ScheerPost

In the fifth episode of “Playing President,” Ray McGovern, 27-year CIA veteran and briefer of five presidents, continues to make sense of the world to “President” Scheer, who prepared for this role through his decades as a journalist, including in-depth interviews with five presidents from Nixon to Clinton. This week, McGovern briefs the president on Vladimir Putin’s visit to China and his meeting with Xi Jinping. McGovern also provides the crucial context on the historical relationship between the two countries, drawing on his extensive experience analyzing interactions between countries that frequently find themselves on the U.S. foreign policy radar.

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BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/Schee... At the 76th World Health Assembly in May of 2023, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros announced that the WHO will respond to the apparently inevitable growing number of future pandemics with amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), a legally binding framework for WHO member states, and a new “pandemic accord” that define their “rights and obligations” in responding to global pandemics. This makes “a generational commitment that we will not go back to the old cycle of panic and neglect that left our world vulnerable, but move forward with a shared commitment to meet shared threats with a shared response,” he said. This begs the question — how will the WHO make this “generational commitment” to face the threats of future pandemics? To help us answer this question is Dr. Amrei Müller, a professor in international law and co-director of the Global Health Responsibility Agency. Müller has been tracking these conventions closely, and believes they are less concerned with medical equity and pandemic safety, and more concerned with corporate power and control.

BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ScheerPost?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US In the late 1930s, two boys from the Bronx were born. While they received modest but substantive college educations, one at Fordham University and the other at City College, both of them would move on to challenge presidents with their intellect and rub shoulders with the most powerful people in the world…but from completely opposite perspectives. Ray McGovern, the kid that went to Fordham, went on to spend 27 years at the CIA working his way into high-ranking positions and delivering daily briefs for President Ronald Reagan from 1981-1985. The other guy, Robert Scheer, went to graduate school and started one of the most consequential anti-war magazines of the 60s, Ramparts Magazine, that exposed the crimes of the intelligence/military apparatus that Ray was on the inside of. On top of that Scheer connected with presidents himself, interviewing six of them. While these two old guys from the same neighborhood went through two vastly different career trajectories, they’ve finally united after 60 years to deliver a show that ironically flips their lifeworks on their heads. In this new and original ScheerPost series, Scheer plays one of the tough and hard headed presidents McGovern spent much of his career delivering foreign policy information to — and McGovern plays himself, only briefing the modern “president” about current issues. The respective experience, and origins, of these two giants comes through in an entertainingly humorous, but undeniably educational, experience.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... This week, the U.S. government passed a foreign “aid” package of $95 billion for America’s wars, including $60 billion for Ukraine. The legislation was designed by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson who has enjoyed mainstream media praise in the days following the bill’s passage, with The New York Times remarking his funding of Ukraine as a “transformational arc,” and CNN comparing him to Winston Churchill. Left out the coverage of this bill, however, has been the former President who paved the way for its passage: Donald Trump. This week’s guest of Journalists for Sale, Michael Tracey, has been tracking closely Trump’s significant role in this bill’s development and success, as well as the media meltdown from both liberal media and the “MAGA Media Complex” in omitting Trump’s capacity in delivering these funds to Ukraine. For liberals, admitting Trump’s key role would undermine the corporate media narrative they disseminated for years that Trump is an agent of the Kremlin who only won in 2016 because of a sophisticated Russian coup. For the MAGA movement, it would mean admitting that Trump is not an enemy of the Deep State nor a principled non-interventionist, but actually completely in line with the establishment wings of both parties—a fatal blow to a business model which relies on propping up Trump as a substantive alternative to warmongering Democrats. Tracey’s objective reporting of the politics of this bill has not made him popular with partisans, but it has shed light on the reality of the “uniparty”—namely, that Trump is a leader within it.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Professor Michael Brenner joins this episode of Journalists for Sale to discuss the moral emptiness of Western empire, most visibly expressed through its unequivocal support of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. Brenner details how this depravity manifests not only in the form of mass slaughter and total disregard for human life, but also through mass psychosis of government leaders who engage in global decision making through a distorted lens completely detached from reality. Only this can explain their escalations in Ukraine at every turn, their "acknowledgement" of Palestinian life yet complete complicity in its destruction and the mass censorship being imposed upon dissidents by the ruling class, most recently at the University of Southern California. Brenner's wealth of knowledge and impressive ability to articulate the philosophical implications of this ongoing lunacy form a unique analysis one can't quite get anywhere else but from the man himself.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our NEWSLETTER and our BLOG: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Ray McGovern once again joins host Robert Scheer for a “theatrical” episode of Scheer Intelligence. Scheer plays a stern and uncompromising president receiving an uncomfortable briefing from McGovern on the most pressing issues of the day, from Ukraine to Israel to China.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our NEWSLETTER and our BLOG: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... In light of recent developments in the Julian Assange extradition case, former CIA officer John Kiriakou joins host Robert Scheer on this episode of the Scheer Intelligence podcast, to delve deeper into the contradictions within the United States government and intelligence agencies regarding the disclosure of classified information and the veil of secrecy they maintain. As highlighted in earlier episodes, John Kiriakou's role as the whistleblower who exposed the U.S. torture program vividly illustrates the consequences of airing the government's dirty laundry—it unleashes its full might upon you. Kiriakou adds to this by sharing additional stories, including how his then-now-former wife, who also worked for the CIA, was secretly reporting on his activities to the agency for a number of years after he exposed the program. Scheer and Kiriakou also reflect on the government’s hypocrisy in overlooking certain intelligence and government figures illegally allowing Hollywood stars and producers—like those of the 2012 film “Zero Dark Thirty”—to access classified material yet face no repercussions while Kiriakou, Julian Assange and others face the utmost legal scrutiny for acting in the service of the people.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our NEWSLETTER and our BLOG: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... In this episode of the Scheer Intelligence podcast, host Robert Scheer and The Grayzone editor-in-chief Max Blumenthal contextualize the events of Oct. 7 and afterward in relation to the history of Israel and Palestine. Blumenthal, the author of several books on Israel and Palestine including “The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza,” and “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel,” recalls his days reporting on the conflict over 10 years ago, highlighting the predictability of the evolution leading to the current war.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our NEWSLETTER and our BLOG: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... On this episode of Scheer Intelligence, David Greene, the Civil Liberties Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, joins host Robert Scheer to discuss the new bill that would ban the massively popular online social media platform, TikTok, in the U.S. In their conversation, they point out the hypocrisy of singling out one Chinese company for mass data collection, when there’s no evidence that TikTok collects data in any different way, or for any other purpose, than other social media companies.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our NEWSLETTER and our BLOG: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Author Marie Arana, former book editor and columnist for the Washington Post and the inaugural literary director of the Library of Congress, joins today’s episode of Scheer Intelligence with host Robert Scheer to discuss her new book, LatinoLand: A Portrait of America’s Largest and Least Understood Minority, to answer the question — what does it mean to be Latino? While many know that Latinos often come to America, many forget that they have, in fact, always been in America.

The other change: mergers and acquisitions, and especially leveraged buyouts, which also leads to the mass layoff of workers. Leopold says this has changed the nature of politics. This shift has led to 20 million workers having gone through a mass layoff between 1996-2012. Ultimately, this discussion explores the effects of greed that rampant capitalism allows and feeds on — and the detriment of those who pay the price for it.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our Newsletter and our Blog: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... When Tucker Carlson interviewed Vladimir Putin earlier this month, the mainstream media was forced to confront perspectives and events they’ve omitted in their analysis of the Ukraine war since its beginning. Among the most important of these events was the Maidan coup in 2014, which the U.S. government funded and saw the overthrow of the democratically elected, allegedly pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych. On this episode of Journalists for Sale, Dr. Ivan Katchanovski, a professor at the University of Ottawa and expert on the Maidan coup, details the evidence behind what he has called a ““false flag mass killing of the Maidan protesters,” that was carried out by snipers who worked with Maidan politicians from far-right neo-Nazi parties in Ukraine. Katcahanovski also explains the censorship he’s faced for the evidence-based findings of his two published peer-reviewed articles on the subject, and how Wikipedia teamed up with editors from far-right Ukrainian militias to malign his character and censor his studies. Both through his work and the consequences he’s faced for it, Katcahanovski, who has had his house and private property seized by the Ukrainian government as a result of his studies, sheds light on the illusion of the war in Ukraine as a conflict of the enlightened democratic West versus the expansionist despotic East.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our Newsletter and our Blog: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... In the midst of the ongoing destruction of Gaza and the slaughter of Palestinians, the identity and authenticity of Jewish people calling into question the actions of Israel are being tarnished. A greater discussion of what it means to be Jewish, what it means to have a Jewish state and what Judaism has historically taught people is taking place among Jews around the world. On this episode of the Scheer Intelligence podcast, Heyday Books publisher and former LA Times book editor Steve Wasserman and host Robert Scheer commit themselves to this conversation as Jews who have experienced these questions firsthand through their families in addition to having explored and reported on this topic throughout their careers.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our Newsletter and our Blog: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr...

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our Newsletter and our Blog: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... The use of AI weaponry has become increasingly common and normalized, with its use in conflicts such as Gaza and Ukraine, without almost any public debate. This has allowed its implementation into military practice to be ushered in under the noses of most people, without any consideration for the domestic implications the technology brings, nor the capacities it creates for surveillance. In this week's epsiode of Journalists for Sale, co-hosts Max Jones and Diego Ramos speak with Stavroula Pabst about these developments, and what they might mean for the future of warfare and everyday life. Pabst does not tell an optimistic view of the future of AI, but warns of one dominated by dangerous tech controlled by a small group of billionaires. Will AI warfare dehumanize its participants and victims even further past warfare? Who will be left responsible for the inevitable mistakes of AI technology? If AI fundamentally changes who we are, then who do we become?

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our Newsletter and our Blog: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Christopher Nolan’s captivating biopic “Oppenheimer,” based on the life and work of theoretical physicist and father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, came away with 13 Academy Award nominations this week, on top of an already successful box office and culturally impactful performance. There exists, however, the story of another physicist involved at Los Alamos who may have had an equal, if not more important, role in securing the stability of geopolitical affairs in the world. Journalist and filmmaker David Lindorff explores the story of Ted Hall, who, at the age of 18 years old, leaked the secrets of the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union in an attempt to secure a balance in the world’s most dangerous arms race.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our Newsletter and our Blog: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... On this episode of Journalists for Sale, co-hosts Max Jones and Diego Ramos speak with Stavroula Pabst about the recent CBDC failure in Nigeria, and the implications of technology in the context of human rights, and global dictatorship.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our Newsletter and our Blog: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... One of the biggest stories of the twentieth century, big enough to displace Watergate from the front pages of newspapers nationwide, takes the form of a novel in an attempt to use fiction as a vehicle to expose the truth of this media spectacle. Journalist and author Roger D. Rapoport joins host Robert Scheer on this episode of the Scheer Intelligence podcast to discuss the case of Patty Hearst and how Rapoport's new book, “Searching for Patty Hearst,” ventures into fiction in order to reveal the true story of how Patty Hearst wasn’t a victim in the end but was made a revolutionary.

DONATE ON PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our Newsletter and our Blog: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... On the second part of this two-part episode of Journalists for Sale, co-hosts Max Jones and Diego Ramos talk to Kit Klarenberg about the slow but steady abandonment of Ukraine, the potential for a U.S. launched nuclear war against Russia and the incoming wave of Nazi terrorism from Ukraine.

DONATE ON PAYPALl: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BECOME A PATRON DONOR: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our Newsletter and our Blog: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... On the first part of this two part episode of Journalists for Sale, co-hosts Max Jones and Diego Ramos speak to Kit Klarenberg about the newly unsealed documents on Jeffrey Epstein and what they reveal about Alan Dershowitz’s unethical attacks on Epstein’s victims.

Donate on Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... Support ScheerPost and become a Patron donor: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Subscribe to our Newsletter and our Blog: https://scheerpost.com/support-subscr... Israel’s current war on Gaza and the Palestinians draws pessimism and hopelessness, reminding two veterans of its origin in another such war in the region in 1967, The Six Day War, which resulted In Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern joins host Robert Scheer on this episode of Scheer Intelligence to dissect the relationship Israel has maintained and exploited ever since that imperial conquest with support of the United States, and how the future of American foreign policy appears to once again be led not by informed individuals but rather by selfish and dangerous impulses.

Apart from the death, destruction and suffering bestowed upon the Palestinian people in Gaza by the hands of the Israeli government, an ideological battle is taking place around the world, especially in the United States, where Jewish people face discrimination, prejudice and attacks on their identity by the hands of other Jews. Former University of Pennsylvania—where former president Elizabeth Magill has just resigned because of this very issue—deputy dean Larry Gross and host Robert Scheer, “two old Jews,” as Scheer puts it, discuss the troubling, McCarthyite times that are transpiring now in the wake of the October 7th attacks and the subsequent daily bombardment of Gaza.