US Media Issues
Hundreds of thousands mobilize on social media to oppose US school reopenings
By Evan Blake, 31 July 2020
An explosion of opposition to the unsafe reopening of schools has developed on social media, primarily through dozens of Facebook groups with a combined global membership of over 300,000.
Plainclothes NYC police grab protester and throw her into unmarked car
By Niles Niemuth, 30 July 2020
The illegal seizure of the protester in broad daylight signaled the readiness of the New York Police Department to use the authoritarian methods made infamous by Trump’s paramilitary forces in Portland.
Corporate press promotes Susan Rice as Biden running mate
By Patrick Martin, 30 July 2020
The former Obama national security advisor is identified with illegal wars, drone missile assassinations and an aggressive posture towards both Russia and China.
US adopts policy of regime-change in Beijing
By Peter Symonds, 29 July 2020
By declaring the defeat of Chinese “tyranny” the aim of American foreign policy, the Trump administration has greatly intensified confrontation with China, with an all-but explicit call for regime-change.
What is the New York Times up to at the Detroit Institute of Arts?
By David Walsh, 27 July 2020
Controversies have emerged at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the remarkable art museum, whose director has been accused of a conflict of interest and “a certain deafness on race.”
New coronavirus cases globally rocket past a quarter million
By Bryan Dyne, 23 July 2020
Multiple countries yesterday set new records in their daily death tolls, case counts or both.
Senate committee gives nod to Trump Fed nominee
By Nick Beams, 23 July 2020
The main qualification of Judy Shelton in Trump’s eyes is that she has changed her economic views in line with changes in the occupancy of the White House.
US orders closure of China’s Houston consulate, raising the danger of war
By Mike Head, 23 July 2020
The White House, facing a massive domestic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, is seeking to divert internal tensions outward.
US ruling class demands deadly reopening of schools
By Evan Blake, 13 July 2020
The escalating campaign to reopen US schools in the fall, under conditions of an explosive spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a key element of a conscious, bipartisan policy that will lead to countless preventable deaths.
Biden promotes economic nationalism and anti-China militarism
By Barry Grey, 11 July 2020
Biden offered no opposition to Trump’s “back-to-work” drive, mass job destruction during the pandemic or the looming unemployment benefit cutoff.
COVID-19 disrupts reopening of US professional sports
By Alan Gilman, 11 July 2020
Professional baseball, basketball, football and soccer are all attempting to resume play without live audiences, but dozens of athletes have fallen victim to coronavirus.
Epstein assistant Ghislaine Maxwell requests $5 million bail
By Kevin Reed, 11 July 2020
Whatever the outcome of Maxwell’s arraignment on Tuesday, more revelations about the activities and relationships of Jeffrey Epstein and his confidante should be anticipated.
The collapse of the New York Times’ “Russian bounties” campaign
By Patrick Martin, 10 July 2020
Less than two weeks after it kicked off a media frenzy, the Times published an editorial effectively conceding that there was no factual basis for its reporting that Russian military intelligence had paid bounties to Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers.
Arizona Department of Health Services activates plan to ration healthcare for COVID-19 patients
By Benjamin Mateus, 2 July 2020
As the pandemic surges throughout Arizona, the governor is seeking emergency support from the federal government to supplement the beleaguered hospital staff in hard-hit counties.
After multiple shootings and two deaths
Seattle police forcibly end Capitol Hill Occupied Protest
By Kayla Costa, 2 July 2020
The protest tent site was overrun by more than one hundred local police and FBI officers armed with heavy riot gear and military-grade vehicles.
Teen shot in back by Louisiana police, charged with resisting arrest
By Aaron Murch, 2 July 2020
Tre’mall McGee’s mother has been demanding answers from the sheriff’s office for three months to no avail, while the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office until recently has been concealing that there was a shooting at all.
As COVID-19 infections explode in the US, Fauci warns of 100,000 new cases a day
By Barry Grey, 1 July 2020
Fauci's testimony underscored the grim reality that the pandemic in the US is now far more widespread than it was at its previous height in late March and early April.
Pandemic profiteering: Gilead Sciences cashes in on COVID-19
By Bryan Dyne, 1 July 2020
Gilead’s declaration that it will charge over $3,000 per patient for the drug remdesivir sends a clear message that pharmaceutical companies plan to use the COVID-19 crisis to make billions of dollars.
New York Times’ Charles Blow demands the removal of monuments to Washington and other “amoral monsters”
By Niles Niemuth, 1 July 2020
The Times’ latest assault on the American Revolution is part of the effort by the Democratic Party and its operatives to derail the popular multiracial protests against police violence in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
230 Poet in New York Times: "My Body is a Confederate monument" article
1 July 2020
999 Poet in New York Times: "My Body is a Confederate monument" article
29 June 2020
CIA releases TV recruiting ad for streaming video services
By Kevin Reed, 27 June 2020
The CIA has released a TV commercial portraying the agency as a diverse workplace and appeals to young people to become US spies.
Racial-communalist politics and the second assassination of Abraham Lincoln
By Niles Niemuth and David North, 25 June 2020
In the one month since the killing of George Floyd, the mass, multi-racial and international demonstrations against police violence are in danger of being hijacked by a faction of the ruling class that is aggressively promoting a brand of racial-communal politics.
Tuesday primaries show rising popular discontent with Democratic Party establishment
By Patrick Martin, 25 June 2020
Voter turnout swelled despite the coronavirus threat, with many voters choosing to vote early or cast mail-in ballots.
US Appeals Court orders case against Michael Flynn dismissed
By Kevin Reed, 25 June 2020
A three-judge panel ruled by two-to-one on Wednesday that the perjury charges against the former Trump national security advisor—to which he had already pleaded guilty—should be quashed immediately.
New York Times column: Pandemic shows need to curtail “unnecessary” and “wasteful” doctor’s visits
By Kate Randall, 25 June 2020
Dr. Sandeep Jauhar makes the remarkable argument that patients who have stopped going to the doctor during the COVID-19 outbreak “seem to have done OK,” and concludes that Americans have too much access to health care.
999 Friedman
19 June 2020
More than 40 percent of all US deaths from COVID-19 are in nursing homes
By Benjamin Mateus, 17 June 2020
A report published Tuesday says that there were 51,000 COVID-19 deaths among residents of US nursing homes and extended care facilities.
New Mexico protester wounded by far-right shooter
By Jacob Crosse, 17 June 2020
Encouraged by President Trump and working in concert with local police departments, far-right elements have been allowed to attack and intimidate peaceful protesters across the country.
UAW, federal prosecutors announce talks over corruption scandal
By Tom Hall, 17 June 2020
Whatever the friction between the US Attorney’s office and the UAW, both share as their central aim the suppression of the rising tide of opposition among autoworkers.
Washington Post op-ed calls for news media to censor videos of police brutality
By Nick Barrickman, 17 June 2020
ESPN journalist and University of Maryland Professor Kevin Blackistone has called for the removal of videos of police killings on the grounds that they “dehumanize” black men.
Questions persist over official jobless tally
Mass layoffs continue as 1.5 million file new US unemployment claims
By Shannon Jones, 12 June 2020
The continuing historically high weekly numbers of new filings for jobless benefits show that the economy is hemorrhaging jobs, even as workers are being recalled from temporary layoff as states reopen.
National Guard fired the shot that killed David McAtee in Louisville during protest against police violence
By Kevin Reed, 12 June 2020
Laboratory tests have determined that McAtee was shot and killed by a member of the Kentucky National Guard during an assault on protesters last week.
Would-be führer Trump steps up coup plotting
By Patrick Martin, 12 June 2020
The president is seeking to manufacture a pretext for violent repression and the establishment of an authoritarian regime in America.
999 US-China conflict
12 June 2020
999 Oprah program on race
12 June 2020
George Floyd laid to rest as nationwide protests over police violence continue
By Niles Niemuth, 10 June 2020
The murder of Floyd, caught on bystander cellphone video in excruciating detail, has served as a catalyst for the largest nationwide and international outpouring of political opposition in decades.
Proponents of racial politics react with hostility to multi-racial protests against police murder of George Floyd
By Nick Barrickman, 10 June 2020
Democratic Party officials and their black nationalist supporters have denounced white “outside agitators.”
Thousands pay respects to George Floyd as Minneapolis cop is arraigned on murder charges
By Kevin Reed, 9 June 2020
Protests demanding justice for Floyd and against police violence continued on Monday for the fourteenth day in a row.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette censors accurate reporting of protests against police brutality
By Samuel Davidson, 9 June 2020
The newspaper’s management has barred two black reporters from covering the protests on the grounds they are too sympathetic to the demonstrators.
35,000 sign petition to provide full funding to Randolph schools in Massachusetts
By Evan Blake and Will McCalliss, 9 June 2020
Randolph Public School District, in the Greater Boston, Massachusetts region, has laid off all of their arts, music, and PE teachers, resulting in a mass outcry.
New York Times editor James Bennet resigns over fascist op-ed
By Patrick Martin, 9 June 2020
The last straw was the publication of a column by Senator Tom Cotton calling for military intervention to suppress the protests against police violence.
New York Times in crisis over op-ed backing military takeover
By Patrick Martin, 6 June 2020
In publishing a fascistic diatribe by Senator Tom Cotton, headlined, “Send in the troops,” the Times editorial page tacitly sided with a military takeover of the United States.
Protesters defy Trump’s threats, expand nationwide movement against police killings
By Jacob Crosse, 3 June 2020
Curfews, mass arrests and police terror have not quelled the powerful movement of youth and workers of all races and ethnicities in response to the police murder of George Floyd.
Democrats cover for Trump’s coup d’état
By Andre Damon, 3 June 2020
In contrast to the heroism of the demonstrators, the Democrats have responded to Trump’s dictatorial measures with their typical display of fecklessness, cowardice and complicity.
Police in the US fire tear gas at protest against brutal Memorial Day murder
By Kevin Reed, 27 May 2020
Video shared on social media shows that George Floyd was killed by a police officer who kneeled on his neck while he was subdued on the ground.
FBI investigating Georgia officials who failed to arrest Ahmaud Arbery’s killers
By Matthew MacEgan, 27 May 2020
Federal investigators are reportedly looking into potential criminal and civil violations on the part of the district attorneys who initially handled the Arbery case.
Reports question undercounting of COVID-19 deaths in US and globally
By Bryan Dyne, 27 May 2020
There is increasing evidence that the actual fatalities caused by the pandemic are up to three times the numbers officially reported.
With his poll numbers falling, Trump denounces November election as “rigged”
By Patrick Martin, 27 May 2020
The president and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are laying the basis for declaring an election defeat in November to be illegitimate.
Thomson Reuters actively helping Trump administration target immigrants
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 27 May 2020
The parent company of the Reuters news agency has been aiding Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the targeting of immigrants for arrest, detention and deportation.
Firing of State Department inspector general tied to Saudi arms deal
By Bill Van Auken, 20 May 2020
The firing stemmed from a probe into the Trump administration’s declaration of a “state of emergency” to prevent Congress holding up arms sales to the Saudi monarchy.
Senate hearing for Fed’s Powell, Treasury’s Mnuchin shows bipartisan support for bailout, back-to-work drive
By Barry Grey, 20 May 2020
The prize for sheer demagogy and hypocrisy at the hearing went to Sherrod Brown of Ohio, an economic nationalist and close ally of the trade union bureaucracy.
US government uses Pensacola shooter’s alleged ties to Al Qaeda to renew attack on encryption
By Kevin Reed, 20 May 2020
Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray outlined plans to force manufacturers to build backdoor access into consumer mobile devices.
New details emerge in Ahmaud Arbery killing
By Matthew MacEgan, 20 May 2020
Recently released surveillance video shows that Travis McMichael had an encounter with Arbery two weeks prior to fatally shooting him on February 23.
The New York Times exposes journalist, #MeToo crusader Ronan Farrow as a dishonest fraud
By David Walsh, 20 May 2020
Farrow has been the golden boy of the American media since the publication of his supposed exposé of Harvey Weinstein in the New Yorker magazine in October 2017.
999 Anti-China campaign
20 May 2020
Declassified Mueller investigation transcripts confirm no evidence WikiLeaks colluded with Russia
By Thomas Scripps, 15 May 2020
The “Russian connection” was baldly asserted by the Democratic Party, US intelligence officials and the corporate media
Supreme Court considers blanket immunity for Trump
By John Burton, 15 May 2020
The Supreme Court on Tuesday held oral arguments on whether to give Donald Trump immunity from congressional and grand jury investigations.
Indianapolis cops fire pepper balls on group protesting police shooting of Dreasjon Reed
By Kevin Reed, 11 May 2020
Police arrested one protester and fired pepper balls at demonstrators who assembled at the scene where Dreasjon Reed was shot and killed by an officer on May 6.
The Times’ 1619 Project is damned with faint praise
Hannah-Jones receives Pulitzer Prize for personal commentary, not historical writing
By Tom Mackaman and David North, 9 May 2020
The Pulitzer awards took no notice of the New York Times’ pretentious claims that the 1619 Project is an important contribution to the understanding of American history. It granted Hannah-Jones an award for “Commentary.”
US ramps up COVID-19 propaganda war against China
By Peter Symonds, 6 May 2020
The crude attempt to blame China is aimed at diverting attention from the Trump administration’s criminal negligence in failing to respond to the dangers of COVID-19.
$310 billion more for misnamed “Paycheck Protection Program”
Senate passes another bipartisan bailout for business
By Barry Grey, 22 April 2020
The Democrats settled for a mere $75 billion for hospitals and a derisory $25 billion for coronavirus testing. They dropped their demand for relief to state and local governments and funding for food stamps.
Biden ads against Trump: Blame China for impact of coronavirus, not the ruling class
By Barry Grey, 20 April 2020
With his new ads, Biden lines up behind Trump's anti-China witch hunt, seeking merely to turn the chauvinist and war-mongering agitation against Trump himself.
As US deaths soar, bipartisan back-to-work drive guarantees the explosive spread of pandemic
By Benjamin Mateus, 18 April 2020
Trump and the political establishment are seeking to enforce a return to work despite the warnings of medical experts that the US is nowhere near prepared to reopen safely.
Pentagon activates military units to defend Washington
By Bill Van Auken, 18 April 2020
The shift of the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region to operational mode indicates rising concern within the US government that the crisis will unleash social upheavals.
Barack Obama endorses Joe Biden for president
By Jacob Crosse, 15 April 2020
Obama’s endorsement, following that of Bernie Sanders, is part of a concerted effort to paint the most right-wing of the Democratic candidates for president as a vehicle for “progressive” change
When it comes to Joe Biden, New York Times abandons “Believe women”
By David Walsh, 15 April 2020
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the leading candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2020, has been accused by a former Senate staffer of sexually assaulting her.
Acting US Navy secretary resigns amid furor over firing of aircraft carrier Captain Crozier
By Barry Grey, 8 April 2020
Modly had become the focus of mounting tensions within the military and between sections of the uniformed officer corps on one side and President Trump and his civilian Pentagon leadership on the other.
Message from big business on coronavirus pandemic: Save profits, not lives
By Andre Damon, 24 March 2020
As the death toll from the coronavirus soars and hospitals fill up, the White House and the US media are insisting that the profits of the corporate-financial elite must take precedence over the lives of millions.
Attorney general requests suspension of habeas corpus
Military, Trump administration ready plans for domestic crackdown as virus spreads across US
By Eric London, 24 March 2020
The Justice Department has asked Congress to suspend habeas corpus and due process, even as the military develops plans to deploy troops on US soil to suppress “riots” and “civil disobedience.”
Media blackout of wildcat strikes in US auto industry
By Tom Hall, 20 March 2020
Within hours after wildcat strikes in Fiat Chrysler plants in Michigan and Ohio forced a temporary shutdown of much of the North American auto industry during the coronavirus pandemic, the corporate media entered into full cover-up mode.
Democratic Party debate dominated by coronavirus pandemic
By Patrick Martin, 17 March 2020
The exchanges between the candidates had been rendered largely irrelevant by consolidation of the Democratic Party behind Biden, making him the presumptive nominee.
After handful of tests, West Virginia officials claim zero coronavirus cases
By Naomi Spencer, 17 March 2020
The state has, by many metrics, the unhealthiest and poorest adult population in the US, putting a majority in higher risk categories for COVID-19.
Bipartisan Senate Judiciary Committee introduces bill that censors online content and attacks encryption
By Kevin Reed, 17 March 2020
Leading Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee formally introduced the EARN IT Act, which attacks First and Fourth Amendment rights under the guise of fighting online child sexual exploitation.
New York Times hypocritically accuses Russia of “weaponizing race” in 2020 elections
By Eric London, 14 March 2020
The purpose of the article, published by the primary purveyors of racial politics, is to advance an anti-Russia foreign policy and deny the existence of real social divisions in America.
999 NYT clarification on 1619 Project
14 March 2020
Washington increases pressure on Beijing over Chinese media
By Ben McGrath, 10 March 2020
The demonization of China by Washington and its allies is part of a broader campaign to deflect social tensions outwards and to prepare for war.
On eve of “Super Tuesday” primaries
Democratic Party goes to war against Sanders
By Patrick Martin, 3 March 2020
The Democratic Party is opposed to raising the prospect of significant social reforms in the 2020 election.
The “Russian meddling” fraud
Tulsi Gabbard denounces election interference by US intelligence agencies
By Patrick Martin, 3 March 2020
The congresswoman and Democratic presidential candidate attacked planted media articles claiming that Russia was backing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
ABC News suspends veteran reporter who called himself a socialist, criticized network in secret recording
By Matthew Taylor, 28 February 2020
In the video ABC News reporter David Wright criticized the network for abandoning serious reporting in favor of sensationalism.
Attacks against Sanders intensify ahead of South Carolina primary
By Patrick Martin, 27 February 2020
Sanders’ opponents are warning that he may take an insurmountable lead in delegates in the 14 states voting next Tuesday.
China expels three Wall Street Journal journalists
By Ben McGrath, 26 February 2020
The US media has exploited the outbreak of the Covid-19 to ramp up the campaign to vilify China as Washington mounts an across-the-board confrontation with Beijing.
McClatchy newspaper chain files for bankruptcy
By Jessica Goldstein, 19 February 2020
A planned takeover of McClatchy by Chatham Asset Management will mean that the vast majority of US newspapers will be controlled by Wall Street financial firms.
Washington Post war hawk Jackson Diehl lauds Sanders’ foreign policy
By Barry Grey, 18 February 2020
In Monday’s column, Diehl reassures the ruling class that a Sanders administration would not mark a break from the aggressive and militarist policy of American imperialism.
Actor Jussie Smollett indicted on six counts of disorderly conduct in Chicago
By Brian Brown and Alexander Fangmann, 17 February 2020
The case against Smollett was revived by special prosecutor Dan Webb, brought in to investigate the original decision by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to drop the charges against him.
New York Times falsifies history to claim Sanders is “transforming” the Democratic Party
By Eric London and Tom Mackaman, 17 February 2020
Georgetown historian Michael Kazin’s February 13 column falsifies history in an attempt to convince an increasingly radical population that they must not break from the Democratic Party.
999 McClatchy bankruptcy
15 February 2020
Black Democrats endorse Bloomberg after release of racist boasts on “stop-and-frisk”
By Niles Niemuth, 14 February 2020
The immediate response of elected African-American Democrats to the exposure of the billionaire Bloomberg’s racist remarks was to boost him as the only candidate who can defeat President Donald Trump in November.
999 Jussie Smollett charges
14 February 2020
2020 Academy Awards: Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite from South Korea wins major awards
By David Walsh, 11 February 2020
Parasite deserved to win the most serious awards, being markedly superior to every other film up for consideration. Bong’s effort is a complex, troubling work.
On the eve of the Academy Awards ceremony
New York Times’ Wesley Morris complains that eight of the films nominated for Best Picture “are about white people”
By David Walsh, 8 February 2020
Morris, the ideological product of decades of selfish identity politics, espouses a thoroughly racialist interpretation of history and culture. He seemingly cannot perceive anything else aside from race.
220 NHJ on The Daily Show
8 February 2020
Democrats seek to suppress Sanders victory in Iowa
By Patrick Martin, 7 February 2020
The effort to conceal or suppress reports of Senator Bernie Sanders’ victory in the Iowa caucuses reached a new stage Thursday with DNC Chairman Tom Perez calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to recanvass the state.
Democratic governor gives right-wing response to Trump State of the Union address
By Joseph Lorenz, 7 February 2020
The Democratic Party rebuttal included hypocritical invocations of democracy, demagogic appeals to struggling workers and falsification of the party’s reactionary record.
Accuser Jessica Mann’s testimony in the Weinstein trial: A Journey to the End of the Night
By David Walsh, 7 February 2020
In the course of three days of lurid testimony describing the warped, emotionally pathological and mutually destructive relationship between Weinstein and his accuser Jessica Mann, the trial degenerated into a degrading and horrifying spectacle.
Jacobin’s Bhaskar Sunkara on the Iowa caucuses: Don’t lose faith in the Democrats
By Andre Damon, 7 February 2020
Writing in the Guardian, Sunkara claims that “we should have confidence” in the “integrity” of the vote in Iowa, arguing that the DNC will not “steal the election from Bernie Sanders.”
999 Race and the Academy Awards
7 February 2020
4 February 2020
Swiss newspaper raises important questions about the Harvey Weinstein trial
Why will no one in the American media do the same?
By David Walsh, 30 January 2020
Journalist Sarah Pines, in “Weinstein trial: Believe the one who shouts ‘Wolf!’ the loudest,” paints a highly unflattering portrait of the American media and the lynch-mob atmosphere.
The New York Times attempts to discredit defense as Harvey Weinstein trial begins
By Tom Carter, 23 January 2020
Weinstein has every right to confront his accusers—and yes, attempt to discredit them.
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