Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

If you appreciate Parallax Views and the work of J.G. Michael please consider supporting the show through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews On this edition of Parallax Views, the U.S COVID-19 vaccine rollout has not been off to the best start. What has led to these failings that have turned obtaining the vaccine into a Hunger Games-style Darwinian competition? And how can these failings be remedied? Elisabeth Rosenthal, editor-in-chief of Kaiser Health News and a contributing writer for the New York Times, joins us to discuss these issues and more. Rosenthal, author of the book An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business And How You Can Take It Back and the recent NYT op-ed "Yes, It Matters That People Are Jumping the Vaccine Line", takes us through the problems of inequity that have arisen due to a hollowed-out public health system, the mistakes made during the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed, the lack of central planning in dealing with the vaccine rollout, people "jumping the line" to get the vaccine, how the most in need of the vaccine are not always the first in line to receive it, and what can be done under the Biden administration to remedy these issues.

If you appreciate Parallax Views and the work of J.G. Michael please consider supporting the show through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews On this edition of Parallax Views, former National Security insider Mevlin Goodman, who has worked for the CIA, the State Department, and the Department of Defense's National War College, joins us to discuss the problem of  the politicization of intelligence work in the U.S. and President Joe Biden's picks for the CIA (William Burns, a career diplomat) and Secretary of Defense (Retired General and Raytheon official Lloyd Austin, who some analysts, including Goodman, will widen the the civil-military gap). We delve into Goodman's history in intelligence work and his views on what has gone wrong with how the National Security State has operated in the past few decades. We also discuss the dumbing down of America, U.S.-China relations, Michael Scheuer of the CIA's Bin Laden Unit Michael Scheuer, the idea of the "deep state", defense spending, the civil-military gap, and much, much more.

If you appreciate Parallax Views and the work of J.G. Michael please consider supporting the show through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews On this bonus edition of Parallax Views, users of the "Wall Street Bets" Reddit have wreaked havoc on Wall Street hedge funds in relation to Gamestop and other stocks in the past day. What is this? The Gamestopocalypse? What should we make of this stock market mayhem? Mike Swanson of the Wall Street Window and author of the new book Why the Vietnam War (and previously The War State) joins us to discuss the matter and the problems with apps like Robinhood, which is currently coming under fire from figures like Congresswoman Rashida Taleb. Everyone from Tucker Carlson to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has chimed in on this controversy. Mike Swanson has a take you may disagree but I thought this conversation was worthwhile as some whose reactions to the events have thus far differed from Mike's own analysis.

If you appreciate Parallax Views and the work of J.G. Michael please consider supporting the show through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews On this edition of Parallax Views, a quick-and-dirty rundown of where U.S. foreign policy stands at this early stage in the Biden Presidency. Dave DeCamp, news editor for Antiwar.Com, joins us to talk Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken, hawkish figures like Samantha Power and Victoria Nuland's involvement in the administration, the War in Yemen, the prospects for renewing the Iran deal, Biden's Defense Secretary pick Lloyd Austin, the tensions between China and the U.S. especially as they regard to the South China Sea, and much, much more.

If you appreciate Parallax Views and the work of J.G. Michael please consider supporting the show through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews On this edition of Parallax Views, photojournalist Zach D. Roberts of the Palast Investigative Fund joins us to discuss the investigative journalism he and Greg Palast undertook in the aftermath of the January 6th Capitol riots. What Roberts and Palast found was the high-profile members of the GOP, including from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and Georgia Republican Party, had coordinated with Ali Alexander, an alt-right activist associated with Roger Stone and other far-right figures that played a role in organizing the "Stop the Steal" movement that stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. We discuss this in detail as well as going over Zach and Greg's work on voter suppression, voter purges in the Georgia election, and much, much more.

On this edition of Parallax Views we continue our examination of the late New York Times journalist Neil Sheehan, this time covering a news story published in NYT after his death by reporter Janny Scott proclaiming to tell the true story of the Pentagon Papers and Sheehan's involvement in the affair that was not previously known. The article, entitled "Now It Can Be Told: How Neil Sheehan Got the Pentagon Papers", seems to treat Neil Sheehan as the true hero of the the saga while portraying the story's whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg as a fearful neurotic with a penchant for making foolish mistakes. The Pentagon Papers, which were a secret Pentagon study of the Vietnam War commissioned by Robert McNamara that exposed how the U.S. government had been deceiving the public about the war effort, is a monumental case in the history of 20th century politics and journalism. As such Janny Scott's story, in which Sheehan gives a different version of events, is an important development. Jim Naureckis of the media watchdog organization Fair and Accuracy in Media (FAIR), however, argues the Scott story is misleading. As such Naureckis and FAIR released an Action Alert to its readers entitled "What Can ‘Now Be Told’ by NYT About Pentagon Papers Isn’t Actually True". Jim joins us to discuss the problems with the NYT article purporting to tell a new truth about the Pentagon Papers as well as discussing the problems of valorizing journalists as heroes while downplaying the importance and bravery of whistleblowers like Ellsberg. All that and more on this edition of Parallax Views.

On this edition of Parallax Views, the acclaimed New York Times journalist Neil Sheehan passed away on January 7th, 2021. Sheehan is particularly known for his reporting on the Vietnam War, his bestseller A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam, and his involvement in the story of whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. Although highly regarded by most, Jim DiEugenio of Kennedys and King offered criticisms of Sheehan's journalistic oeuvre in his piece "Neil Sheehan: In Retrospect". Jim joins us on this edition of the program to offer a parallax view on the work of Neil Sheehan and his contemporary David Halberstam, author of The Best and the Brightest, as it relates to their work on the Vietnam war. DiEugenio argues in his heavily footnoted piece that, contrary to recognizing the Vietnam War as a folly, Sheenan offers a "Lost Cause" theory of the conflict that has since been taken up by journalists today like Max Boot (author of The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the Tragedy in Vietnam) and others. Additionally, DiEugenio makes thoughtful critiques of Sheehan in relation to the story of the Pentagon Papers and Sheehan's spat with attorney Mark Lane over Vietnam atrocity. This is a fascinating conversation that also manages to delve into foreign policy during the administration of President John F. Kennedy and a rundown of the story behind the Pentagon Papers. Additionally, Jim offers his thoughts on the Capitol riots of January 6th, 2021. All that and more on this edition of Parallax Views!

On this edition of Parallax VIews, Ross Benes, author of Rural Rebellion: How Nebraska Became a Republican Stronghold, joins us for a probing, sincere conversation on America's much discussed "rural-urban divide" and his experiences moving from a small-town in Nebraska to the cosmopolitan world of New York. Although Ross's book has a great deal of hard journalism and statistics regarding how the Republican Party has taken hold of Nebraska, we use the conversation to delve into the autobiographical and inter-personal elements of Rural Rebellion in this rousing discussion. Why is there such a divide between the America mid-west and the country's big cities? And can the divide be overcame? This conversation doesn't necessarily provide all the answers but it does raise important points to consider in regards to how we relate to each other in an increasingly atomizing society that is fraught with friction. This particular discussion seems particularly relevant in light of the pro-Trump elements, such as QAnon and the Stop the Steal movement, that caused much chaos on Capitol Hill on January 6th, 2021.

On this edition of Parallax Views, Conrad Hamilton, co-author of Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson (w/ Ben Burgis, Matt McManus, and Marion Trejo), joins us to give his take on the political situation in the U.S. from the perspective of someone currently watching the American turmoil from Paris, France. Conrad and I delve into the realm of theory in an attempt to explain the current situation as well as touching on areas related to left-wing debates concerning class reduction vs. identity politics, U.S. saber-rattling at China, the Capitol Hill riots, Trumpism, and much, much more. Is America in crisis? Conrad makes the case and argues that the political Left needs to step up to the plate for that very reason. All that and more on this edition of Parallax Views

If you appreciate Parallax Views and the work of J.G. Michael please consider supporting the show through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews On this edition of Parallax Views, National Security scholar Nicholas Grossman recently penned an open letter to QAnon believers entitled "QAnon Woke Up the Real Deep State" warning them that the Capitol Hill riots is going to trigger a harsh reaction from the real National Security rather than the fevered conspiratorial fantasies they imagine in their minds. Nicholas joins us for a conversation about the piece and some of the points he raises in it as well as discussing the potential pitfalls of new domestic terrorist laws and elucidating what the real deep state is and how it works. Nicholas makes the case that QAnon, "Stope the Steal", and other fervent Trump supporters may have bitten off more than they can chew with the 1/6/21 incident on Capitol Hill. Is the National Security State's response going to be what QAnon and similar movements signed up for? Nicholas argues not and also discusses groups like The Oathkeepers and their relationship to the militia movements of the 1990s to help us better understand the situation involving domestic terrorism today and the National Security State's response to it. All that and more on this edition of Parallax Views.