Irresponsible New York Times Presstitution

by Stephen Lendman

The late Gore Vidal called The Times the "Typhoid Mary of American journalism" for good reason.

The so-called "newspaper of record" is more laughing stock than source for legitimate journalism.

Its news, information and analysis are heavily filtered. Fiction and popular myths substitute for facts.

Monied interests are supported at the expense of popular ones. Vital truths are systematically buried.

Managed news misinformation substitutes. So do Big Lies on issues mattering most.

Imperial wars are called liberating ones. Ravaging and destroying one nation after another is considered humanitarian intervention.

Wars are supported in the name of peace. Might justifies right. Plunder is called economic development.

Civil liberties are suppressed for our own good. Irresponsible government and corporate interests are wholeheartedly endorsed. Beneficial social change is considered heresy.

The market (aka as casino capitalism) works best so let it, we're told. Patriotism means supporting Washington right or wrong.

The Times is America's lead propaganda instrument. Misinformation masquerades as legitimate journalism.

Whenever America goes to war or plans one, Times correspondents, contributors and editors march in lockstep.

Times policy is it's OK if we do it. Bad guys are nations, groups or individuals Washington opposes.

Terrorism is what they do, not us. Reasons why imperial wars are waged are suppressed.

Wealth, power and privilege alone matter. Sacrificing human lives and freedoms are small prices to pay. Humanity is at risk but who cares.

Ravaging and destroying one nation after another doesn't matter. Corporate grand theft is OK. So is the unprecedented wealth gap.

Protracted Main Street Depression conditions affecting most Americans aren't discussed.

Nor unmet human needs, growing poverty, hunger, homelessness, depravation and despair.

Unprecedented corporate and government corruption is ignored. So is government of, by and for monied interests alone.

Sham elections are called democratic ones. Social injustice gets short shrift if any.

Truth is the most dangerous disinfectant. Suppressing it is longstanding Times policy. All garbage all the time on issues mattering most substitutes.

Russia bashing is relentless. Putin is considered public enemy No. 1. Kiev fascist putschists are called democrats.

They're xenophobic, ultranationist, anti-democratic, anti-Semitic, anti-Russian hate-mongers.

They represent mob rule. They have no legitimacy whatever. Don't expect The Times to explain.

Lies, damn lies and Big ones substitute for credible news, commentary and analysis.

They're relentless on Ukraine. For the first time since Nazi Germany's defeat, reemergent fascism infests Europe's heartland.

Western leaders support it. John Pilger quoted Professor Terry Eagleton saying "for the first time in two centuries, there is no eminent British poet, playwright or novelist prepared to question the foundations of the western way of life."

Its most disturbing aspects. Its immorality. Its belligerence. Its lawlessness. Its contempt for popular interests. Its support for wrong over right.

"No Shelly speaks for the poor," said Pilger. "(N)o Blake for utopian dreams…(N)o Byron damns the corruption of the ruling class…"

"(N)o Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin reveal the moral disaster of capitalism. William Morris, Oscar Wilde, HG Wells, George Bernard Shaw have no equivalents today."

The late "Harold Pinter was the last to raise his voice." He's badly missed.

So are Gore Vidal, Studs Terkel, Howard Zinn, Edward Said and other distinguished figures speaking truth to power forthrightly, publicly, and effectively.

They're gone. They're not around to challenge official Big Lies. Relentless misinformation on Ukraine.

Scoundrel media corruption. Unconscionable Russia bashing. Outrageous lies about Putin. It gives yellow journalism new meaning.

MSM today are scandalous. Disreputable. Unethical. Outrageous. An embarrassment to legitimate journalism.

It's a lying machine. Washington's war on humanity is called humanitarian intervention.

Israeli aggression is considered self-defense. Palestinian self-defense is called terrorism.

Illegitimate Kiev fascist putschists are lauded like democrats.

Southeastern Ukrainian freedom fighters are called terrorists.

Russia's heroic conflict resolution efforts are called "invasion," "infiltration," "cross-border shelling," "significant escalation," "interference," "aggression," and other pejorative Big Lies.

Irresponsible Putin bashing rages. It's relentless. Western leaders bear full responsibility. Media scoundrels share it.

Times correspondents, contributors and editors turn truth on its head. Indefensible Big Lies substitute.

Readers are carpet-bombed daily. The Russians are coming, they're told.

"Mr. Putin (plays) his dangerous game in Ukraine with cunning and deceit," claim Times editors. "First he annexed Crimea."

He held "intimidating military exercises on the Ukrainian border and sen(t) in ever more men and arms in support of secessionists in Donetsk and Luhansk, all the while falsely denying any Russian involvement other than humanitarian concern for the ethnic Russian population."

"Rebels shot down a Malaysian jetliner with a Russian missile…" Cross-border artillery fire shelled Ukraine, claimed Times editors.

Russian "armored columns" invaded Ukraine, they said.

Fact check:

Crimeans voted near unanimously to join Russia. They did so in a referendum independent international monitors called open, free and fair.

Putin responsibly accommodated their wishes. Russian military exercises threaten no one.

Western monitors were invited to observe them. No Russian invasion occurred. No cross-border artillery fire.

So-called satellite imagery was fake. One or more Ukrainian warplanes shot down MH 17.

Clear evidence showed cannon fire downed it. No ground to air missile was involved. Don't expect Times editors to explain. Or its correspondents and contributors.

On September 27, Putin bashing continued. The Times headlined "It Pays to Be Putin's Friend," saying:

He "steer(ed) lucrative accounts" Bank Rossiya's way after Washington "made (it) a primary target of sanctions…"

It's "run by some of (Putin's) closest friends and colleagues from his early days in St. Petersburg…"

It's "emblematic of the way (his) brand of crony capitalism has turned loyalists into billionaires whose influence over strategic sectors of the economy has in turn helped him maintain his iron-fisted grip on power."

Fact check:

US government/corporate corruption gives grand theft new meaning. So does US-style crony capitalism.

Monied interests run America. They so so in league with fascist governance.

Mussolini called his version corporatism. It reflects "the merger of state and corporate power," he said.

America's version is worse. It's global. It combines police state harshness, disdain for fundamental rights, and brazen brutality with unbridled corporate power.

It's ideologically over-the-top and then some. It's ruthless. It's all take and no give. Non-believers aren't tolerated.

They're systematically eliminated. They're murdered in cold blood. They locked away in gulag prison hell to rot.

Fascism works this way. America is the world's leading exponent. Ukraine is the epicenter of its European reemergence. Don't The Times to explain.

"If the modern Russian state is Kremlin Inc., Mr. Putin is its chief executive officer, rewarding his friends with control of state-owned companies and doling out lucrative government contracts in deals that provoke accusations of corruption but have the veneer of legality under the Putin system," it claimed.

He "collect(ed) new friends," it added. He "la(id) the foundation for what would evolve into the system of personalized, state-sponsored capitalism now at the heart of his power."

"In many cases, contracts and property (are) distributed through insider deals, often without open or transparent bidding."

Fact check:

American-style casino capitalism gives corruption new meaning. Crony capitalism flourishes. Oligarchs run America.

No-bid sweetheart deals are standard practice. So is gross over-billing, waste, fraud and abuse on the grandest of grand scales.

Gangsterism defines America. So does kleptocracy. Washington's criminal class is bipartisan.

Monied interests run things. They're in league with corrupt government officials.

They hold an unprecedented amount of wealth. They take full advantage.

They hide it in offshore tax havens. America is the United States of steal all you can.

Ordinary people have no say. Elections have no legitimacy. They're shams. Democracy is pure fantasy. It's the best money can buy.

Personal freedoms are eroding in plain sight. They're disappearing altogether.

Putin was democratically elected three times. Independent monitors call Russia's process open, free and fair.

Russians want no one else to lead them. In March 2012, Putin's majority was 63.6%. His closest rival got 17.2%.

Polls show he's overwhelmingly popular. Well over 80% of Russians support him. It's for good reason.

For opposing Western imperialism. For affirming Russian sovereignty. For observing international laws, norms and standards.

For championing multi-world polarity. For going all-out for diplomatic conflict resolutions. For supporting peace and stability. For deploring wars without end.

For challenging US unipolarity, unilateralism, state terror and war on humanity.

He's bashed for doing the right thing. For supporting right over wrong. For being on the right side of major geopolitical issues.

For being forthright. For challenging America responsibly. Don't expect The Times to explain.

It wages war on truth relentlessly. Putin bashing persists like sport. Russian expert Stephen Cohen says doing so endangers US security.

Media scoundrels denigrate him irresponsibly. They're mindless about what's at stake, says Cohen.

Putin bashing "featur(es) mostly irrelevant, baseless or hyperbolic allegations about his political record…" It's unabated. It's relentless.

It's malicious. MSM countervailing voices don't exist. He's demonized like "Saddam, Stalin and Hitler."

He's falsely accused of revanchism. Of wanting imperial Russia restored. Of "poking America in the eye."

Putinophobia rages. It's when cooperating with Moscow should take precedence.

At risk is open East/West confrontation. Potentially escalating it to global conflict.

Obama represents the worst of rogue leadership. He's ideologically over-the-top. He risks what no responsible leader would dare.

His geopolitical agenda reflects madness. Media scoundrels share blame. They're mindless of potential armageddon.

Times news, commentaries and analyses have clout. They reflect official policy. They influence it.

Bashing Putin irresponsibly risks the unthinkable. Cold War 2.0 risks becoming hot. All bets are off if it happens.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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