Keiran’s Take on the Week Ending July 16th
This week I will first apologize for not publishing a long form post as I promised I would in my last take on the week, however, I will work to publish my next post in the War on Trump series this weekend. It will focus on the strength, or lack thereof, of his most recent indictment and how the persecution of him is driven by the permanent regime, as his chances of winning against Biden in 2024 are much better than many let on or would hope for.
This week I will look at how Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is acting more like a spoiled brat than the commendable war hero he is being touted as by the illiberal liberal class. Next, I will look at how some recent revelations expose some holes in the official narrative around the Capitol riot on January 6th, 2021, and the lack of curiosity and the hostile treatment of those who are curious or skeptical is revealing as well.
I intended to publish an analysis/review of King Von’s Grandson, but I’m still trying to figure out how exactly to structure this component of my take on the week. I will likely be revamping part of my research essay that I wrote for one of my English honors classes. This is a comparative analysis of J. Cole’s KOD and Offset’s Father of 4. My hip hop reviews will be more analytical than in the style of a traditional music review, and I will not give ratings.
Zelensky is a Child
At the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Zelensky made his usual list of demands for more weaponry. The UK Defence Secretary chided him, saying that despite his view that Zelensky’s resistance was noble, he argued that Zelensky should show more gratitude, and he said, “You know, we’re not Amazon.”[i]
Before the NATO summit, Zelensky tweeted his disappointment that there was to be no concrete plan for its accession to NATO. He said that “It’s unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership.”, and that the lack of readiness for NATO to accept Ukraine’s membership into NATO is a mistake, as “This means that a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine’s membership in NATO in negotiations with Russia. And for Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror.”[ii] If Ukraine were made a member of NATO now or soon, with Russia’s invasion still going on, then the US would be obliged to intervene directly. The goal of the US government is already to degrade Russia’s military, as explicitly laid out by Biden and his senior officials, from Jake Sullivan to Lloyd Austin. Bringing Ukraine into NATO would force the US to confront Russia directly and officially, which could lead to a nuclear standoff.
Zelensky, who looks and behaves more like a spoiled movie star than a heroic figure, appeared in Vilnius looking like he was ready for a G.I Joe production, not a serious summit. He was welcomed like a rockstar by the cheers of thousands of Lithuanians. Zelensky delivered a speech that demanded Ukraine be a part of NATO after being introduced by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.[iii]
Zelensky acts like a spoiled brat because he is being treated like a movie star, from visits by Hollywood actors like Ben Stiller and Sean Penn to appearances at the Grammy Awards ceremony, Zelensky is more concerned with aesthetics than substance. Many outlets and scholars captured this when there was a discussion of whether Zelensky was “making democracy cool again” through his rhetoric.[iv]
It’s interesting that Stiller went to meet with Zelensky, showering him with adoration and hero worship, as Zelensky is the exact type of character the Stiller mocked in his film Tropic Thunder, which is centered around a group of narcissistic high profile actors who, during the filming of a war film, get thrust into the jungles of Southeast Asia by an incompetent director who is trying to make an ‘authentic’ war movie. Armed with blanks and vague scene direction, the actors find themselves lost and their egos clash. Zelensky behaves like Stiller’s character, once great action hero Tugg Speedman, unwilling to face reality and enamored with his own image as a rockstar.
In Zelensky’s case, this rockstar image is cultivated not just by him but also by a compliant corporate media, partially driven by deep seated hatred for Russia. Zelensky is no hero, and that criticism of him is treated as pro-Russian is absurd. From Tucker Carlson to Glenn Greenwald, utter one word against the great Zelensky and you are proving that you work for Vladmir Putin.
Zelensky is fighting for his image, not for the well-being of his people. The cult of personality around him is misguided and dangerous. He should be forced to make a peace deal to stop the war. He shouldn’t be handed a plethora of weapons, including cluster munitions and tanks.
Also, there should be a discussion over how Ukraine is going to repay the money being sent to them. This must be made a primary concern now, not 5 or 10 years down the road. By that time, the war still may be going on.
Zelensky is acting more like a spoiled child than a deft leader. That such criticism of him is seen as illegitimate and proof of pro-Kremlin views proves how we are more like repressive states, like Russia and China, that we claim we are a contrast to. Zelensky should be treated like a person, not a deity.
Fedsurrection?
As I noted a few weeks ago on the lack of coverage or interest in the revelations that the Pentagon has been studying alien remains for decades, the mainstream media treats curiosity as a grave offense. A story where this hostility towards curiosity is blatant is the coverage of the riot at the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021, or as it is referred to by the legacy media and the illiberal liberal class, the insurrection. There were two significant revelations this week that poked even more holes in the establishment narrative on J6. These were the House Testimony of FBI Director Christopher Wray and the news that Carlson conducted an interview with former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, where he claimed that among the crowd that broke into the Capitol on J6 were numerous federal agents. Carlson never got to air this interview, as he was fired before he could do so. What these revelations expose is that what we are told about J6 by the illiberal liberal class is a fiction.
FBI Director Wray faced multiple questions about J6 in his House Testimony hearing on July 12th. He was asked directly if the FBI had federal agents in the crowd who stormed the Capitol on J6, and if any federal agents committed acts of violence.[v] These are just like the questions asked of senior FBI officials by Senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton many months ago. The answers were the same as well. Wray was vague and evasive. He did not respond with a simple and direct no. If there were no federal agents involved in J6, then why dodge the question? Again, it is evident that the FBI knows more about J6 then they’re letting on.
Instead of joining the House Republicans in their inquiry on this and other matters related to oversight of the FBI, which is the function of Congress, House Democrats were instead outraged that the FBI are not doing more to go after Trump for ‘inciting an insurrection’.[vi] The hearing was a spectacle of Democrats caressing the FBI, soothing Wray with words of worship, and the Republicans asking actual questions, many of which are considered fringe conspiracy theories, like that the FBI was heavily involved in J6. We should not leave it to a few House Republicans to ask these questions. We should all be curious about the truth of J6 and the FBI’s involvement.
Carlson already undermined the illiberal liberal class’s narrative on J6 when he was still at FOX News. He released never seen footage of the events at J6, notably, footage of Jacob Chansley, or as he’s famously known, the QShaman, walking around the Capitol accompanied by a group of police officers was shown.[vii] The image of Chansley was used as a symbol of the alleged MAGA insurrection. It turns out that he wasn’t violent or out of control, or that’s what the footage aired by Carlson showed. The illiberal liberal class assures though, that he and the other “insurrectionists” are criminal lunatics who almost overthrew American democracy. What Carlson showed after gleaning through hours of Capitol footage, given to him by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, was a bombshell. Yet, the corporate media either didn’t cover it or if they did, it was to smear Carlson and anyone who would dare question the official narrative on J6 as conspiracy theorists.
Carlson recently said in an interview with podcaster Russell Brand that he conducted an interview with former Capitol Police Chief Sund, who told him that many of the J6 rioters were federal agents.[viii] Although the interview never aired, he said that he would interview Sund again. Why are people not more curious about J6? Why is Carlson one of the few journalists asking questions about it?
Also, Ray Epps, one of the only J6 protesters who is being heaped with praise by the corporate media that sees J6 and those who rioted that day as an existential threat to American democracy, is reportedly suing FOX News for Carlson’s claims about him that he is a federal agent.[ix] Apparently, this is a fantastical story. However, Epps is on tape saying that people should go into the Capitol, and he was filmed breaking into the barricades in front of the Capitol. Epps went from being on the FBI’s most wanted list to disappearing from it, even receiving a puff piece in the New York Times. Epps’s lawsuit is being treated as another example of FOX News being held accountable. For example, the BBC reported that “Ray Epps sues Fox News for Capitol riot conspiracy claim”.[x] BBC is supposed to be a news organization, and surely, they should reserve such accusations for claims that are proven to be conspiratorial. Carlson committed a cardinal sin in the present era of journalism- he was curious.
That this doesn’t bother anyone never ceases to amaze me. Those who are quick to denounce others as conspiracy theorists are not unlike those they arrogantly dismiss. Throughout Russiagate, the hosts who were the loudest in their declarations that Trump was a Russian asset and that Russia had essentially couped the US government in 2016 were also the most deranged and dismissive of facts.
The riot at the US Capitol on J6 was clearly allowed to occur by the permanent regime. Not only was it enabled, but it was also encouraged by a plethora of federal agents, who work at the behest of the permanent regime. This is not to defend Trump’s behavior since the 2020 election, or the behavior of lunatics like Lin Wood or Sidney Powell. People do not seem to understand that calling January 6th what it evidently was, or at the very least, being curious and questioning the official narrative around it, is not the same as adoration for Trump. One does not need to support him or be a part of his political movement to see that the permanent regime in Washington were involved in J6, seizing the opportunity to discredit Trump and the MAGA movement, allowing the Biden administration and the Democratic party, as well as illiberal liberal media across the globe, to dismiss Trump and the Republican party he’s captured.
Future insurgent candidates are now treated with more hostility. Whether they will accept election results is a constant worry. Thus, it was not just Trump and his movement that were discredited, but it was the movement against the ruing class that was discredited. The fight to smear Carlson and all who question the official narrative on J6 is a desperate attempt by the permanent regime to cover their tracks, as their narrative crumbles under scrutiny.
So, I would conclude that January 6th was not a Fedsurrection, but that it was an opportunity for the permanent regime to mar Trump, who they see as a threat to their rule, as an insurrectionist and thus not a legitimate political movement. This justifies despotic actions like censorship, targeting citizens allegedly on the far right, and perpetuating deceptive narratives about the illegitimacy of their political opposition to stop the rise of Orange Hitler. Instead of being outraged at the system crushing them, the willing dupes of the illiberal liberal class are outraged at Trump and people wearing MAGA hats.
[i] Rathbone, John Paul, Felicia Schwartz, and Henry Foy. “Subscribe to Read | Financial Times.” http://www.ft.com, July 13, 2023. https://www.ft.com/content/dc658252-6acd-44fc-8e0c-51a284009762.
[ii] Zelensky, Volodymyr. “Https://Twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/Status/1678707674811187200?S=20.” Twitter, July 11, 2023. https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1678707674811187200?s=20.
[iii] Edwards, Christian. “Zelensky Gets a NATO Boost and Rockstar’s Welcome from Crowds in Vilnius.” CNN, July 11, 2023. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/11/europe/nato-communique-zelensky-speech-vilnius-intl/index.html.
[iv] Mekouar, Dora. “Is Zelenskyy Making Democracy Cool Again?” VOA, March 30, 2022. https://www.voanews.com/a/6506140.html.
[v] Carney, Jordain. “House GOP Spars with FBI Chief on Hunter Biden, Jan. 6 and More.” POLITICO, July 12, 2023. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/12/house-gop-fbi-director-00105916.
[vi] Diaz, Jaclyn. “FBI Director Wray Grilled as House GOP Members Allege ‘Politicization’ of the Agency.” NPR, July 12, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/07/12/1186993033/fbi-director-house-hearing-christopher-wray.
[vii] FOX News, and Tucker Carlson. “Tucker: This Video Tells a Different Story of Jan 6.” http://www.youtube.com, March 7, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opy7MLGAPBk.
[viii] Khaled, Fatma. “Tucker Carlson Shares Details of Never-Aired Capitol Riot Interview.” Newsweek, July 7, 2023. https://www.newsweek.com/tucker-carlson-shares-details-never-aired-capitol-riot-interview-1811657.
[ix] Richards, Zoe, and Daniel Barnes. “Pro-Trump Protester Ray Epps Files Defamation Suit against Fox News.” NBC News, July 12, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/-trump-protester-ray-epps-files-defamation-suit-fox-news-rcna93939.
[x] Wendling, Mike. “Ray Epps Sues Fox News for Capitol Riot Conspiracy Claim.” BBC News, July 12, 2023, sec. US & Canada. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66169918.
References
Carney, Jordain. “House GOP Spars with FBI Chief on Hunter Biden, Jan. 6 and More.” POLITICO, July 12, 2023. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/12/house-gop-fbi-director-00105916.
Diaz, Jaclyn. “FBI Director Wray Grilled as House GOP Members Allege ‘Politicization’ of the Agency.” NPR, July 12, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/07/12/1186993033/fbi-director-house-hearing-christopher-wray.
Edwards, Christian. “Zelensky Gets a NATO Boost and Rockstar’s Welcome from Crowds in Vilnius.” CNN, July 11, 2023. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/11/europe/nato-communique-zelensky-speech-vilnius-intl/index.html.
FOX News, and Tucker Carlson. “Tucker: This Video Tells a Different Story of Jan 6.” http://www.youtube.com, March 7, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opy7MLGAPBk.
Khaled, Fatma. “Tucker Carlson Shares Details of Never-Aired Capitol Riot Interview.” Newsweek, July 7, 2023. https://www.newsweek.com/tucker-carlson-shares-details-never-aired-capitol-riot-interview-1811657.
Mekouar, Dora. “Is Zelenskyy Making Democracy Cool Again?” VOA, March 30, 2022. https://www.voanews.com/a/6506140.html.
Rathbone, John Paul, Felicia Schwartz, and Henry Foy. “Subscribe to Read | Financial Times.” http://www.ft.com, July 13, 2023. https://www.ft.com/content/dc658252-6acd-44fc-8e0c-51a284009762.
Richards, Zoe, and Daniel Barnes. “Pro-Trump Protester Ray Epps Files Defamation Suit against Fox News.” NBC News, July 12, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/-trump-protester-ray-epps-files-defamation-suit-fox-news-rcna93939.
Wendling, Mike. “Ray Epps Sues Fox News for Capitol Riot Conspiracy Claim.” BBC News, July 12, 2023, sec. US & Canada. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66169918.
Zelensky, Volodymyr. “Https://Twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/Status/1678707674811187200?S=20.” Twitter, July 11, 2023. https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1678707674811187200?s=20.
Not Without Incident: Questioning Big Brother's Platitudes 
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