He has called for a Labour boycott of RT, the Kremlin-funded TV network that has, over the years, given a platform to the anti-establishment, socialist Left, when others have shut them out. It is incredibly disappointing that John has caved to the new McCarthyism and chosen to join the neoliberal herd, who are seeking to censor RT and blame 'Russian meddling', to distract from the failures of neoliberal globalism that have led to anti-establishment movements throughout the west.
Why hasn’t he called for a boycott of all the corporate media outlets that have just been shilling for 'reformer' Bin Salman, destroyer of Yemen? (Oh, Bin Salman is allowing Saudi women to drive, and opening some casinos, so who cares!).
Why hasn’t John called for a boycott of the BBC, with their long history of propagating for western interests? For example: still, they are referring to child-beheading jihadists in Syria, as ‘rebels’. Why? Because western governments want Assad gone, and in order for the public to support this, we must not become too aware of the reality of the opposition. We must remain convinced that they are moderates - not inhuman barbarians. So they are ‘rebels’ and ‘freedom fighters’, and the BBC et al. have pushed this narrative for seven years. The victims of these so-called ‘rebels’ are thus mostly ignored in their reporting - they are ‘unpeople’. Also ignored is any context - like the fact that this war was created by imperial powers, particularly America, who knowingly gave billions of dollars of support to a jihadi revolution, to fuel the creation of a ‘Salafist principality’ (aka Daesh).
Another example is their coverage of all things Russia. Here’s an interview I caught the other day, on BBC’s Hardtalk, with Russian presidential candidate Boris Titov. The interviewer, Stephen Sackur, is flabbergasted that someone can oppose Putin yet still support much of his foreign policy, and not consider him uniquely corrupt. In the interview, Sackur is literally just parroting western government’s line on Russia - ie that Putin is a tyrant set on destabilising the western world and that his foreign policy is imperial and aggressive, rather than defensive; anyone who doesn’t agree with this must either be insane or in-league with him, and their opinion on anything is to be derided. (And they say RT presenters are propagandists!).
Rationality is not permitted. Exceptionalism is rife. How dare Putin react when the US instigate a coup in a country on Russian borders? The bastard should have left the ethnically Russian Crimeans to oppression under the US-backed, anti-Russian coup regime (inc neo-Nazis) in Ukraine; he should have allowed Syria to be taken over by US-backed al Qaeda barbarians. And he should bloody well accept NATO's gradual encirclement of Russia as an act of peace, and stop being so unreasonable! (NB I am not saying that I support Putin, nor that his foreign policy has been perfect, but I think he and his policies need to be judged in context of western aggression).
Is anyone in western ‘mainstream media’ NOT entirely ignorant of Russian politics and Russian interests? Oh, they’re not allowed any interests, are they. Only America and her vassals are allowed those, even in countries on the other side of the planet. And what are Russian interests? I see little evidence to suggest that they desire any more than a respect for their sovereignty, and for America to not intervene in countries on their borders.
The fact that Putin is immensely popular with the Russian people is of no interest to western pundits. They aren’t important. They must be brainwashed by propaganda, which we’re to be believe only exists in Russia. They need some American 'freedom'. Also of no interest is that Putin has consistently sought partnership with the west, including suggesting that Russia join NATO. But instead, NATO continues to provoke.
For a more balanced view of Russia’s viewpoint and actions, watch this talk by American Russia scholar, Professor Stephen F. Cohen. American meddling in Russia in the 1990s devastated the country. Russian oligarchs, many of whom Putin subsequently cracked down on, took control of the country, and poverty soared. Under Putin, the economy has revived, and Russia’s integrity, rejuvenated. With the west now sabre ratting, and the threat of their meddling very present once again, is it any wonder Putin is more popular than ever? Only a unified country can resist such an imperial threat, and Russians know all too well what can happen when US-backed neoliberals get their oar in.
As for the attempted assassination of the former Russian spy in Salisbury last week - again, you are either considered insane or a ‘Putinist’, if you think it plausible but unlikely that he would poison a traitor six years after the treachery, just before the election and World Cup, at a time when relations with the west are at an all time low, and when he consistently says he wants us to be partners. And would he really use a poison that would be so easily attributed to Russia? It seems that, on one hand, western powers want us to believe that Putin is a cunning mastermind responsible for destabilising the ‘free world’, whilst on the other, he’s a complete idiot.
Those who are pushing this Russophobia have FAR more motive, so as to frame him. To get an idea of how former Russian oligarchs have been influencing this extreme anti-Putin narrative, watch ‘The Magnitsky Act: Behind The Scenes’. It is chilling. Or perhaps it has nothing to do with an attempt to frame Putin and is just a result of Russian mafia running amok in London.
Back to RT, here’s a tweet by Jeremy Corbyn, from 2011, in which he recommends RT as a media platform, for being more impartial than most regarding the Libyan intervention. He’s being shamed for this tweet. When did facts become shameful? Thankfully he has at least disagreed with McDonnell regarding his call to boycott RT. Let’s hope his principles shine through and he doesn’t give in to the Russophobia. However, I fear the inevitability of this new McCarthyism being increasingly used against him, particularly during any upcoming general election. We can only hope that most of the public now see through 'mainstream media' deception, and can decipher that Putin is possibly not the all-powerful, suicidal maniac we're led to believe. (The real maniacs are in the west).
The military industrial complex needs an enemy to justify spending; the established powers are desperate to keep the neoliberal status quo; and the openly imperialist Neocons want regime-change in Russia and beyond. Could this combination of desperation, war profiteering, and just sheer lunacy, which has led to this new Cold War, lead us into WW3?
What seems essential to me is that the true Left doesn’t play into the hands of those who have orchestrated this tension; with those who cannot accept the fall of the US unipolar world order. They must not cave to the new McCarthyism, but instead stand up to the neoliberals, neocons, and the war profiteers who have created it. They must show their support for a new multi-polar world order based on a genuine respect for human rights and international law.
That John McDonnell has now caved, is why I am so disappointed in him. Let’s hope that Corbyn continues to stand firm and resist!
My views on RT
Glenn Greenwald's views on RT
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