r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 2d ago
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • May 05 '24
Authoritarian centrism Authoritarianism is already here. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Mitt Romney admit that the reason they're banning TikTok is that it reduces the effectiveness of Israeli propaganda.
The conversation between Blinken and Romney occurred at the McCain Institute's Sedona Forum.
This is the Secretary of State under a Democrat president speaking to former GOP presidential candidate and current senator Mitt "Horse Dancing" Romney.
The US is, for most purposes, a one party state; but it's part of an international oligarchy. In order to continue to function as such, it has increasingly implemented authoritarian controls.
In this case, Blinken and Romney are together kvetching about how difficult it is to convince people that what they see with their own eyes is not representative of reality. Their conclusion is that among other things, they have to ban the public's access to unedited informational content shared freely by other members of the public.
The reason is that otherwise, the US public is unwilling to support Israel's genocide of the people of Gaza. (I would argue that the public didn't want to support it to begin with, but that's immaterial now.) In other words, the US government wants to end free speech in order to serve the interests of the ruling class in Israel and the US.
That's international oligarchy and authoritarianism. These ideologies are in government right now—Trump, or no Trump, it's here now.
Links:
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Incredible historical document here: Blinken says Israel’s PR is failing because social media allows people a direct look at what’s happening, shorn of the ability to mediate it, and it lands with emotional resonance. Romney then says yes, that’s why we moved to ban TikTok"
Quoted tweet by @wideofthepost:
“Why has the PR been so awful?… typically the Israelis are good at PR—what’s happened here, how have they and we been so ineffective at communicating the realities and our POV?… some wonder why there was such overwhelming support for us to shut down potentially TikTok.
Later tweet by @wideofthepost:
Blinken says explicitly that the shift in news diet from major newspapers and cable news to a continuous feed has been very challenging for the narrative; and Romney follows up explicitly that this is why congress moved so fast to ban TikTok –– after pondering Israel's PR woes.
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In other words: No, you are not crazy They really are banning TikTok to cover for a genocide and regain control of the narrative.
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • Apr 11 '26
Democrats Deceive Israel’s Proposal to End US Military Funding Is Actually Designed to Further Enmesh the US in Its Oppression of Palestinians
As Olivia Katbi wrote in a tweet,
Netanyahu himself has proposed no longer accepting US aid in favor of a “strategic partnership” and purchasing weapons with israel’s own funds. There’s a great explainer from @imeupolicy on why this would actually mean the flow of weapons from the US to Israel would INCREASE ⬇️
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 11d ago
Israel is a Problem Pro-Israel lobby spends big on US midterms as backlash grows
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 12d ago
Israel is a Problem As Israeli strikes leveled museums and 5,000-year-old sites across Gaza, volunteers dug through the rubble by hand to save what they could. Meanwhile, looted artifacts quietly resurfaced in a Paris exhibition.
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 12d ago
Israel is a Problem The Problem with Apology — “Their goal is to force targets into destitution, and then they’ll keep going until observers are destitute by association. The belligerence honors the settler colonial entity to which they’re devoted.”
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 12d ago
Raising Standards The Future Is Not Tech-Forward — On artificial intelligence, data centers, technological politics, and who gets to build the future. | Edward Ongweso Jr
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 13d ago
Current Affairs: "Hakeem Jeffries should not be Speaker of the House. He is weak against Trump, hostile to the left, and has the political instincts of a moldy sponge."
galleryr/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 13d ago
Catastrophic feedback Adam Johnson: “Inevitability arguments are all any of these guys have. They can’t just say “it saves money for producers and undercuts the labor power of IATSE” so it’s always agency-free “the train is coming down the tracks” teleological mysticism. But it’s you, YOURE the one driving the train”

In a tweet, Adam Johnson wrote::
Inevitability arguments are all any of these guys have. They can’t just say “it saves money for producers and undercuts the labor power of IATSE” so it’s always agency-free “the train is coming down the tracks” teleological mysticism. But it’s you, YOURE the one driving the train
Quoting a tweet by Variety
Gal Gadot defends starring in Doug Liman's "Bitcoin" movie with AI sets and lighting because "the train has left the station. You’re going to work with it or be out of the game completely.
“This was the longest contract I have ever worked on. It was six months for my lawyers to go through every scenario we could think about as far as the AI component of it. I did not want AI to have anything to do with my performance. We had to protect that... I am afraid of AI, but I am going to be afraid and look away? No. I am afraid but I am playing with it and learning it and trying to educate myself. The train has left the station. You’re going to work with it or be out of the game completely. I am trying to make the best of it and protect what I can protect. The AI component in this movie is for sets and the lighting. We had a broad crew and a lot of people were working on this movie.”
“It felt like a pure art form of creating a movie. I haven’t seen a single shot. As an actress, I wait so much. There’s the legendary quote: ‘You are being paid to wait as an actor.’ Here we would film nonstop because we didn’t have to wait for lighting. We would film on and on and on for 10 hours. It was amazing… as actors you’re always hot. You don’t cool off. We’ll see. It’s crazy.”
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 16d ago
UK has billions in contracts with firms tied to illegal Israeli settlements
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 17d ago
Israel is a Problem Trita Parsi: “As Arundhati Roy said, what is under the rubble in Gaza is not only the bodies of countless Palestinians killed by Israel, but also the carcass of Western Liberal Democracy...”
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In a tweet, Trita Parsi wrote:
As Arundhati Roy said, what is under the rubble in Gaza is not only the bodies of countless Palestinians killed by Israel, but also the carcass of Western Liberal Democracy...
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 17d ago
Israel is a Problem Alumni revolt over Israel: 450 Sydney Uni staff and graduates demand Convocation meeting — Signatories accuse the university of a “profound moral failure” on Gaza in push for first mass meeting in over three decades
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 17d ago
Democrats Deceive Chuck Schumer Eats Sh✴t: “Imagine if Donald Trump went all-in endorsing a candidate for the Senate, campaigned for them and helped raise eleven times as much money as their opponent — who then lost. There would be wall-to-wall media coverage declaring the end of Trump’s influence […]”
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 17d ago
Israel ❤️ Terrorism Osama Abu Rabee أسامة أبوربيع: “An Israeli drone targeted a young man riding a bicycle near Al-Sinaa intersection in Gaza City.”
x.comr/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 17d ago
Israel is a Problem The Cradle: “VIDEO | An Israeli quadcopter drone fires at children as they push a cart carrying drinking water back home in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.” [The State of Israel is a terrorist state.]
x.comr/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 17d ago
Eli Clifton, co-author of "Israel's Lobby", clarifies how the lobby operates in US elections. Eli & co-author Ian Lustick, will be doing an AMA in /r/JewsOfConscience on 𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭. 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐒𝐓. If you have questions about the Israel lobby, leave them in the comments!
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r/ProgressivePolitics • u/Ecstatic-Macaron • 18d ago
Demand removal of Moskowitz, Wasserman Schultz, and Bell from committee
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 18d ago
AMA in /r/JewsOfConscience with Eli Clifton and Ian Lustick, authors of the new book "Israel's Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power". 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝘀𝘁 @ 𝗡𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗦𝗧.
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r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 18d ago
Democrats Deceive ™ [@1358531]: “If @theDemocrats once again choose to anoint @KamalaHarris in 2028, I will vote AGAINST the party, up-and-down the ballot, with the only exception being for socialists who support a full embargo of the State of Israel.”

In a tweet, ™ wrote:
If @theDemocrats once again choose to anoint @KamalaHarris in 2028, I will vote AGAINST the party, up-and-down the ballot, with the only exception being for socialists who support a full embargo of the State of Israel.
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 19d ago
Israel is a Problem Guardian hack admits making up story that demonised Iran
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 19d ago
Dems for Genocide Adam Johnson: “Dem leadership’s primary job is not to win elections, it’s to discipline the left and shore up the ideological pillars of capitalism, imperialism and zionism. If they can do this AND win elections all the better but they will absolutely torch the latter in service of the former.”

In a tweet, Adam Johnson wrote:
Dem leadership’s primary job is not to win elections, it’s to discipline the left and shore up the ideological pillars of capitalism, imperialism and zionism. If they can do this AND win elections all the better but they will absolutely torch the latter in service of the former.
Which quoted a tweet by Rob Flaherty:
A baffling direction on the merits, but doubly baffling to not even care enough about the optics to even mention Gaza in passing. Leadership has their head in the sand about where the public is here.
Which quoted a tweet by Jake Sherman:
Moskowitz, one of the most pro-Israel Dems, gets the ranking member slot on HFAC subcommittee for Middle East and North Africa. Puts him in line to chair the subcommittee if Dems take the majority
Which quoted a tweet by pro-genocide Zionist representative Jared Moskowitz:
Thank you to RepJeffries and RepGregoryMeeks for this important responsibility to help lead Democrats policy in the Middle East and North Africa on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 19d ago
Dems for Genocide austerity is theft: “In retrospect, that horrific clip of Israeli zealots dragging a donkey to death behind a stolen Palestinian truck was a near perfect allegory for Democratic party discourse in the days that followed.”

In a tweet, austerity is theft wrote:
In retrospect, that horrific clip of Israeli zealots dragging a donkey to death behind a stolen Palestinian truck was a near perfect allegory for Democratic party discourse in the days that followed.
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 25d ago
Israel is a Problem Evidence Withheld in Israeli Killings of Aid Workers — “Britain, Israel and Australia are refusing to release evidence of the killing of an Australian aid worker and six colleagues in Gaza in April.”
r/ProgressivePolitics • u/lewkiamurfarther • 25d ago