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So true. This is a public service announcement.

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author

That was my intent.

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Amen to that! 🙏🏻

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this is a political street fight and your spot on.

on "the street" its...

BULLSHIT BAFFLES BRAINS

ITS THE POWER OF LOVE

OR THE LOVE OF POWER

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I am also biased toward Matt (as I am toward you, actually), and I think we are living through history as it happens in real life. It fills me with awe. There is so much crap, and so much dirt, and so much nonsense, and yet here we are, using our hearts anyway. There is stunning beauty in acting honest and brave in the face of all the ridiculous crap. The ridiculous crap is not particularly shocking but the beauty is what's it's about, I think.

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I am about to give up studying history due to the things observing the present has taught me. Primary, contemporary, first hand source accounts, especially concerning the alleged pandemic, Russian invasion and China's motivations are all being recorded as fact when they are fiction and propaganda . I think I am going to switch to studying literature and art, at least they are honest about being an interpretation and not true life.

I think we are all biased to Matt and yes the beauty he displays is in retaining his belief in humanity as our worst craven stupidity is revealed before our eyes, our invisibility cloak has fallen off. Perhaps more people can see this now? Perhaps Matt didn't blow it at all?

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We have to keep studying history because the people who are now replacing it with fiction survive by ensuring most people don't learn what really happened. Consider the ongoing character assassination of Thomas Jefferson, one of the real true democrats among the "founding fathers", the suppression of the truth about the labor movement to ensure no one understands how deadly just demanding a fair wage can be…well, the list is endless, really.

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founding

Depends on what you mean by "history". Nearing 60 years since JFK assassination; I am near a "give up studying history" point if you mean history produced by historians working in (or trained by) academic settings. Every single such "history" assumes the CIA approved conspiracy theory (Oswald); that makes all such history - at least dealing with USA, last 60 years -(and that's close to the entirety of the last 60 years of "history") - utterly worthless as starting from an utterly false premise.

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That's not studying history; that's pursuing a hobby. Or, given the subject matter, an obsession. Most of us understood a very long time ago the stories of the assassination era were bogus, simply because of the targets. So, the "revelations" are only shocking to people who weren't there and those who were and can't bring themselves to believe their government is that corrupted. With JFK, the entire scenario was just that—a carefully scripted movie that left a bad taste behind. I know. I was there.

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Disagree that most Merikans believe the govt's version of the JFK assassination. Many surveys show that upwards of 70+% DO NOT BELiEVE the textbook storyline. And this Gallup survey says 81% do NOT believe Oswald (the patsy) acted alone. You see that? Now to get those same citizens to understand Oswald didn't do it.

April 11, 2001 (< check out that year date - this was 5 months before 9/11)

Most Americans Believe Oswald Conspired With Others to Kill JFK - Support for conspiracy theory increased sharply in the 1970's and has been high ever since

by Darren K. Carlson

https://news.gallup.com/poll/1813/Most-Americans-Believe-Oswald-Conspired-Others-Kill-JFK.aspx

A Gallup poll from March of this year shows that over 8 in 10 Americans (81%) believe that other people were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy

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founding

You make a strong case; my point was a more narrow one related to the practice of academic history. Can you identify one book or monograph by a academic historian, published by a university press that investigates the role of the CIA in the assassination and goes on to discuss the implications of that for subsequent "American History" ? - Conversely, I can think of plenty of works by academic historians who delve deeply into "Russian interference" in the 2016 election.

We were discussing "history" - reading, studying or not. My point was academic history as it relates broadly to American history is worthless and has been so for at least 60 years.

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I understand your frustration, but please don’t give up studying history. Keep the truth alive by creating your own archive. Document everything in hard copy and store it safely. You will carry the torch when we, the older truthful historians, have left the battlefield. Almost a century ago, historians ceded the field to “critical” theorists, whose only concern was to murder true history, and this dystopia is their legacy. We must undo the damage, return our true history to humanity.

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Matt is not honest or brave; they don't allow you anywhere near MSNBC if you are.

Think this through. He's been working on the Twitter Files since December. He's been defending his position and his writing on a daily basis and has testified before Congress. He is an absolute expert on the subject.

Then, he is allowed on MSNBC home to several "former" CIA FBI NSA officers, to defend his position and becomes tongue tied and borderline imbecilic at times. If this is a real interview and Taibbi is an actual for-the-truth reporter, then he absolutely *knows* how he is going to be treated: with hostility and misrepresentation.

Yet somehow, he is unable to cogently argue his position or even actually state it. He was embarrassingly bad because he allowed it.

It's comical to think that someone who's "revealing the truth" can just tweet at Mehdi Hassan and ask to come on his show, and they say just say yes.

How many times has Alex Berenson, for example, offered to come on. Or Jimmy Dore. Or Peter McCollogh. Or any number of others.

Or you can look at Taibbi's past and watch him do worse to other people than Hasan did to him.

https://cjhopkins.substack.com/p/character-assassination-theater-101/comment/14352767

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He knew what was coming, and chose to just let his opponent spew bile and expose himself for the vile creature he is. I know because he published an article the day of the interview clearly written beforehand in which he stated it would only be published if the "interview" turned out the way it did.

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Acting honest and brave, yes, while being naive about the nature of the game and therefore not calling it out for what it is. There is no power in defending one's self in such a situation, a wasted opportunity to shine a light on the malevolent game instead of falling prey to it. You must be a certain sort of person to be able to meet such nastiness with clarity and equanimity, not an easy task.

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Thanks for your great work Tessa, it's very much appreciated, as is CJ's and Matt's. Maybe Matt could adopt more of a Rutger Bregman-attitude, though he may be over doing it slightly here :)

https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/vz3mw1/dutch_historian_convinces_fox_news_host_tucker/

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I had forgotten about that and it's funny now seeing Bergman presiding Bernie Sanders and AOC who have turned out to be as bad if not worse than Carlson.

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Love the Bregman interview & esp how Tucker lost it & then began cussing him out. haha

Yes, make the richies pay their "fair share". But, ya know, the more taxes that Merikans pay, the more the US govt steals for bogus projects, right? Like faked NASA "space exploration", wars against brown people for their resources, CDC/big farma "medical cures" for profits, false flag events to manufacture consent for undermining the Bill of Rights' speech & guns, etc etc. Better solution is to re-allocate the current taxes for the actual good of all of us.

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It is always a mistake to expect good faith from the MSM.

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Thank you. I'm not part of the Matt Taibi fan club (or hater group) but I view him as a true journalist, which are rare these days.

It was fun reading tweets from Viva Frei responding to Mehdi's post re hit piece on Matt - he was attempting to shame Mehdi -but that's impossible because Mehdi has no shame, he's a mouthpiece for a very corrupt and totalitarian government. Welcome to Communism where the state controls the media!

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You also are a cat? There are several of us on Substack, along with some other animals.

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I like your Handle…La Gata Política!

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Siempre pa'lante como dice el Cubanito Pitbull (amigo de mi hermano desde jovenes). Mi esposo es un Gringo - como me gustan! Alto, blanco, rubio y ojos azules.

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I noticed politicians never answered the question posed during debates. They answered the question they wanted to have been asked. I tried that tactic on things like Twitter and it seemed to work so well I was thrown off it (and still am). I also notice that the messenger always gets shot so the credibility of the source is always brought up.

'The Lightpaper' is useful for countering the narrative as you can leave physical versions of the newspaper it in shops etc. https://thelightpaper.co.uk/

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Stellar observation. I was actually trained many years ago in media relations because as a high school principal they have a job to do, and it's to stir the pot, to divide and conquer, to be the "Trojan Horse." In other words, the always promote a false dialectic through conflict, and to emotionalize the viewer. Thusly, I never answered the questions they asked and only spoke in sound bites that seldom addressed their questions and instead conveyed the message I needed to speak. One of my more fascinating experiences was when MTV came to spend a week in the early aughts on our campus and followed students around and it was a total Tom and Jerry show. I had previously met with students en masse, informed them they had invited themselves, and the students accepted their invitation to visit. I did explain the game and my expectations. The MTV peeps were great, a producer and a camera man, and an assistant and there were so many cool, really good moments, the producer ended up teaching Shakespeare in several English classes, we had our visitors in our homes and had late night dinners together. My position was if the school was sponsoring dances the standard was "Color My World" which means the slow dance has limits and the students knew this and I had even shut down dances when ridiculous grinding and trains formed. Students test adults. Their leaders. What was the denouement? The last night of "shooting" I had to shut down the dance at 98 minutes, 7 minutes before the official end. Several students had been incentivized to "freak" dance or "twerk" and they end up in my office where the standard response for student discipline is: I need you to get mom or dad on the phone." I gave some Saturday school assignments but the good will between the administration and students was not one where preached tolerance and taught hate but instead culture is an emergent behavioral phenomenon. It's created. Validated. And Nurtured. MTV called me several months later. They said: "we really enjoyed our time with you, our week together, we're letting you know we aren't going to feature your students and an upcoming episode, we could not generate the controversy necessary." Education has changed a lot in the last two decades. It's unlikely they'd hire someone like me and "Color My World" is an anachronism.

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The other thing I noticed here in Britain in 2020/1 was the politicians and the media kept repeating three/four word sentences as if they were advertising slogans. Eg 'Build Back Better', "Safe and effective", "Stay home, save lives". The last one is particularly nasty as it makes you feel guilty for going out! All of this is, I presume, psychology aka propaganda. We must reply with the same and use emotion as, God knows, enough humans have suffered because of the response to the sham pandemic eg those physically hurt by the injections pushed on us all!

https://wherearethenumbers.substack.com/p/how-many-deaths-were-caused-by-the

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Of course - that's the essence of Sloganeering which is a tool in the toolbox of successful propaganda campaigns.

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Apr 8, 2023·edited Apr 8, 2023

It’s neurolinguistic programming, aka NLP

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Shame on the professionals behind this.

"Denying individuals rational choices, and an over-reliance upon subliminal influence, is both unethical and undemocratic. Transparency regarding how government departments use ‘nudge’ techniques is now long overdue". Dr Gary Sidley.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/britain-s-unethical-covid-messaging-must-never-be-repeated/

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Great advice on how to counter this tactic. Any freedom fighters out there likely to be interviewed should consider this.

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founding

Im a US doc practicing in the NE near NYC. Im in private practice. I never got any of those covid shots. I was smeared by many colleagues. I was kicked off the staff of a major NNJ hospital. Ive been persecuted. When this started happening i was so angry I decided to not be afraid and I definitely went on the offensive. i shamed my colleagues into silence. You cant imagine the fear and hysteria that existed in the medical community in The NE US. Im 55 yrs old, from a jewish family. I grew up w many genocide survivors around me, and veterans. In my youth i attended a jewish education program were we vowed “ never again”. The last 3 years has been like living in an insane asylum. I found your writing mr H in late 2021. When I read your essays I said to myself it was like someone had read my mind

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Thank you, doctor, great post. Gives me hope. I too used to live in the NE near NYC.

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I’m a Jew living in NYC. I’m told comparing anything to the Holocaust demeans it. Meaning I’m not supposed to think or talk about the Holocaust except in the one approved way even though I amJewish. How are we supposed to learn anything if we can’t make comparisons?

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Have you written an article that goes into detail about your experience?

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founding

Great advice.

Plan A for me is to avoid the hassle, plan B, should I be so unlucky, will be to follow the CJ plan.

“World War III is a guerrilla information war with no division between civilian and military participation”

Marshal McLuhan, 1964.

He must have seemed a nut back then, 60 years ago he called it: hum!

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Exactly right! McLuhan knew that the new technological age had the potential to be used for widespread harm and he sounded the alarm; the globalists and technocrats paid close attention and took full advantage of the new electronic resources in shaping their vision of a new world order or more accurately put, the new tyrannical order; McLuhan also pointed out that there would be no inevitability as long as there was a willingness to understand what was happening to us and to offer resistance; unfortunately for the human race that advice was rarely listened to, even to this day.

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founding

That is the lesson of Plato’s “cave scene” in the republic. Not only do people not want to know, be careful, they may kill you if you force them. Of course that is per Plato, not just little old me.

McLuhan was all about figure ground relationships,; the figure or content blinds us to the fact that the ground , the medium is infinitely more important in ordering our reality. Simply put electricity allowed for the usurpation of time and space. Instantaneous communications mean we are no longer beholden to the physical world, we all live in immediate proximity, all human ideas are spoken simultaneously and audible, like we live in a village - a global village - tada!

It is going where it is going and there’s no stopping it.

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Yes, but all technologies are extensions of the human mind...for better or worse and now we have AI and directed evolution, etc. What hasn't kept up is our understanding and ability to analyze our choices as human beings and that is precisely why other forces are making those choices and not for the betterment of humankind; McLuhan also pointed out that there was a war on, a battle for individual identity and sovereignty and knew that we must not consent even back then.

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founding

Thanks for that, food for thought. He would be gobsmacked by the state of the world 🌎 today .

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"Propaganda always wins, if you allow it." — Leni Riefenstahl

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I read the Mechanical Bride and think McLuhan was a complete asshole. There are some absolutely valid points but he despised the middle class. It drips from the pages. He mocked the Bill of Rights. I was shocked as I know he was venerated. Maybe he redeemed himself in other work.

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founding

No, in fact, he had severe mental illness late in life that was on the verge of schizophrenia. His son, Eric McLuhan and Frank Zingroni (both gone now) were my teachers at York University in Toronto. The two of them were the most influential thinkers in my life and an absolutely riotous comedy routine. They would get in trouble with the administration and then spend their one hour lecture tearing the administration to shreds in the most intellectual way, tying it into the subject matter at hand.

McLuhan again: “the successor to politics will be propaganda.” How did he know 60 years ago?

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I think Fredrich Hayek would have had the same thought as well as George Orwell. So maybe it was a product of its time, and it was becoming foreseeable? For me, Huxley was truly visionary as his book was 1932.

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founding

Ya , it was in the air. Still prescient!

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I think you are quite wrong!

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Much like Bill Maher (who is a partial reason I canceled HBO over a decade ago along with its increasingly Woke programming) Matt Taiibi a lifelong Leftist (although now partially reformed) is also responsible for laying a lot of the groundwork for the Lunatics, Marxists & Obamunistas who now control the Democrat party

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There is a real Marxist in the Democratic Party? Can you provide me with an introduction? Appreciated muchly. And now back to my previously scheduled reading of Capital, volume 1.

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There is no one even remotely Marxist or Socialist or true Leftist in the right-wing corporate-capitalist Democartic party that does eveeything in its power to destroy the real Left, But in a political system that is 100% right-wing and billionaire-owned and where the real Left has been completely erased from existence (like the american political system which is, in political science terms, clearly in the 'right-wing authorotarian' upper right corner of the political typology square) then in such a system, anyone who isn't 100% right wing but only 99% right-wing (like the Democratic party) is immediately attacked and branded as 'far Left marxists' by the ignorance-spreading emotionally-manipulative billilnaore-funded Fox news hate machine and its gullible unaware emotionally-manipulated followers (who imagine that you are any different from the NBC hate machine but you're not. Just read again your venom-filled hate-dripping ignorant comment and you'll see for yourself the partisan hate & smear & ignorance trap you've fallen into)

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<<BLINK BLINK>>

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I find the best way to deal with this is to answer every challenge with a correction.

"You are flat earther!"

No, I believe that the climate predictions are very exaggerated and unsubstantiated, not that the earth is flat. You are substituting a pejorative for a debate.

or to put the burden of proof back on them

is that what you think, or is that what you have been told?

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“Instead, you point out what they’re doing. You do this, live, on television. You expose their motives and their tactics.”

Exactemundo, CJ! This is why the media was/is so terrified of Kari Lake—she used to be one of them, knows their filthy playbook by heart, and exposes it every chance she gets.

In addition to the brilliant primer you’ve provided, CJ, I urge Matt to take a lesson from this piece so he can strengthen his resilience to name-calling:

• “Letter to a Mainstream Straddler: Live Not by Half-Lies” (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-mainstream-straddler)

People of integrity who fail to develop a bulletproof stoicism to the relentless lies risk an infuriatingly preventable tragic end like Clemens Arvay’s:

• “Requiem for a Smear Victim: Clemens Arvay” (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/requiem-for-a-smear-victim-clemens)

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matt is so committed to integrity that he took at least 2 shots of the lethal covid injection and refuses to use his platform to warn the world about it.

afraid he'll lose his normie following, maybe. shameful.

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Didn't know this about Taibbi & the C19 sham shots. Although underground vaxx certs were available so he could have lied about it. Taibbi is a good journalist in my book but occasionally looks the other way to stay in the MSM ballgame... like discounting the 9/11 false flag event & not investigating all the US election irregularities (i.e. meaning the unsecured electronic voting machines & all the fraudulent, stolen political elections, inclu the Presidential "selections" etc.)

All journalists have their blind spots or their absolute third rails that they are unwilling to cross.

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I can't give Matt Taibbi credibility on any subject since he has never admitted that he participated enthusiastically in the 9/11 coverup . Look up his debate with David Ray Griffin on the subject.

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This link contains a good portion of the Taibbi-DRG 9/11 debate. Taibbi comes across as an obnoxious adolescent whose arguments are laced with ad hominems.

https://www.alternet.org/2008/10/the_ultimate_9_11_truth_showdown_david_ray_griffin_vs_matt_taibbi_--_part_ii

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Interesting link. I didn't know MT was so aghast by the suggestion that 9/11 was an inside job. It would be interesting how he feels about it now. Chomsky absolutely dismisses the possibility. There are 'some bridges too far' even for a life long dissident like Chomsky. So be it.

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It’s what Tranströmer wrote: “The language marches in step with the executioners/ Therefore, we must find a new language.”

Also, is there a more beautiful visual of the left/right “divide” than entire nations of people marching in lockstep? Left…right….left right left. You’re being shepherded exactly where they want you to go.

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Apr 7, 2023·edited Apr 7, 2023

spot on analysis CJ as always - Matt is hopelessly committed to integrity, to everyone's benefit ultimately - indeed:

"Instead, you point out what they’re doing. You do this, live, on television. You expose their motives and their tactics. You take apart their questions, one by one, demonstrating to the television audience how character-assassination theater works."........

.....at which point the director intervenes, either on his own or as instructed from higher up, cuts the "interview" short and they move on to other programm....uh.....brainwash - is what always happens.....

DO NOT COMPLY

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The irony of Matt claiming character assignation after assassinating those who question 911 narrative.

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