A secret meeting in Italy, gutting of public broadcasting, and a government-funded expansion of "PragerU"—right-wing evangelical indoctrination has become mainstream.
Thank you Qasim. They are trying everything except mind control but that might be what this is of course, to get people indoctrinated into their way of thinking. It's unfortunate that some people will fall for it but not if you keep educating the public about what to expect.
The language of the American press reinforces the misconception of “moderates” in a despicable, subliminal way. On the eve of the Michigan primaries, I cringed as I heard NPR's Mara Liasson describe El-Sayed as a “left-wing Democrat” and Stevens as a “moderate.” “Left-wing” or “Right-wing” are commonly used as pejoratives–think about the difference in describing Alito as a “conservative” justice vs a “right-wing” justice.
If the press is going to call some Democrats “Left-wing Democrats”, they should also call those like Stevens, Sinema, Manchin and others “Right-wing Democrats.” If Mara Liasson chose to use Stevens’ chosen label of “moderate”, then, if she were not biased, she would have used El-Sayed's chosen label of “progressive.” Instead, she chose to label him with a term connoting extremism.
I personally hate the press’ love affair with the terms “centrist” and “moderate.” The middle between progressivism and regressivism is the status-quo…which is failing the vast majority of Americans.
Frankly, from my perspective as the son of a German Jew who fled Germany in 1935, there is nothing “moderate” about anyone who supports genocide.
It's sad that even after NPR was defunded by Republicans, they are further abandoning their mission of unbiased news.
We only have to look at Israel to see what happens when an entire population is indoctrinated by right wing media. Many Israelis genuinely believe that there is no genocide in Gaza, and that Palestinians are no better than animals. This is a direct result of a campaign indoctrinate the population.
I am doing everything I can with limited resources and health issues. I share every article, I sign every petition, write every letter that I can. I did become a paid subscriber because I appreciate your support and everything you do.
First, thank you to Qasim Rashid for bringing this to my attention. I followed the links and went digging through the primary-source material myself, and what I found reinforced the central concern of this article.
Counter-Currents is openly publishing material about building nationalist political power from the local level up. Kevin DeAnna’s presentation is published under the rather telling title “Pitch to a Billionaire,” and Counter-Currents itself describes it as explaining how nationalist activists can “capture county seats, back constitutional sheriffs, and turn local victories into national momentum.”
I do have one quibble with the article, however: I wouldn’t characterize the Counter-Currents gathering as a “secret meeting.”
Whatever restrictions there may have been on attending the retreat itself, these people are now remarkably open about what they’re advocating. Counter-Currents published DeAnna’s presentation themselves and promoted it publicly.
That’s actually more disturbing to me than a secret meeting.
They’re not merely being caught whispering about this behind closed doors. They’re PUBLISHING it. They’re PROMOTING it. They’re BOASTING about it.
And DeAnna’s pitch recognizes something the rest of us desperately need to remember: enormous political power can be accumulated from the bottom up, particularly where local offices receive little attention and sometimes go uncontested.
That makes civic engagement at every level more important. Pay attention to your county government. Know who is running for sheriff, school board, city council, and those obscure offices nobody talks about. Research the whole ballot. Show up.
Democracy has to be tended all the way down to the roots for it to remain healthy and vibrant.
This is why I am badgering everyone to research their ENTIRE BALLOT and GO VOTE!
This puts me in mind of the now famous "Powell Memorandum" that in the early 1970's was sounding the alarm for, believe it or not, capitalism. Every point suggested for action in the PM was put into practice as we went into the "Reagan Revolution" for the benefit of the 1%.
The great advantage for that revolution was that it could be implemented behind the scenes, MSM certainly not investigating it. Every point of the PM was successfully carried out and here we are in a big mess.
Now we have independent media which is all that anyone under 40 trusts. That support for Israel backed by wealth and power has collapsed in the US is proof of truth getting through. Independent media is not supported by commercials but by subscribers. Amen!
Media is also far-right media, and the trust in any of it is still low for them, too. However, the Democrats and any other sane person need to be concerned about ignorance and not allow people to fall through the cracks.
I'm a full supporter of public education. However, I would point out that public schools were created for a specific reason and despite making performative overtures toward inclusion, our neurodivergent and sisabked kids do not mesh with this system. It is designed for compliance, obedience and a different kind of indoctrination than the right wing likes to talk about. I know this from personal experience.
Schools in America lean heavily into American exceptionslism and many public school teachings are whitewashed and sanitized. Moreover, public schools are targets for any parent who wishes to weaponize individualized curricula such as sex education and object loudly to any teaching that they do not personally approve of. We see book bans and grassroots organizations such as Moms for Liberty as evidence of this.
Public schools do not teach "truth and facts." They teach curricula that are bought and paid for through the political lobby of politicians by the textbook companies, whose histories are deeply intertwined with people like Robert Maxwell and the Rockefellers, who decidedly did NOT have the American public's best interests at heart. So these cracks are where students fall through and insidious agendas slip in.
I may have digressed but I don't think we should gloss over our support of public education without acknowledging that the system is deeply, deeply flawed. I haven't even talked about how schools have now been directed through the DOE to refuse to recognize racial disparity as a factor in their disciplinary policies, meaning that it's once again open season on the marginalized, just as Trump's administration intends.
Qasim and all, I just finished an incredible memoir by Emilee Hackney called All That's Unseen, which I urge everyone to read (and ask for at your local library). Hackney is from Virginia coal mine country and was bonded to Pentecostal religion as a girl. Although she didn't vote for Trump when she became eligible, she makes clear why her neighbors did. After becoming in outrageously submissive to male domination, she broke away and wound up at Harvard where after undergoing brutal hazing, she wrote brilliantly about the whole process of control. I've been reading about Prager and its ignorant propaganda since the Reagan administration, and one Sunday I awoke to find that my four year old daughter had managed to turn on the TV and was mesmerized by women praising the Lord while dancing around washing machines. While this stuff seems hard to stamp out in American culture, it's not new, and it must be confronted again and again.
I have attended a lot of higher education. The only place I heard of hazing was in fraternities. I personally wasn't inclined or interested in. The connection made to religious institutions was also at the forefront and center of the Indian land theft and the murder of American Indians, working hand in hand with the Army. What the religion couldn't force to convert, the Army came along and did the rest. It is disgusting, but it is part of the black eye this country deserves.
Thank you Qasim. They are trying everything except mind control but that might be what this is of course, to get people indoctrinated into their way of thinking. It's unfortunate that some people will fall for it but not if you keep educating the public about what to expect.
The language of the American press reinforces the misconception of “moderates” in a despicable, subliminal way. On the eve of the Michigan primaries, I cringed as I heard NPR's Mara Liasson describe El-Sayed as a “left-wing Democrat” and Stevens as a “moderate.” “Left-wing” or “Right-wing” are commonly used as pejoratives–think about the difference in describing Alito as a “conservative” justice vs a “right-wing” justice.
If the press is going to call some Democrats “Left-wing Democrats”, they should also call those like Stevens, Sinema, Manchin and others “Right-wing Democrats.” If Mara Liasson chose to use Stevens’ chosen label of “moderate”, then, if she were not biased, she would have used El-Sayed's chosen label of “progressive.” Instead, she chose to label him with a term connoting extremism.
I personally hate the press’ love affair with the terms “centrist” and “moderate.” The middle between progressivism and regressivism is the status-quo…which is failing the vast majority of Americans.
Frankly, from my perspective as the son of a German Jew who fled Germany in 1935, there is nothing “moderate” about anyone who supports genocide.
It's sad that even after NPR was defunded by Republicans, they are further abandoning their mission of unbiased news.
@Suri Crowe: https://substack.com/@suricrowe?r=3dqvie&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=stories&shareImageVariant=blur
would be an excellent investigative reporter addition to the Let’s Address This team @Qasim Rashid, Esq.
They better NOT!
Stomping out pathological lying, brainwashing and hate speech is needed. Free speech is NOT hate speech. Faux news brainwashes the masses 24/7
All the evil corporations are joining forces to takeover democracy.
Tax billionaires out of existence!!
Vote fascism out of existence and into prison where they belong!!
We only have to look at Israel to see what happens when an entire population is indoctrinated by right wing media. Many Israelis genuinely believe that there is no genocide in Gaza, and that Palestinians are no better than animals. This is a direct result of a campaign indoctrinate the population.
I am doing everything I can with limited resources and health issues. I share every article, I sign every petition, write every letter that I can. I did become a paid subscriber because I appreciate your support and everything you do.
Are there Ground News bumper stickers etc to advertise its existence more broadly?
First, thank you to Qasim Rashid for bringing this to my attention. I followed the links and went digging through the primary-source material myself, and what I found reinforced the central concern of this article.
Counter-Currents is openly publishing material about building nationalist political power from the local level up. Kevin DeAnna’s presentation is published under the rather telling title “Pitch to a Billionaire,” and Counter-Currents itself describes it as explaining how nationalist activists can “capture county seats, back constitutional sheriffs, and turn local victories into national momentum.”
I do have one quibble with the article, however: I wouldn’t characterize the Counter-Currents gathering as a “secret meeting.”
Whatever restrictions there may have been on attending the retreat itself, these people are now remarkably open about what they’re advocating. Counter-Currents published DeAnna’s presentation themselves and promoted it publicly.
That’s actually more disturbing to me than a secret meeting.
They’re not merely being caught whispering about this behind closed doors. They’re PUBLISHING it. They’re PROMOTING it. They’re BOASTING about it.
And DeAnna’s pitch recognizes something the rest of us desperately need to remember: enormous political power can be accumulated from the bottom up, particularly where local offices receive little attention and sometimes go uncontested.
That makes civic engagement at every level more important. Pay attention to your county government. Know who is running for sheriff, school board, city council, and those obscure offices nobody talks about. Research the whole ballot. Show up.
Democracy has to be tended all the way down to the roots for it to remain healthy and vibrant.
This is why I am badgering everyone to research their ENTIRE BALLOT and GO VOTE!
This puts me in mind of the now famous "Powell Memorandum" that in the early 1970's was sounding the alarm for, believe it or not, capitalism. Every point suggested for action in the PM was put into practice as we went into the "Reagan Revolution" for the benefit of the 1%.
The great advantage for that revolution was that it could be implemented behind the scenes, MSM certainly not investigating it. Every point of the PM was successfully carried out and here we are in a big mess.
Now we have independent media which is all that anyone under 40 trusts. That support for Israel backed by wealth and power has collapsed in the US is proof of truth getting through. Independent media is not supported by commercials but by subscribers. Amen!
Excellent coherent and effective article. 🙏
Media is also far-right media, and the trust in any of it is still low for them, too. However, the Democrats and any other sane person need to be concerned about ignorance and not allow people to fall through the cracks.
These right wing freaks are so insecure. They make me sick as a white woman. ✌🏻
Same here
I'm a full supporter of public education. However, I would point out that public schools were created for a specific reason and despite making performative overtures toward inclusion, our neurodivergent and sisabked kids do not mesh with this system. It is designed for compliance, obedience and a different kind of indoctrination than the right wing likes to talk about. I know this from personal experience.
Schools in America lean heavily into American exceptionslism and many public school teachings are whitewashed and sanitized. Moreover, public schools are targets for any parent who wishes to weaponize individualized curricula such as sex education and object loudly to any teaching that they do not personally approve of. We see book bans and grassroots organizations such as Moms for Liberty as evidence of this.
Public schools do not teach "truth and facts." They teach curricula that are bought and paid for through the political lobby of politicians by the textbook companies, whose histories are deeply intertwined with people like Robert Maxwell and the Rockefellers, who decidedly did NOT have the American public's best interests at heart. So these cracks are where students fall through and insidious agendas slip in.
I may have digressed but I don't think we should gloss over our support of public education without acknowledging that the system is deeply, deeply flawed. I haven't even talked about how schools have now been directed through the DOE to refuse to recognize racial disparity as a factor in their disciplinary policies, meaning that it's once again open season on the marginalized, just as Trump's administration intends.
Qasim and all, I just finished an incredible memoir by Emilee Hackney called All That's Unseen, which I urge everyone to read (and ask for at your local library). Hackney is from Virginia coal mine country and was bonded to Pentecostal religion as a girl. Although she didn't vote for Trump when she became eligible, she makes clear why her neighbors did. After becoming in outrageously submissive to male domination, she broke away and wound up at Harvard where after undergoing brutal hazing, she wrote brilliantly about the whole process of control. I've been reading about Prager and its ignorant propaganda since the Reagan administration, and one Sunday I awoke to find that my four year old daughter had managed to turn on the TV and was mesmerized by women praising the Lord while dancing around washing machines. While this stuff seems hard to stamp out in American culture, it's not new, and it must be confronted again and again.
I have attended a lot of higher education. The only place I heard of hazing was in fraternities. I personally wasn't inclined or interested in. The connection made to religious institutions was also at the forefront and center of the Indian land theft and the murder of American Indians, working hand in hand with the Army. What the religion couldn't force to convert, the Army came along and did the rest. It is disgusting, but it is part of the black eye this country deserves.
One thing I love about good memoirs is that they focus on individual experience, which is why I recommend this book.
I agree!