Project Esther's McCarthyite Campaign

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/31/what-is-project-esther-the-playbook-against-pro-palestine-movement-in-us

Likud has long collaborated with the GOP, not only on issues such as Project Esther, but in partisan politics as well. Time and again, Israel has helped Republicans undermine not only presidents' Clinton, Obama, and Biden, but other figures connected to the Democratic Party. They work in tandem, with common interests.

German Christians and the AfD

https://cne.news/article/4807-may-german-christians-vote-for-the-afd

Huizinga is an activist associated with the Acton Institute, Federalist Society, and other Right-wing think-tanks. As such, his attempt to muddy the waters regarding the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is unsurprising.

The Christian Right in Europe, Book Recommendations, and a Case of Confused Worldview

https://cne.news/article/4772-seven-books-to-sharpen-your-christian-worldview

The article's set-up leads me to believe that once again the evocation of 'worldview' is not in the sense of a comprehensive and coherent system of thought but rather the rubber-stamping of an agenda. As such, it is in keeping with its frequent use within American Evangelicalism.

The Real Purpose of DOGE has Been Revealed

I am hardly alone in following the coverage of the Trump-Musk schism which as of this writing continues to escalate. The media tends to focus on the dynamics of the relationship falling into all the 'bromance' talk of the present generation - a sign of the culture's decadence that has degraded friendship and has a tendency to cast all relationships and interactions into some kind of sexual terms. It's tiresome to say the least.

The Fall of Phnom Penh: Short Memories and Outright Spin

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/commentary/the-fall-of-phnom-penh-the-left-has-a-short-memory/

Lately, I've been reading a lot of articles at The European Conservative and similar publications, trying to get inside the heads of these people and how they frame history and revise it. This article was no exception to what seems to be an established rule.

Surveillance Revisionism

I happened to catch some Newsmax on a recent night and couldn't help but grin listening to the commentators drone on about the surveillance state and how the citizenry shouldn't have to give up so much of its personal data.

Many will have no problem with giving up their data to corporations - who in turn affect and shape state policy and effectively lobby the government.

Erik Prince and Trump's Deportation Shortfall

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/16/erik-prince-trump-immigration-enforcement

I suppose this article got little attention in Christian circles because few would find it newsworthy. They support Trump's anti-immigrant agenda and the fact that so-called Christians like Erik Prince would want to promote and profit from it - is not worth talking about. Undoubtedly most of them would do the same if they had the means to do so.

The Ghosts of Tinian and the Growing Cold War in the Asia-Pacific

https://archive.is/EQ0TJ

I heard one Chinese analyst speak truthfully - the end-game of these tariffs is war. Hopefully a 'deal' can be reached long before then but Trump's moves are a form of warfare - even if the bullets aren't flying yet.

NATO and the 2023 Floods in Libya

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derna_dam_collapses

https://www.declassifieduk.org/why-the-media-arent-telling-the-whole-story-of-libyas-floods/

Since these events took place in 2023, it might as well be ancient history. Apart from those who follow the Middle East, this story was ignored and is by now largely forgotten.

But to ignore this is a mistake. Likewise if one wants to understand what's happening today in Sudan, Ethiopia, and what is brewing in South Sudan, the history needs to be revisited. Contemporary events cannot be understood otherwise.

CNN Fraud in Syria

https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/cnn-reporter-clarissa-wards-on-air-liberation-of-syrian-prisoner-exposed-as-fraud/

This story broke in December 2024 in connection with the fall of the Assad regime. CNN was caught red-handed in a lie. The whole thing was a set-up. One has to wonder how many other such episodes take place? It is certain though that it's getting harder to pull off. Amid all the negatives, it's certainly one of the positives of the Internet Age.

Christian Radio, Deceitful Stunts, and Distortions of Reality

The other day I was working within range of the American Family Radio (AFR) signal and I caught some of Todd Herman's show. He suggested the globalists had taken over American foreign policy and that the United States had been actively involved in the manipulation of Ukrainian politics. He pulled out material and clips from 2014 of Victoria Nuland and others to make his point. It was almost like I was listening to Democracy Now or The Grayzone.

Bait and Switch - Cal Thomas on the Constitutional Crisis

https://calthomas.com/2025/02/whom-to-blame-for-the-crisis/

Unfortunately I must report that Cal Thomas is still producing commentaries and this one appeared in our local newspaper the other day.

It's a case of classic bait-and-switch tactics. He ignores the issues surrounding the Constitutional Crisis and instead ventures down a dishonest rabbit trail of revisionism and spin. In other words, it's classic Cal Thomas.

The Poison of Consequentialist Historiography

https://web.archive.org/web/20180615140225/https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/right-wing-celebrities-play-fast-and-loose-with-history/

In keeping with the Establishment, DNC and media's shift to the Right (on certain issues) the once discredited pariah and pseudo-historian Jonah Goldberg is now mainstream and frequently appears on NPR. His 'liberal fascism' narrative continues to tickle Right-wing ears and though prima facie false, it is conveniently ignored by the Democrats and media who have at this point in time all but embraced the ideology of the Neo-Conservatives and their foreign policy.

The Continuing Collapse of Israel's 7 October Narrative

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-still-cant-find-any-7-october-rape-victims-prosecutor-admits

As Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada was being detained and ultimately deported from Switzerland for his 'Anti-Semitic' views, Moran Gez the Israeli prosecutor has publicly admitted they have no evidence to suggest that rape occurred in connection with the 7 October 2023 attacks.

Spinning the Ceasefire in Gaza and Just About Everything Else

The news broke today regarding a Gaza ceasefire. Let us pray that it holds true. I reflected for a moment when someone pointed out how the fire devastation in Los Angeles has struck a chord with the American public. The pictures look not unlike the devastation in Gaza which is many magnitudes greater - but it doesn't impact the American public the same way. There's no comparison. It makes one think doesn't it?

The Realities of the War on Terror in 2025

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/3/french-german-foreign-ministers-visit-damascus-to-meet-syrias-new-rulers

It was something to see, a historic moment I thought. To see German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock (along with French counterpart Barrot) walking about Damascus with HTS leader al-Julani should have generated a media buzz - but it didn't. The media is to be blamed for this lack of response - they have lulled the Western public to sleep.

Coverage of the new Telecom Breach

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/04/senators-response-chinese-hack-us-telecoms-00192728

Just as Trump prepares to enter office, the Blue Team, the Anti-China lobby has been given a gift. It's now confirmed that Beijing has been engaged in a major hacking/surveillance project within the United States. The Right-wing is calling for retaliation.

The Justification and Whitewashing of War Crimes

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/feroze-sidhwa-new-york-times-children-gaza-shot-in-head-israel-palestine-doctor/

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/16/gaza_doctor

https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/t%C3%AAte-%C3%A0-t%C3%AAte/20241029-us-doctor-claims-israeli-snipers-target-child-in-gaza-no-child-gets-shot-twice-by-mistakea

https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-doctors-gaza

Eighty years after World War II we have an army (ironically a Jewish one) behaving very much like the Nazis, and yet those who protest its actions and conduct are condemned and castigated for their immorality. The mainstream media supports this army and writes apologias for it and in some cases when it cannot stop the story - it censors photos or does whatever it can to soften the effect and the public's ability to perceive the nature and extent of Israeli war crimes.

The Christian Right's Fantasy Realm of Reagan-Land

https://www.christianpost.com/voices/reagan-moviea-great-reminder-of-what-a-president-should-be.html

The myths and legends were emerging even before his death in 2004. Now twenty years later they've blossomed into full-blown fantasy. This latest film (praised by Richard Land) is undoubtedly an exercise in both hagiography and revisionism.

NPR on Trump: The Threat of Authoritarianism Challenged by the Imperial Establishment

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/21/nx-s1-5155005/trump-threatens-to-use-the-military-and-doj-to-go-after-those-who-are-disloyal

It's enough to make you take to your bed. The media storm has become such a morass, such a realm of chaos. It's often case of liars calling out liars and answering distortions with what can only be described as manipulation.

To make sense of this story or exchange it helps one to think of clash between the Roman Empire under the Late Republic and the threat of Sullan Dictatorship. Both were evil entities and yet the political winds are noteworthy and applicable. Lives were affected as was the course of subsequent history. That's no less true today. As Christians we live in this society and even though we're strangers and pilgrims it behooves us to understand what is happening.