wing propaganda empire to question Donald Trump's suppression of the JFK Records in 2017 and 2018! 🙄 Incidentally, this is the second Murdoch/Sky News reference posted here on the JFKA forum in the past 24 hours. (The other was Paul Rigby's Sky News/MAGA clip about Bidenescu's ballyhooed "senility.") Is it conceivable that Rupert Murdoch is using his propaganda empire to sabotage Biden and the Democratic Party? Murdoch has been fluffing Ron DeSantis for the past two years, and we have just learned that RFK, Jr. won't agree to support the 2024 Democrat Presidential nominee-- good news for anti-Woke Ron DeSantis, Murdoch, and the Koch/GOP plutocrats! Opinion | Murdoch's Fox News Embraces Right-Wing Benefits of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | Common Dreams

Ruh roh, David... are David Talbot and the Salon.com people now also working for CIA Operation Mockingbird, along with Russ Baker, Naomi Klein, and the progressive Democrats* at Common Dreams? What's the world coming to? Meanwhile, it looks like Ben Cole posted so much MAGA spam here during the past 12 hours that no one noticed or commented on my post about RFK, Jr. refusing to criticize Donald Trump, or to support the 2024 Democrat nominee for the Presidency!!! Do Ben Cole and the MAGAs around here not realize that Donald Trump's SCOTUS appointees have now abolished Roe v. Wade and affirmative action, along with Biden's student debt relief order? (Republican/Koch SCOTUS judges already succeeded in wiping out a century of campaign finance reforms with the Citizens United ruling, and blocking enforcement of the Voting Rights Act with Shelby v. Holder.) Why would RFK, Jr. refuse to criticize the Orange Grifter, or endorse the Democratic alternative to a right wing, plutocratic Republican SCOTUS? * Opinion | Murdoch's Fox News Embraces Right-Wing Benefits of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | Common Dreams

Shocker. My questions and points (above) about the GOP sabotage of immigration reform, and strategic Republicon fear-mongering about the border, sailed right over Ben Cole's head. Good old Ben-- the J6 coup denier. Trying to discuss history and policy issues with Ben is like trying to converse with a television tuned to Fox News. And, speaking of Fox, it looks like Rupert Murdoch's Fox News-promoted candidate, RFK, Jr., doesn't plan to endorse the 2024 Democratic Party nominee for the Presidency. Terrific. 🙄 This confirms my suspicion that Murdoch has been fluffing RFK, Jr. in order to undermine Joe Biden and put another tax-cutting Republican plutocrat back in the White House in 2025. RFK Jr won't commit to backing eventual Dem nominee: 'Of course I’m not going to do that' | Fox News RFK, Jr. is also, apparently, imitating Mike Pence and the cowardly Congressional MAGAts by declining to condemn Donald Trump's serious crimes against democracy and the American people. It's unconscionable. Democracy is betrayed by such silence. My question. Which side is RFK, Jr. on?

It's a good question about all of the recent RFK, Jr. threads, IMO. The redeeming feature of this particular RFK, Jr. thread was that it began as a rare discussion of RFK, Jr.'s policy positions-- in contrast to the usual RFK, Jr. cheerleading -- before Ben Cole and Paul Rigby highjacked it with Murdoch/MAGA/ Bidenescu propaganda tropes.

Interesting hypothesis. It, certainly, makes more sense than some explanations for the half-assed Wagner coup attempt, and Prigozhin ending up in Belarus. On the flip side, why would Putin have risked embarrassing himself, and having Prigozhin spill the beans about Putin's false pretexts for invading Ukraine?

Newsflash, Roger. If you're truly concerned about election fraud and the sabotage of democracy, you're focusing on the wrong party. In other breaking news, Henry Kissinger worked for the Republicons.

Get a clue, Ben. Who sabotaged the comprehensive, bipartisan Senate immigration reform bill that forced Obama to issue an Executive order on DACA? What happened after America's worst President, Donald Trump, impulsively abrogated the DACA order on the grounds that his Koch/GOP Congress would pass the necessary legislative reform? They never did. Trump and your crooked GOP plutocrats have been too invested in using border xenophobia to rile up their base to focus on constructive immigration reform. And you drank the MAGA Koolaid, as always. Do you really think that Cesar Chavez, Corky Gonzalez, et.al., would have approved of the way Donald Trump and his abjectly racist advisor, Stephen Miller, handled DACA, while separating kids from their parents, and putting in kids in cages at the border? Do you think Chavez would have approved of Trump's multi-billion dollar border wall boondoggle? Again, get a clue.

Since MAGA spammer Ben Cole and our Putin apologist, Paul Rigby, are spamming the forum with Murdoch/GOP propaganda tropes bashing Biden today, it's time for an Education Forum cartoon. I'll wager that MAGA Ben Cole and Paul Rigby have never listened to a single Biden Presidential address since 2020. Where's the evidence of Biden's alleged senility in unedited videos of his historic speeches and in his debates with Ben Cole's beloved Orange Boobie? 🙄

Paul, I've been studying the Mockingbird propaganda phenomena for years now, and I have never disagreed with the evidence that Mockingbird has been smearing RFK, Jr. My criticism of RFK, Jr. has been based on the progressive liberal, non-Mockingbird analyses, like those of Russ Baker and Naomi Klein. That said, I'm going to take a closer look at RFK, Jr.'s positions. I agree with Sandy that, other than the anti-vax stuff, I probably agree with RFK, Jr. on most issues.

I noticed that our Putin apologist, Paul Rigby, has avoided commenting on Prigozhin's recent confession that Putin invaded Ukraine on false pretexts. Prigozhin has, certainly, debunked the Kremlin's "blame it on NATO" narrative. From what I've read, Prigozhin's comments have also had an impact on public support in Russia for Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Hitherto, the Russian people have been bamboozled into believing that Putin's invasion was a defense against Ukrainian aggression.

C'mon, Paul. Your comment here is out of tune. You and I (and Matt Allison) are progressive, social Democrats, aren't we? Why are some progressive Democrats-- like Bernie Sanders, the Kennedy family, Russ Baker, and I-- not jumping on the RFK, Jr. bandwagon? What Koolaid did Bernie Sanders, Russ Baker, Matt Allison, and I drink, in your opinion? As I think about RFK, Jr., the issue that initially jaundiced my opinion of him was his anti-vax disinformation. BUT, I will agree to take a closer look at his positions on progressive issues that matter to me. Perhaps I'm not giving him a fair shake. I admire RFK, Jr.'s environmentalism and advocacy for the poor. I also admire RFK, Jr.'s criticism of the U.S. military industrial complex.

Jim, You're missing the big picture about the RFK, Jr. debate and Russ Baker's recent commentaries, and I say that as a person who has a lot of respect for your work, and your excellent K&K website, (which I supported back in the days before you and Oliver Stone collaborated on JFK Revisited and sycophants like Ben Cole started spamming this forum with Fox News propaganda tropes.) I understand that RFK, Jr. is providing a valuable service to the cause of exposing the CIA's involvement in the assassination of JFK, and I also understand that RFK, Jr. has been attacked by the Mockingbird M$M for that reason. No disagreement there. But I am also looking at the larger historical and political picture of the crucial conflict between the Koch/GOP plutocracy in the U.S., (and associated Trump MAGA cult) and progressive democracy. Why are Bernie Sanders and the Kennedy family endorsing Joe Biden, and not RFK, Jr.? There is so much at stake in this 2024 Presidential election -- climate change mitigation, GOP tax cuts for the rich and GOP Starving-the-Beast, the GOP stacking of the SCOTUS with reactionary, pro-corporate plutocrats, (Citizens United, Shelby v. Holder) voting rights, women's rights, LGBT rights, gun control, etc. Progressive Democratic criticism of RFK, Jr. is based on these larger issues-- the big picture. As I have said, it appears that Rupert Murdoch and the right wing media moguls are promoting RFK, Jr. in order to undermine Biden and the progressive Democratic agenda. Murdoch wants low GOP tax rates and reduced government spending on the American working class.

Jim, Gary Webb was outing GHWB/CIA cocaine trafficking to fund the Contras. How is that comparable to CIA/GHWB critic Russ Baker raising serious questions about some of RFK, Jr.'s dubious policy positions? His opposition to social distancing and vaccines during a deadly pandemic? Huh? Do you agree with RFK, Jr.'s notion that free market mechanisms can mitigate climate change? Huh? That defending sovereignty and liberal democracy from totalitarianism doesn't justify the sacrifice of human life-- i.e., let Hitler, Stalin, and Putin do whatever they want? Huh? I agree with Dr. Fauci. Rupert Murdoch is promoting him to undermine Biden and the Democrats, but there's something seriously wrong with, RFK, Jr. He's a guy who used heroin, but opposes the use of vaccines and antidepressants.

Yeah, Steve, and no doubt all of those retired senior citizens down in Florida are strongly opposed to socialist Donk crap like Medicare and Social Security... 🙄 Rick Scott is a Koch-funded Republican sociopath who banned state employees from using the term, "climate change" when he was Governor of Florida. Can't stand that shxtweasel.