The Post-Partisan Emporium

  The Sound of Enforced Silence Balloons fall after Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech at the Democratic National Convention by  Chris Bentley  is licensed under  CC BY 2.0 . By Patrick Lawrence /   Original to ScheerPost Is there some connection, — not quite official but it may as well be— between censorship and presidential politics? I pose the question as a survivor of the Russiagate years, when illiberal liberals started talking about “free-speech absolutists,” and when corporate journalists cheered the censoring of unincorporated journalists so long as it was called “content moderation.”  I cannot answer my own question, honestly. But as this November’s elections draw near, a new and aggressive campaign to suppress dissent — in social media, at airports, on campuses, and elsewhere — is hard upon us. This is a trans–Atlantic, trans-national operation. Let us not fail to take note.  Straight off the top, you probably noticed that the Democratic Pa...

  Israel's Plan for Gaza Comes Into View Mike Whitney   Unit 601 of the IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps is clearing a vast swath of land across central Gaza splitting the 25-mile-long territory into two parts. The so-called Netzarim corridor (Highway 749)—which crosses Gaza from east to west—will provide faster transport for IDF troops operating in the area and will also function as vital part of Israel’s security cordon separating the north from the south. There is no doubt that military outposts will be established along the corridor as well as in locations along the western coast. The aim of these actions is to protect the development of new settlements that will be built north of the corridor. In short, the Israeli government is using its war on Hamas to divert attention from its real objective which is the expansion of the Jewish state on Palestinian land. Not surprisingly, Israel’s activities in the north have resulted in mass evacuations that have intensified the sufferi...

  Searching for Monsters Public acceptance of U.S. foreign excess — searching for monsters to destroy — leads to acceptance of war, and to acceptance of war by other means,   writes  Andrew P. Napolitano. President George H.W. Bush displaying what he said was a bag of crack cocaine during a 1989 speech promoting his “war on drugs.”  (C-span still) Andrew P. Napolitano “ America goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy … She might become the dictatress of the world, But she would no longer be the ruler of her own spirit.” — John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) I n the middle of his term as secretary of state, the future president John Quincy Adams addressed a joint session of Congress. What prompted this unusual event? The United States had just fought Britain to a draw in the War of 1812. It was fought almost entirely in Canada. Some historians believe the British began this war to win back their former colonies. Some believe the U.S. began it to seize Canada from B...

  Useless Eaters of the World, Unite! by Hans Vogel Hans Vogel argues that the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov by French authorities illustrates the growing surveillance state in Europe, where governments, under the influence of the declining American Empire, suppress free communication while neglecting rising migrant violence and the dumbing down of education and public discourse. The recent arrest of Telegram boss Pavel Durov by the French police has sent shockwaves over the world. Rightly so, since it brings additional evidence that our rulers are determined to keep tabs on everything we say and think, and who we communicate with. Governments, especially those of the decaying American Empire, are paranoid. Their officials are lamentable, but vicious. These are men like Gerd Wiesler, the East German Stasi Captain from Florian Henckel von Donnersmark’s masterful movie  The Lives of Others  (2006). Fully convinced they are actually protecting their fellow citizens agai...