Critical Hour Discussion of Assange Case in Historical Context (7/6/2021)

 Russia Nuclear Negotiator says US Must "Stop Hitting 3 Birds With 1 Stone."

My segment starts at ~56:47

Listen to "Russia Nuclear Negotiator says US Must "Stop Hitting 3 Birds With 1 Stone."" on Spreaker.

[My related articles: Avoiding Assange and Swedish Sex Pistol Aimed at Assange]

Michael Springmann, former American diplomat and political analyst, joins us to discuss the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the fact that some parties want to "hit three birds with one stone." The Russian ambassador to international organizations in Vienna tweeted, “In the context of #ViennaTalks some analysts and officials advocate for addressing new topics such as regional security and missiles. An attempt to hit 3 birds with 1 stone. Unrealistic and counterproductive. The agreed goal of the talks is just to restore the original #JCPOA.”

Julie Varughese, solidarity network coordinator for Black Alliance for Peace, joins us to discuss Afghanistan. Over 1,000 Afghan soldiers fled into Tajikistan yesterday as Taliban insurgents marched into northern Afghanistan.

Scott Ritter, former UN weapon inspector in Iraq, joins us to discuss the US Air Force awarding a $2 billion contract to develop the Pentagon's new air-launched nuclear cruise missile. The missile, named the Long Range Stand Off weapon (LRSO), is expected to be completed in February 2027.

Karen Spring, a Honduras-based human rights defender, researcher and coordinator for the Honduras Solidarity Network, joins us to discuss the Berta Caceres murder trial. According to a report in The Guardian, the Tegucigalpa high court found David Castillo Mejia, a Honduran businessman and former military intelligence officer, guilty for the March 2016 murder of indigenous environmental activist Berta Caceres.

Jim Kavanagh, writer at thepolemicist.com and CounterPunch, joins us to talk about Julian Assange. Today, Consortium News began a six-part series on Julian Assange and the Espionage Act, prefacing that "the United States has found ways to deny the rights of a free press when it is politically expedient to do so."

Swedish Sex Pistol Aimed at Assange

ExtremeTech

In my article, Avoiding Assange, a month ago, right after the first US indictment was issued, I addressed two diversionary arguments that I knew would be used by those who want to hide their complicity with American imperialism under leftish cover—that is, those who don't want to be seen as endorsing the United States government’s prosecution of Assange for, and intimidation of every journalist in the world from, reporting the embarrassing truth about American war crimes, but who also don't really want to stand in the way of Assange’s extradition to the United States.

Discussion of Julian Assange Extradition Hearing on The Critical Hour (5/2/2019)

Dems Run Out Of Steam, Accuse AG William Barr Of Lying And Hiding

On this episode of The Critical Hour, Dr. Wilmer Leon is joined by Daniel Lazare, journalist and author of three books: "The Frozen Republic," "The Velvet Coup" and "America's Undeclared War."

Loud & Clear Discussion on Day of Assange Extradtion Hearing (5/2/2019)

Will the UK Extradite Assange?

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net.

Julian Assange today appeared in a London court by videolink for a preliminary hearing to fight his extradition to the United States. A judge asked Assange if he was prepared to surrender himself for extradition. He replied, “I do not wish to surrender myself for extradition for doing journalism that’s won many, many awards and affected many people.” An attorney representing the US government then asked for a formal extradition hearing on June 12.
[My related article: Avoiding Assange]

Listen to "Will the UK Extradite Assange?" on Spreaker.

Loud & Clear is a daily program of news, commentary, and political analysis on Radio Sputnik, hosted by Brian Becker and John Kiriakou, featuring independent experts, activists, and political writers. (Introduction above is theirs, with related articles of mine referenced in brackets.)

Week in Review Discussion on The Critical Hour (4/26/2019)

On this episode of The Critical Hour, Dr. Wilmer Leon is joined by Jon Jeter, author, two-time Pulitzer Prize, former Washington Post bureau chief and award-winning foreign correspondent; and Jim Kavanagh, political analyst and commentator and editor of The Polemicist.

The United States government is seeking to extradite and prosecute Julian Assange for one reason: to punish him for publishing true and embarrassing information about US crimes and intimidate every journalist in the world from doing so again. If the US government succeeds in doing this, it will strike a devastating blow to the fundamental elements of democracy throughout the world — the freedom of the press and the related ability of citizens to know what their governments are doing. 
[My related article: Avoiding Assange]

Avoiding Assange

The United States government is seeking to extradite and prosecute Julian Assange for one reason: to punish him for publishing true and embarrassing information about US crimes and intimidate every journalist in the world from doing so again.

If the US government succeeds in doing this, it will strike a devastating blow to the fundamental elements of democracy throughout the world—the freedom of the press and the related ability of citizens to know what their governments are doing.

I say “throughout the world” because It's important to understand that the US government in this case is asserting its prosecutorial authority over someone who is not an American and whose journalistic activity took place outside the United States. The United States is demonstrating its ability to get a foreign government to arrest and extradite journalists who are neither Americans nor citizens of its own country and send them off to the United States to face charges under American law. It's not only a brazen attempt to quash press freedoms; it's a further extension of the United States’ arrogant assertion of extra-territorial—indeed, universal—jurisdiction of its laws.

As Jonathan Cook says, those who accept this have “signed off on the right of the US authorities to seize any foreign journalist, anywhere in the world, and lock him or her out of sight. They opened the door to a new, special form of rendition for journalists.”

Week in Review Discussion on The Critical Hour (4/19/2019)

Mueller Report Reveals Trump's Lies And Deception, But Not Collusion

Attorney General William Barr on Thursday released a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report, entitled “Report on The Investigation Into Russian interference in the 2016 election,” to Congress and the public. Before the report was released, Barr held a press conference or what appeared to be more of a spin session with reporters. "The report did not exonerate the president" – here I think it’s important for people to understand the difference between the criminal side of this investigation and the impeachment side of this investigation. Mueller whiffed on a crucial legal question. The special counsel’s report spans more than 400 pages. However, only 12 pages are dedicated to a critical question: Can the federal obstruction of justice statute apply to the president? Mueller treated this question—which is separate from whether a sitting president can be indicted—in an underwhelming fashion. He had simply concluded that the obstruction statute does not apply to the president. There is no reason to detail whether the president violated federal law, if the federal law does not apply to the president.

[My related article: Investigation Nation: Mueller, Russiagate, and Fake Politics] 

The rector for Notre Dame Cathedral says a "computer glitch" may have been the cause of the massive fire on Monday. Rector Patrick Chauvet did not elaborate on the glitch but added that investigators may find out what happened in two or three months. On Thursday, investigators said they think an electrical short-circuit most likely caused the fire. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to set out reconstruction ideas Friday while meeting with officials from the United Nations' cultural agency. 

Week in Review Discussion on The Critical Hour (4/5/2019)

Rumors Abound: Will WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Be Extradited to the US?

It’s Friday, so that means it’s panel time. 

Snowball in Hell: The Momentum of Same-Sex Marriage in Our Sulfurous Polity

Glenn Greenwald’s column in The Guardian the other day, “The gay marriage snowball and political change,” makes an important point about how the growing momentum of the movement for same-sex marriage rights demonstrates that change, even radical and rapid change, is possible.  No matter what the outcome of the present Supreme Court deliberations, we have already witnessed an extraordinary, and extraordinarily rapid, change in social ideology, as well as legal and institutional practices. As Greenwald says: “It's conventional wisdom that national gay marriage is inevitable; the tipping point has clearly been reached. …It really is a bit shocking how quickly gay marriage transformed from being a fringe, politically toxic position just a few years ago to a virtual piety that must be affirmed in decent company.”