Mainstream Media’s Information Warfare Miscasts Russia As A Goliath

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman discuss the latest update in the saga of Julian Assange and the ordering of his extradition by a British Magistrates Court, what the next steps to stop Assange's extradition look like as his case goes to the UK Home Office heard by Priti Patel, who is not likely to be friendly towards the appeal against extradition, and why the campaign to prevent Assange's extradition has taken on an even more heightened stake in light of the de-platforming of anti- war and anti-imperialist voices.In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Joe Iosbaker, co-chair of the Labor Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression to discuss the repression of activists in the Philippines as it heads towards presidential elections, what the upcoming elections might mean for Rodrigo Duterte and his fate as the movement continues to push for prosecution of his crimes against human rights, the heavy repression against human rights activists which often takes the form of “red-tagging,” a practice of accusing human rights defenders of being communists, and why the US is so interested in providing military aid and weapons as part of its so-called pivot to Asia. In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Brandon Walker, Community Coordinator with the Ujima People's Progress Party in Maryland to discuss the upcoming conference of the Ujima People's Progress Party in Maryland and how the issues of poor and working class people in Maryland connect with the global systems of capitalism and imperialism, the importance of highlighting the reasons why the poor and working oppressed people should care about imperialism and the wars waged by the US abroad and its contributions to police terror at home, and the work that is necessary to not only meet people where they are but also to move forward together.Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine and how the Democrats are using it as a clear deflection from its failures and looming midterm defeat, the mythology of pushing Democrats left and the reality of the political system in the US, the information warfare being waged by the mainstream media casting Ukraine as a David to Russia's Goliath despite NATO's support of Ukraine, and why the assertion that Russia is imperialist is misguided.