(He's a fed)

  • late90smullbowl [they/them]
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    edit-2
    4 years ago

    Weirdest thing is the way him and his pod and everything he does is constantly pushed everywhere by random posters. Everywhere. "DAE this brilliant episode/book/tweet by bobert evns, who is cool, is great". Like, the info contained in his pod is decent on general anti-fash stuff, less so on anything that contradicts us foreign policy, but the number of posts pushing it seem way disproportionate to it's reach.

    It's not weird at all. #bellingCIAt. lets get it going guys. you saw the hashtag here first.

    • excusemewtf [he/him]
      hexagon
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      4 years ago

      Yeah the foreign policy is where it shines through, using Leninist analysis, we can see who's real or not by their anti-war record.

    • PorkrollPosadist [he/him, they/them]
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      edit-2
      4 years ago

      His podcasts are pretty good overall, but the NED/Bellingcat thing and stuff like this makes me question where he'll end up standing at the pivotal moment. On the whole he still has vastly better takes than any of the shitheads on TV though. If I had to guess, dude's just a moderately naive anarchist who came out of high school with a journalism boner. Like Chomsky, he doesn't have to be a Fed for the Feds and bourgeois media to prop him up when says things they find useful.

      If it turns out he's knowingly pulling a long con on behalf of the CIA, I wouldn't be entirely shocked, but I would be a little impressed. I think if his primary goal were to do state propaganda, he would spend a lot less time teaching about revolutionary history and fascism.

      He certainly wouldn't be my first choice if I had to recommend something for people to listen to, but his audience also ranks pretty low on my list of groups that cause me concern.

      • late90smullbowl [they/them]
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        edit-2
        4 years ago

        Given the history of the second half of the 20th century, any media leftist that doesn't actively repudiate the agency constantly and at every opportunity, never mind one that actively works with their arms and associates, is 👀 imo.

        I mean, I think any public figure on the left should automatically detail any and all possible natsec/intel interaction they have ever had, and keep us updated, as a precondition for credibility. Jesus christ, the history ffs.

        • PorkrollPosadist [he/him, they/them]
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          edit-2
          4 years ago

          That's fair. The fact that it is even a possibility in the first place is a pretty big concern and why I'd never hold him up as a standard bearer. There are a lot of great public speakers who don't have that issue.

    • zxcvbnm [he/him]
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      4 years ago

      Guillotine memes are very online cringe edgelord shit.

      • BigLadKarlLiebknecht [he/him, comrade/them]
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        4 years ago

        Don’t disagree in the slightest, but I found it funny of him to call them out in his podcast as (if I remember correctly) something that could be a slippery slope to civil war.

        I also remember he’d open each episode with an ad where he’d talk about how a meditation app would help him deal with the possibility of civil war. Like yeah, meditation helps me with my anxiety, but good grief that’s some good grifting

  • ant9 [he/him,comrade/them]
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    4 years ago

    He's not a fed, he's an America with anarchist tendencies, which in practice tends to mean being indoctrinated with strong "anti-authoritarian" beliefs that lead to a shitty sort of anti-communism.

    It's all over the place.

    • Orannis62 [ze/hir]
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      4 years ago

      He does write for an outlet that gets a huge chunk of NED funding, though.

      I'm usually skeptical of and careful about claiming people are feds, but you can make a pretty strong case for him

  • wtypstanaccount04 [he/him]
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    4 years ago

    He might be a CIAnarchist but he's my CIAnarchist. :comfy: I love my antifascist boy, just ignore his foreign policy.

  • CommunistDog [he/him]
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    4 years ago

    I stopped listening to his podcasts a while ago or paying attention to him at all, did he do something?

    • smashfucker [he/him]
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      4 years ago

      He's virulently anti-communist. Like, annoyingly so.

      He managed to cite the Holodomor during a podcast recently about fascism.. in France.

      • CommunistDog [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        Yeah, his anti-communism was a sticking point for me and why I started to tune out. It's what really connected the idea of state department anarchist to me.

      • ant9 [he/him,comrade/them]
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        4 years ago

        I was listening to the recent episodes on spain/germany and the fascist movement and he mentioned in passing how they got called out as not being very fair to german communists before.

        Yeah I'll bet.

        Bet I can paint out the exact narrative used too.

    • excusemewtf [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      4 years ago

      No but lots of CIA socialists listen to him, basically he covers police abuse in order to launder his state department shilling for US wars of aggression.

      • CommunistDog [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        Cool, that's more or less why I stopped listening to him in the first place.

  • FRIENDLY_BUTTMUNCHER [she/her]
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    4 years ago

    Eh, he's fine for domestic stuff. He was pretty trash on Bolivia last year though. Don't really listen to his foreign policy takes.

    • barrbaric [he/him]
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      4 years ago

      No need to worry, we all know Rich is a firm believer in Marxism-Leninism-Maoism-Sandersism.

  • ciaplant667 [he/him,fae/faer]
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    4 years ago

    I like the podcast man who does the podcast. I listen to it with other podcasts. He does advertisement like a lot of podcasts. He is miscorrect in some points like other people. I don’t look to him as a hero or a villain, but a person creating stuff. Mostly I think it’s good historical stuff that I feel educated by.