Ray McGovern joins the show to talk about Colin Powell and Mike Pompeo: two credentialed, respected members of the foreign policy establishment that have both been hugely damaging to American interests. McGovern first responds to the claim that Powell unwaveringly and heroically stood against the Bush administration's desire to invade Iraq, succumbing only at the last minute due to new, more persuasive intelligence and the pressures of being overwhelmingly outnumbered. In reality, says McGovern, Powell not only should have known the whole time that Saddam Hussein didn't have weapons of mass...
7/31/20 Branko Marcetic on Trump’s Dangerous Russia Hawkishness
Branko Marcetic discusses a recent move by the Trump administration that will grant unprecedented powers to the CIA to conduct cyber attacks against foreign countries. This highlights a persistent trend throughout Trump's precedency that has seen him become perhaps the most hawkish president toward Russia since the end of the Cold War. Scott and Marcetic talk about the stubborn persistence of the "Russiagate" narrative, which has lingered long after its underlying premises have been dispelled. Marcetic says this is the way all conspiracy theories work—their adherents can always assimilate...
7/31/20 Greg Mitchell: the Real History of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Scott interviews Greg Mitchell about The Beginning or the End, his new book that tells the story of the making of the 1947 film of the same name. The movie was conceived as an exposé on the horrors of America's use of the nuclear bomb against Japan, partly at the urging of former Manhattan Project scientists. But it was quickly co-opted by the U.S. government, forcing many changes to the film's structure, and eventually resulting in what amounted to a piece of pro-military propaganda. Mitchell's book explores much of the history of this period, revealing the true circumstances of Japan's...
7/31/20 Daniel Davis on Afghanistan, Germany and China
Daniel Davis talks about the questionable Russian bounties story that is being used as an excuse to stop President Trump from pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. Never mind the fact that America's intelligence agencies have come out to publicly disavow the story, the internal logic summoned by those opposed to withdrawal is inconsistent—if American troops really are in harm's way in Afghanistan because of Russian bounties, wouldn't the natural move be to pull them out even faster? Davis is adamant that the war in Afghanistan has for all intents and purposes already been lost, and the...
7/31/20 Sheldon Richman: What Social Animals Owe to Each Other
Scott interviews Sheldon Richman about his new book, What Social Animals Owe to Each Other, a collection of essays exploring libertarian political philosophy, particularly as it relates to ancient Greek philosophy and the roots of liberalism. Libertarians sometimes think too narrowly, says Richman, giving in to the stereotype of libertarians as rugged individualists who reject cooperation and community altogether. In reality, of course, libertarianism not only allows for these things, but also sees them as vitally important for the division of labor, free trade and the improvement of...
7/31/20 Gareth Porter on the Real Story Behind the US-Israeli AMIA Bombing Narrative
Gareth Porter discusses the 1994 Buenos Aires Jewish community center bombing, and in particular the allegation that Hezbollah was behind the attack. Porter has written a piece based on testimony by an Argentinian undercover police officer that paints a different story. Porter's theory—one that adheres much more closely to historical fact and personal testimony—is that it was really Argentinian neo-Nazis in the police force along with veterans of Argentina's Dirty War that were responsible for the bombing, exposing anti-semitic trends that had long been simmering in the country. As has often...
Cops Kill Man
This is the one the FTP covered last week where the cops knew they were going to a bogus noise complaint, they hid out of the way of the peephole after banging on the door in the middle of the night, then when the guy answered the door with a gun in his hand, they yelled drop it as though they just assume he's trying to kill them -- at no point does he point it at them -- then when he did in fact squat down to put down the gun -- reacting in admirable immediate fashion under the pressure of their threats -- they blew the guy away anyway. And you and I and every single person in the world...
Vellejo, California ‘Security Force’ Actually a Literal Death Cult
Matt Agorist at the Free Thought Project: After the wholesale execution of Willie McCoy — a rapper who was killed by police as he slept in the Drive Thru of a Taco Bell — a disturbing practice by the department who killed him came to light. SWAT team commander with two master’s degrees, Captain John Whitney exposed the celebratory practice of beers, barbecues, and badge bending to commemorate killer cops. After this decorated cop exposed this practice, he was forced out of the job. According to a shocking investigation by Open Vallejo, for years, a secretive clique inside the Vallejo Police...









