The US Arrogance Stirs Me by Bruce Gagnon

by Bruce Gagnon
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Organizing Notes
February 27, 2014

I watched the mainstream national news last night at 6:30 pm. I did a lot of raging at the TV. One of the networks led off with the story about Russia holding war games inside their own country, near the Ukrainian border. The White House and Secretary of State John Kerry issued stern warnings to Russia about not trying to “interfere” with the current balkanization of the Ukraine. In Crimea, riots between pro-EU and pro-Russian citizens broke out. The Russian Navy has their Black Sea base in Crimea.

I was ready to throw my slippers at the TV when Obama and Kerry threatened Russia over any “interference”. Who the hell are they to talk about interfering? The now famous “Fuck the EU” quote from Victoria Nuland (wife of Bush-Cheney era neocon Robert Kagan) was direct evidence of the deep involvement and interference of the US in Ukraine. This whole story just reeks of hypocrisy and arrogance on the part of the US.

Talking about war games – the US-NATO in recent months were holding war games in Latvia and Lithuania – practicing flying NATO warplanes right up against Russia. Were they trying to draw a response? And the US has been heavily arming Georgia and doing joint war games there, again right along the Russian border. At this very moment the US and South Korea are running war games aimed at North Korea which is bordered by Russia and China.

But the American people would never know about US war games because the network TV news never reports those facts. They only report the news that is intended to lead the public in a certain direction – and that direction is demonizing Russia (and China) in order to justify US imperial moves.

During one of the commercials that dominate network TV an actor, about my age, was selling some product. I had muted the sound but watched this nice looking middle class man appear so genuine and I couldn’t help but feel confident that he was gaining the trust of those across the nation who had not cut the sound off. I then thought of a lifetime of watching the tube, buying the soap and the bullshit sold on corporate TV. The false patriotism during the Olympics… the agenda infused news reporting done by reporters who toe the corporate party line…. the false innocence and phony outrage expressed by US politicians about Russia trying to defend their immediate front-door interests as if the US would not be going ballistic if the Russian Bear had its “diplomats” handing out bread during riots in Canada intended to force that nation to break away from the capitalist camp and move into bed with Moscow. Just imagine that one.

This stuff just drives me crazy. And the American people keep walking off the cliff in lockstep as the US prods, pokes, surrounds, and stomps on Russia which sooner or later will indeed respond – and when they do we will hear this from Washington – “Holy shit, look what Putin is doing… we told you he was crazy and wants war with us!”

The US pulls this kind of crap daily all over the world… but you’d never know it back here at home because it is not reported on the TV – and that is all that counts.

see

Ukraine Shows Russia On Washington’s ‘To Do’ List For Regime Change by Finian Cunningham

Rick Rozoff: Former Soviet Republics, Current Russian Allies Are U.S./NATO Color Revolution Targets

Prof. Francis Boyle: The Brown (Shirt) Revolution In Ukraine

Ukraine: Another Piece in US-NATO-EU Neo-con Puzzle by John Robles + Wesley Clark: Wars Were Planned To Take Out Seven Countries In Five Years

Bruce Gagnon: U.S. Hides Missile Threats To Russia, China Under Subterfuges