Porkins Policy Review
Pearse Redmond returns to the show to help us all take a look around at the strange place we find ourselves in now. QAnon has come a long way since the days that Pearse and Robbie Martin would talk about it on a weekly basis. American foreign policy has taken a political backseat as Trumpism focuses in on all things domestic.
In the first hour of our Tuesday show Authors, Mike Swanson and Carmine Savastano discussed Thomas Jefferson. When did the narrative of judgment shift on this founding father? Has the revision of American history gone amok?
Are Jefferson’s ideas about racial identity anything special when compared to his contemporaries? Is the icon or demon of the past anything like the reality?
Pearse Redmond arrived in the second hour to discuss the trend of depression among independent content creators. Is Agitated apathy the new normal? Is mass-mental-illness driving what we observe?
How is the mantra of death and disease affecting you? Are we still at war?
Show Notes:
Man Linked to Killing at a Portland Protest Says He Acted in Self-Defense
DOJ charges American Boogaloo Bois with attempting to provide material support to Hamas
Two Self-Described “Boogaloo Bois” Charged with Attempting to Provide Material Support to Hamas
Mike and Chuck have a bit of trouble getting connected. Without question, there was only one thing to discuss in the news. There is little justice in the land, yet peace is more wide-spread than the MSM would like to sell.
Is everyone enjoying the slow mission creep into Martial law? Could Agent Orange Asshat POTUS execute actions that resemble his threats? How will the virus, selection process, collapsing economy all come together to allegedly make what was America great again?
Pearse Redmond returned to let us know what’s up in NYC. Plus we got to hear that his stones are still with him.
Meanwhile, how long will outrage last in the streets? What is the expiration date on the patience of the American people putting up with #45? Is a bible being used as a prop for campaign ads not offensive to honest Christians? Do you have any faith in any leadership as it stands and fails?
Show Notes:
Noah Hurowitz Manhattan Bridge protests
Pat Robertson tells Trump that his response to the George Floyd protests “isn’t cool.”
In this discussion I talked with Pearse Redmond who runs the Porkins Policy Review podcast about the wild and strange claims of QAnon and the world that those who believe in “Q” live in.
Some have gone so far to turn away from family and friends to worship Q in cult like behavior grasping on to conspiracy theories that lead to nowhere.
I linked this to similarities with something called “Operation Vampire Killer 2000” that came out around 1992 and as a document passed around in the militia movement back then. Is Q repacking this document and other theories popular in past decades? Is part of a broader cultural trend of the moment where many people believe in people like Judyth Vary Baker?
Michael Swanson joined me to discuss the death of cult leader Lyndon LaRouche. We talked about the history of the LaRouche movement and it’s impact on the conspiracy culture. We also touched on LaRouche’s connections with the government and his strange political ideology. Later Michael talked about the decline of the political cult in the age of Qanon.
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Friend of the show Hugo Turner joined me this week to discuss Elliot Abrams and his legacy in Central America and role in the Iran-Contra affair. We began by discussing the roots of Iran-Contra and why it is still largely ignored by the media. Hugo discussed the origins of the affair going all the way back to the October Surprise in 1980. We talked about the other events that opened the door into Iran-Contra including the attempted assassination of Contra leader Eden Pastora in Costa Rica. Hugo and I then explored Abrams role in Iran-Contra itself. We also discussed Abrams role in covering up war crimes in El Salvador like the El Motoze massacre. Later Hugo and I talked about the genocide in Guatemala which Abrams helped facilitate. We also discussed the complex web of people and groups involved in drug trafficking, terrorism, death squads, and the suppression of the poor. We closed out the conversation by looking at the parallels between the 1980’s and the current political environment. We used the current situations in Venezuela and Haiti as examples.
Show Notes:
Anti-Imperialist-U.blogspot.com
Iran/Contra Pt 1: The Secret Team
Our Hidden History YouTube Channel
COVERUP: Behind the Iran Contra Affair
Beyond Contragate: The Secret Team – w/ Daniel Sheehan & Sara Nelson (1987)
CIA Intervention in Guatemala; Eliot Abrams; Allen Nairn; Charlie Rose 1995
Journalist Raymond Bonner on the CIA, El Salvador, and Central America (1984)
Raymond Bonner: El Mozote and Reporting during the Reagan Years (1993)
Ryan Carey joins me this week for an in-depth discussion of Nick Drnaso’s latest comic Sabrina. We started off the conversation on a totally unrelated matter and discussed the recent reporting on former CIA operative turned Batman writer, Tom King. We then shifted back Sabrina and the way it captures the bleak reality that so many of us find ourselves enmeshed in. Ryan and I discuss the books plot which revolves around the murder of a young woman named Sabrina, how two friends Teddy and Calvin deal with it, and the role that conspiracy theory plays throughout. We discussed the themes of isolation and intimacy within the conspiracy culture portrayed by Drnaso. Ryan and I also talked about how the book breaks so many literary norms including the concept of “Chekhov’s gun.” We explored the two male characters Teddy and Calvin, breaking down how both of them are essentially unlikable man children wallowing in their own self loathing. We finished off the conversation by looking at some of the broader issues raised in the book. Ryan also talked about the increased popularity of independent comics that encapsulate the bleak reality in the age of Trump.
Show Notes:
FourColorApocalypse.wordpress.com
Lost In America : Nick Drnaso’s Sabrina
In the first hour Abby and Robbie Martin for an end of the year special. We kick things off by talking about our overall impressions of 2018. Abby and Robbie touched on the stories and narratives that were most important during this tumultuous year. We then moved into the realm of geopolitics and some of the biggest events which took place in 2018. We talked about the war in Yemen and the continued violence against the Palestinians. We discussed the lack of media coverage on foreign affairs this year, and how Trump has ceded power to the neocon movement when it comes to geopolitics. We touched on figures like John Bolton and what may be in store for America in the coming year. Later Abby talked about the sanctions against Venezuela which led to The Empire Files being shut down. We round out the hour by talking about some of the positive things in 2018 including David Seaman having to close down his news outlet.
In the second hour JG Michael of Parallax View joins me to continue our end of the year special. We focused more on the culture war of 2018. We looked at the right-wing movement and the casualties it sustained this year. JG talks about Gavin McInnes and his recent appearance on InfoWars. We talked about the idea that many of these alt-lite figures are actually fading away. We discussed Ross Douthat’s repulsive article Why we miss the WASPs and the rehabilitation of war criminals like George HW Bush and Dick Cheney. JP and I explored what this means for America going forward. We round out the conversation by again looking at some positives like the momentum of figures like Ocasio-Cortez and others. I also brought up the strange revelation that white supremacist Jean Francois Griepy took $25,000 from Jeffrey Epstein in 2014.
Show Notes:
Randy Credico Exclusive Tell-All with Abby Martin on Wikileaks & Roger Stone
David Seaman Prays God Will Destroy Google With an Earthquake
White Nationalist YouTuber Says Jeffrey Epstein Once Gave Him $25,000
PPR ep. 166 Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention with Joseph Flatley
Satan Goes to the Conspiracy Convention is an investigation into the role that conspiracy theories play in American life and the current political climate. The story begins with the author crashing a convention for therapists who promote recovered memory therapy, a discredited (and dangerous) form of therapy that conjures up “memories” of past lives, extraterrestrials, and government mind control operations. From there, the reader will meet Pizzagate enthusiasts, conspiracy entrepreneurs, Satanists, flat-earthers, and people who believe that the Boston Marathon Bombing was a government “false flag” psyop. The story ends on the streets of Pittsburgh during the recent synagogue shooting and its aftermath. Ultimately, the book says, right-wing conspiracy culture is an authoritarian confidence trick that will only get more dangerous over the coming years.
PRAISE FOR SATAN GOES TO THE MIND CONTROL CONVENTION
“Joseph L. Flatley goes where few journalists dare to tread: into the heart of America’s conspiracy culture. Sociopaths, quack psychologists, targeted individuals, flat-earthers, antisemites, one world government freaks—no moldy rock is left unturned. Reading this book, first you’ll want to laugh and then you’ll want to run home and lock your doors. Because it makes one thing very clear: America’s conspiracy culture is a lot less fringe, a lot more profitable, and a hell of a lot more right-wing and scary than most of us want to admit.”
— Yasha Levine, author of Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet
“Joe Flatley is that rarest journalistic observer of conspiracy culture: deeply informed of its history and lineages, perfectly rational, and just sympathetic enough to know when harmless eccentricity and justified paranoia bleeds into malevolent madness. In these investigations he is at his best, deep-diving into worlds of belief where the CIA, Satan and the Occult are the only forces that matter.”
— Alexander Zaitchik, author of The Gilded Rage: A Wild Ride Through Donald Trump’s America and Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance
“Nobody gets inside the minds of conspiracy theorists and other American oddballs quite like Joe Flatley. This book is a pleasure to read—and a little frightening.”
— Matt Stroud, author of Thin Blue Lie: The Failure of High-Tech Policing
“A haunting and intimate look into the darker corners of the conspiracy movement, Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention explores the toxic practices used by groups who exploit and control people seeking help. Joseph L. Flatley clearly demonstrates the dangers they present to an America obsessed by conspiratorial thinking.”
— Pearse Redmond, host of Porkins Policy Radio and Open Minds On Air
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