Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Click here for the full interview with Bashir Saade and Karim Makdisi: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/extended-interview-how-biden-and?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Thursday Throwdown: John Kerry Wants to Save Democracy (By Ending Democracy) https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/john-kerry-wants-to-save-democracy?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webFor $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at www.usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.If you want to experience smoother digestion, a boost of energy, and an overall healthier body go to roundhouseprovisions.com/USEFUL for up to 44% off your regular-priced order plus a 90-day, money-back guarantee!Support local jobs and get variety of high-quality clothing and activewear at https://www.american-giant.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code USEFUL. Thanks to American Giant for sponsoring the show!“It's very bloody and very violent and very dangerous.”Lebanese political scientists Bashir Saade and Karim Makdisi shed light on Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah and more.Since the situation is so volatile, news is constantly breaking: after we recorded the interview, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister told CNN that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had agreed to a 21-day ceasefire just before he was assassinated by Israel. The temporary ceasefire, he claimed, was called for by President Biden, President Macron and other allies during the UN General Assembly. During the interview Karim and Bashir predict what is to come. “The cost is going to be very high,” warns Karim. “It’s going to be very bloody.” They also reflect on why Israel’s attack on Lebanon was inevitable, but not because of Hezbollah. “I think this is a war that has been coming,” Karim explains. “It's a war that was going to happen. And if it wasn't going to happen now, it would have happened a year from now. You have an expansionist Israel. It has always been expansionist.” And, Bashir adds, “Hezbollah is prepared for this.”They discuss the double standards faced by the IDF, which is called the most moral army in the world, and Hezbollah, which is described by western media and politicians as terrorist. As Karim explains:“Hezbollah could target civilian areas. But it's just not in their doctrine, in a sense, to hit civilian areas for the sake of it. In the way that for the Israelis, with the Dahiya Doctrine, you can level the entire civilian area if you think there's some kind of military target inside. This is something the Israelis have been doing since 1948.” Coming tragically full circle, Israel’s Dahiya Doctrine, which calls for disproportionate military responses and the targeting of civilians (war crimes), was named after a Beirut neighborhood where Nasrallah wound up being murdered. The West justifies Israel’s war crimes by claiming that Hamas uses civilians as human shields. But this week, when Iran launched a missile attack on a Mossad weapons base, CNN itself admitted that the base was embedded in a civilian area.“The Mossad headquarters and military and defense ministry,” Karim explains, “are in various very civilian areas inside main Israeli cities. So does that mean they’re targets? Does that mean all the civilians working there and around there are targets? Does that mean that it's legitimate under self-defense or any other kind of doctrine? Does it mean that Hezbollah can blow up cell phones and pagers?”Notably, the very same western politicians and media who accuse Hamas of using human shields are absolutely silent when it comes to Israel’s documented use of Palestinian and Israeli human shields.Subscribe for the full interview with Bashir and Karim on the state of Hezbollah after the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah, how corporate media is constantly working to cover up Israel’s crimes, how martyrdom is portrayed differently based on who does it, and what Bashir and Karim are calling “political suicide” for the Democratic Party.00:00 Intro00:50 Harris and Trump want to bomb Iran18:30 Bashir Saade interview (with BREAKING NEWS)19:53 Why does Hezbollah fight Israel?24:05 Nasrallah refused to abandon Palestine26:49 Nasrallah's ideology27:53 Karim Makdisi joins33:54 Why Hezbollah differentiates between civilian and military targets40:48 Biden announces sanctions on Iran48:09 Biden officials are celebrating49:55 Harris vs Trump – will there be a difference?59:05 Is Lebanon part of Israel's promised territory?Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full interview with James Adomian: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/extended-episode-jordan-peterson?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webWatch James' hilarious new standup special here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ5DFrdOyig&ab_channel=800PoundGorillaMediaWatch this week's Thursday Throwdown: CBS News lets Blinken get away with murder https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/cbs-news-lets-blinken-get-away-with?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webFor $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at www.usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.If you want to experience smoother digestion, a boost of energy, and an overall healthier body go to roundhouseprovisions.com/USEFUL for up to 44% off your regular-priced order plus a 90-day, money-back guarantee!Support local jobs and get variety of high-quality clothing and activewear at https://www.american-giant.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code USEFUL. Thanks to American Giant for sponsoring the show! You know him from a hundred cartoons and a thousand podcasts – and now he’s a Useful Idiot. It’s comedian James Adomian, bringing jaw-dropping impressions of Jordan Peterson, Bernie Sanders, Elon Musk, Mike Pillow, Marc Maron, and more.And all of them have a lot to say about the Harris/Trump matchup.Who is Elon Musk’s new fascist girlfriend? Does Bernie think he sold himself out? What would Chris Matthews say about the election if he were still at MSNBC? Close your eyes, and you’ll be convinced they’re all really here.Plus, James does a deep dive on the changing nature of comedy, from the conservative era post-9/11 in which he and Katie had to fight to get progressive voices heard, to the leftist scene in the Obama years, and the swing back right in the 2020s. He explains how, similar to left journalism, the progressive comedy space is spread thin, losing ground to a smaller and more cohesive (and heavily funded) right.Subscribe for the full episode where James gives a roadmap for the left to escape this rut, shares his path as a gay man in comedy, and teaches us about the history of oppression in his family’s country of Armenia (okay, maybe it wasn’t all so lighthearted).You can watch James’ hilarious new standup special here.USEFUL IDIOTS NEWS: We have a bonus interview coming out later today with Cornell student Momodou Taal, who Cornell is attempting to deport for his pro-Palestine protests. Stay tuned.00:00 Intro01:14 Two presidents admit to foreign interference27:45 Aaron returns to Piers Morgan36:12 James Adomian interview36:38 A comedian's take on 202442:46 Jesse Ventura's endorsement44:30 Dems' ballot censorship47:04 Did Bernie Sanders sell out?50:21 Elon Musk's fascist girlfriend52:29 Jordan Peterson on Elon Musk53:28 What's happening in Armenia?Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full interview with Jim Webb: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/the-most-evil-thing-i-have-ever-seen?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Hillary Clinton Wants to Lock Herself Up https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/hillary-clinton-wants-to-lock-herself?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webFor $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at www.usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.If you want to experience smoother digestion, a boost of energy, and an overall healthier body go to roundhouseprovisions.com/USEFUL for up to 44% off your regular-priced order plus a 90-day, money-back guarantee!Retired US Marine Jim Webb joins Useful Idiots to give a military analysis of America’s neoliberal wars waged around the world. If you miss history class or are fascinated by combat strategy and the decisions of generals, this episode is for you.We start in Ukraine, where everyone waited anxiously this week as Joe Biden teased a dangerous message to Ukraine: the approval of shooting long-range Western missiles into Russia. In the past month, Biden’s hawkish policy showed he was increasingly flirting with the idea, but Webb explains:“There were leaks leading up to this meeting between Biden and Keir Starmer last week saying that a decision was pretty much imminent, but it didn't happen. And it didn't happen after Vladimir Putin said that if Biden approves this, then basically the U.S. will be at war with Russia.”And it’s this waning end of hope for Ukraine, with desperate attempts at surprise attacks, forced conscriptions, and escalated war tactics, that Webb describes as the latest failure in the Washington neoliberal war machine.“We just don't know how bad the war is,” Webb says. “The lengths that the U.S. has taken to ensure the Ukrainians stay on the battlefield.”And that machine knows that as the number of killed Ukrainians skyrockets into the hundreds of thousands, their clutch of control will finally slip. “The descendants of Hillary Clinton's State Department are still driving the bus. And it's the last grasp, the last dying breaths of a really hardcore neoliberal element that is in control. They know that if this fails, then their entire project across the world is going to come into intense scrutiny, beginning with Ukraine.”So Webb gives a military history of the conflict, explaining the strategic (and nonstrategic) decisions made by each side that brought us to this point, and maps out how the upcoming decisions of Biden, Putin, and Zelensky could lead to peace or to war.He also answers the burning question: What will be the foreign policy difference between a President Harris and a President Trump?Subscribe for the full interview with Jim Webb where he explains who really started the Russia-Ukraine War, how Ukraine’s Kursk invasion was actually a trap laid by Russia, and why Israel’s string of pager explosions should be considered a terrorist attack.00:00 Intro01:11 Congress calls Israel's civilian terrorist attack "innovative"18:23 Jim Webb interview19:30 Biden calls of long-range missiles23:06 Zelensky's strategy28:13 Victoria Nuland's accidental truth33:06 Do the Ukrainians target civilian areas?34:46 The Kursk invasion was a TRAP39:19 The Monty Python Warplan41:38 West blames Zelensky for everything43:50 Are the neoliberals losing?48:26 Ukraine's forced conscriptions50:21 Who started the war?Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full interview with John Washington: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/extended-episode-heres-why-trump?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Thursday Throwdown: We found the WORST moment of the debate (and it’s not about pets) https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/we-found-the-worst-moment-of-the?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webFor $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at www.usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.If you want to experience smoother digestion, a boost of energy, and an overall healthier body go to roundhouseprovisions.com/USEFUL for up to 44% off your regular-priced order plus a 90-day, money-back guarantee!Eight years ago, people were shocked at the insanity of the Trump campaign and his xenophobic border policies, pining for a more civil age where debates were proper and kids weren’t kept in cages.In 2024, those days seem simpler.John Washington, staff writer at Arizona Luminaria and author of The Case for Open Borders, joins Useful and reports something that may seem hard to believe: Trump’s campaign promises in 2016 are actually more progressive than either of the candidates’ we saw in this week’s debate.“Kamala Harris,” he says, “has wholeheartedly embraced policies that are to the right of where Trump was when he took office in 2016.”And it was all there in the debate. When Trump attacked her for being soft on the border, she didn’t argue that America is a nation of immigrants, built by immigrants. In fact, she didn’t talk about immigrants at all. “She talked about drug smugglers, human traffickers, and people who illegally crossed the border. But she didn't really give any idea of America as a nation of immigrants, which is the most boilerplate standard go-to on the left.”But in the past three years, what the US considers ‘left’ has shifted drastically. “It's also important to remember where we started,” Washington says. “At the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration, they were asking for a hundred-day moratorium on deportations. Now they've gone way past the center and are at the right.”The Biden administration in a single term has already deported or expelled over three million people. “He's taken the mantle of Deporter in Chief,” a title that was previously held by Barack Obama.And as we heard in the debate, Kamala Harris is following in his footsteps. “The policies that she is fighting for are vehemently anti-immigrant. They would raise the asylum threshold, build more wall. They would put more surveillance technology on the U.S.-Mexico border. They would detain people for longer.”Tell us, Democrats, which of those things counts as a lesser evil than Donald Trump?Subscribe for the full interview with John Washington, where he describes the violent reality at the border, how the media is spinning it to protect Biden and Harris, and how borders affect what is happening today in Gaza.00:00 Intro00:28 Dems love Dick Cheney now15:10 John Washington interview16:05 Are they eating the pets?19:29 Is Kamala Harris different than Trump?23:01 The case for open borders32:52 Do open borders make countries poorer?39:49 Why should I have to pay for immigrants coming here?43:49 The contribution to societySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full interview with Sarit Michaeli: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/extended-episode-israels-sadistic?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Thursday Throwdown: AOC vs Predator – Is Anti-Genocide a Predatory Stance? https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/aoc-vs-predator-is-anti-genocide?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webFor $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at www.usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.If you want to experience smoother digestion, a boost of energy, and an overall healthier body go to roundhouseprovisions.com/USEFUL for up to 44% off your regular-priced order plus a 90-day, money-back guarantee!Though Western media has barely covered it, Israeli soldiers engaged in what can only be described as a gang rape of a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman, an Israeli military prison in the Negev desert, which Israeli media has dubbed the Israeli Guantanamo Bay.When Israeli police detained soldiers who engaged in the rape, which was recorded and broadcast on Israeli TV, Israeli citizens, including Israeli politicians, protested not the rape but rather the attempt to hold the rapists accountable. In addition to these "right to rape" protests, the governemnt has given the rapes its blessing. Hanoch Milwidsky, a member of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, said during a session of the Knesset, that “to insert a stick into a person’s rectum” is "legitimate." A one off gang rape would be bad enough. But the truth is this is merely one example of a systemic epidemic of abuse. In fact, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem released a haunting report on the Israeli prison system which it described as “a network of torture camps.” The title of the report is what an Israeli jailer told a Palestinian prisoner when he arrived at one of these torture camps: Welcome to Hell. To learn more about this hell, we spoke to Sarit Michaeli, the international advocacy lead for B’tselem, which focuses on human rights abuses in the occupied territories. The abuse suffered by Palestinian prisoners was not random. Rather, “the most gruesome accounts” of the victims revealed “the systemic nature of what has been happening in the Israeli prison system. After October seventh, Israel turned the prison system that deals with Palestinians into a network of torture camps.”This is not a case of a few rogue actors or bad apples: “The most important thing,” says Michaeli, “is that none of this is the result of individual actions by any sort of individual prison guard. These are systemic actions inspired by [National Security] Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.” And while the torture may have been inspired by Ben Gvir, it's approved of and encouraged by the Israeli government. The testimony of the Palestinian detainees is harrowing. Fadi Baker, a 25 year old father and lawyer recalled, "they put cigarettes out in my mouth and on my body. They put clamps on my testicles that were attached to something heavy. It went on like that for a whole day. My testicles swelled up." Another detainee witnessed the killing of a Palestinian prisoner: "He screamed in pain constantly, begging for the doctor. The guard would come now and then and swear at him and tell him to shut up. In the morning, the guards came to count us. One said, 'Get up, you animal. Get up, you dog.' They checked him, and the whole place went silent. Finally, the doctor said, 'There’s nothing to be done.' One of the guards said to them, 'My condolences.' And they all started laughing. They put him in a black body bag and carried him out like trash."Eighteen year old Muhammad Nazzal recalls, "they kicked us and hit us with metal batons. Every time I tried to cover my head with my hands, they hit me on the hands as well as the rest of my body... people beat me again, and also strip-searched me and took photos of me naked." He also witnessed a fatal beating. When a prisoner dared to ask if there had been a ceasefire, "they beat him to death. The guards simply left him there for half an hour after the assault."Subscribe to watch the full interview with Sarit Michaeli where she describes the “sadistic... orgy of hate and revenge that Israeli society was plunged into," explains why it's Netanyahu, not Hamas, that's blocking a ceasefire deal, and argues that Netanyahu is rooting for a Trump victory. Plus, she reacts to a truly terrible clip from the Israeli podcast “Two Nice Jewish Boys.”00:00 Intro00:58 Jake Sullivan HATES that China chooses diplomacy14:58 The New Russiagate25:11 Sarit Michaeli interview26:01 What's happening in the West Bank?29:04 R*pe in the name of God33:42 Netanyahu erases the West Bank37:56 Israel's real goal43:07 Welcome to Hell47:44 Is r*pe legitimate?50:01 International Court of Justice56:17 The Biden Admin Doesn't Care1:01:21 Does Netanyahu prefer Harris or Trump?Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full interview with Danièle Obono: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/extended-episode-frances-neoliberal?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Thursday Throwdown: CNN is offended that Palestinians wanted to speak at the DNC https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/cnn-is-offended-that-palestinians?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webFor $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at www.usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.If you want to experience smoother digestion, a boost of energy, and an overall healthier body go to roundhouseprovisions.com/USEFUL for up to 44% off your regular-priced order plus a 90-day, money-back guarantee!In the name of democracy, neoliberal French President Emmanuel Macron is thwarting democracy in a move that some are calling a coup.The French left coalition, The New Popular Front, shocked the nation (and Macron) when they won the elections in July. Usually this would mean that a leftist candidate becomes the Prime Minister. But in the name of “institutional stability,” Macron is refusing to allow this to happen.So, the leftist France Unbowed party, a member of the New Popular Front, is calling for mass demonstrations on September 7.Our guest, France Unbowed Member of Parliament Danièle Obono, joins Useful Idiots to explain it all: “It's very disrespectful to the voters that their government would not actually be serious about what they voted for. They voted for us because our platform is to implement changes, to raise the minimum wage, to rebuild social services, to fund healthcare and education and environmental policy, to provide shelter and legal papers to migrant people. The voters should be respected.”But, Obono vows, “they won’t succeed in silencing millions of people.”Obono also criticizes Macron for cozying up to France’s fascist far right: “People [are] quite shocked that he would agree with the far right. It triggered something very deep within the people because the National Rally is an actual fascist party. They target migrant people, Muslim people. People feared for their lives, for the future of their kids.”Subscribe for the full interview with MP Danièle Obono where she explains how Macron plans to use the far-right to launch a coup, how her comments about Hamas incited a government probe on her, and why France just arrested Telegram founder Pavel Durov.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Watch Monday Mourning with Rania Khalek: The Cops are Ready for the DNC https://youtube.com/live/U3ZaFJUi6W0?feature=shareWatch Thursday Throwdown: Everyone's laughing at you, CNN https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/everyones-laughing-at-you-cnn?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webFor $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at www.usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Go to mymorningkick.com/useful and watch Chuck Norris's video on how you can see incredible changes to your health.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full interview with Ghadi Francis: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/the-real-hezbollah-with-lebanese?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Everyone's laughing at you, CNN https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/everyones-laughing-at-you-cnn?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webFor $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at www.usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Go to mymorningkick.com/useful and watch Chuck Norris's video on how you can see incredible changes to your health.Western media presents Hezbollah as a group of savages, targeting civilians and trying to drag Lebanon, and the entire Middle East, into war.But, Lebanese journalist Ghadi Francis explains, this couldn’t be further from the truth: “The armed resistance in Lebanon and in Palestine and in Yemen and in Iraq is just the reaction to the decades of oppression, to the decades of blood.”And though Ghadi doesn’t share Hezbollah’s ideology, she is grateful for it: “The ideology gives so much confidence to these fighters and patience and resilience to their families.” And she is grateful that Hezbollah is fighting to protect her, the Lebanese people and the Palestinian people. “The concept of resistance, it's the concept of life, to give my kids a future that I couldn't have.”Ghadi warns against trusting Western media. “After the 40 beheaded imaginary Israeli babies,” why would we “still believe them?”Social media is revealing the truth that traditional media has been covering up: “You are seeing now the tremendous videos and feeds coming out from Gaza. I tell you, this is not new. The same things have been happening, but cameras weren't there and social media wasn't there.”Although Hezbollah and other resistance movements are painted as instigating violence, they are reacting to it. “The armed resistance in Lebanon and in Palestine and in Yemen and in Iraq is just the reaction to the decades of oppression, to the decades of blood.”Israel’s terrorism is presented as self defense, while Hezbollah’s self defense is presented as terrorism. But “when someone else is killing your infants, you’d have to be like God or a prophet to be able to forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive, decade after decade after decade.”Subscribe for the full interview with Ghadi Francis on the difference between how Israel and Hezbollah fight wars, the growing desperation in the west that could lead to a ceasefire, and her own experience in Hamas’s tunnels.00:00 Intro01:08 Aaron's hate crime04:56 Blinken celebrates the Geneva Conventions17:48 Ghadi Francis interview18:26 What is resistance?22:12 Who is Hezbollah?27:06 Does Hezbollah have support in Lebanon?31:43 Is Iran behind it all?36:40 The role of Hamas41:26 The ideology of Hezbollah46:36 How Israel fights vs how Hezbollah fightsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full interview with Rami Khouri: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/extended-interview-is-israel-about?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webRead Rami Khouri's new book Understanding Hamas: https://orbooks.com/catalog/understanding-hamas/Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Is Tim Walz anti-Semitic for not being Josh Shapiro? https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/is-tim-walz-anti-semitic-for-not?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webFor $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at www.usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Go to mymorningkick.com/useful and watch Chuck Norris's video on how you can see incredible changes to your health.“The colonial era never ended in the Middle East. The colonial spirit that drives white, Northern, European, American, military-industrial, racist, apartheid, Christian powers is still with us.”Palestinian-American journalist Rami Khouri, who is a Distinguished Public Policy Fellow at the American University of Beirut and author of the new book Understanding Hamas, has been reporting on conflicts in the Middle east for 55 years. “And the most striking thing to me in that entire period is what we're witnessing today.”This week the world is watching the potential face-off between an Israeli-American alliance against a new alliance of forces in the Middle East. Will Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran trigger a regional war?Khouri explains how the tumultuous history in the region brought us to where we are today, and he points a finger at not just nation states and governments, but Western media:“The mainstream media has played such a central role propagating the various lies and exaggerations and racist stereotypes that have kept this conflict going for so long.”And they don’t just report on war. They profit off it. “We have to not be drawn into the CNN, New York Times, MSNBC fantasy world of cartoon-like diplomacy, and the projection of the US as the great provider of peaceful life and democracy in the face of these barbaric Muslims and Arabs and Iranians. This is a fantasy world that has been created in the West, and a lot of people made a lot of money out of it.”So we asked Rami Khouri: will all this lead to a new war in the Middle East?Subscribe to hear his full answer, plus how Israel has repeatedly rejected peace deals, the difference between Judaism and Zionism, how to properly understand Hamas, and the one way to end this occupation:“The Israelis have revealed, in all its ugliness, the barbaric, violent spirit that is their Zionist movement in the genocide in Gaza. There has to be an international mechanism to force Israel to do what it has never done.”Thanks for supporting independent media. Subscribe for the full episode.00:00 Intro01:24 White House helps AIPAC take out progressives19:15 Rami Khouri interview20:13 Israel vs Iran27:49 Does Israel want Iran to attack?42:20 Israel's violent worldview48:40 Will they EVER accept a peace deal?Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full interview with Anya Parampil: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/extended-episode-us-media-is-hiding?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Thursday Throwdown: The State Dept Doesn't Know What a War Crime Is https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/the-state-dept-doesnt-know-what-a?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webFor $6 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and bonus content at www.usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Go to mymorningkick.com/useful and watch Chuck Norris's video on how you can see incredible changes to your health.When the US government has been running a decades-long regime-change operation, sabotaging another country with shadow governments and crippling sanctions, it’s hard to take anything it says about the country’s leaders at face value. Which is why, as Venezuela held elections this week and corporate media shouted reports of stolen elections, dictatorship, and civil war, you might find yourself asking:Is any of this actually true?Journalist Anya Parampil, author of the new book Corporate Coup: Venezuela and the End of US Empire, documents the bipartisan efforts of the last four US presidents to destroy Venezuela’s economy enough to remove its leaders from power and instate a US-backed puppet as head of state.“You can't deny,” she says, “what was an orchestrated demolition of the Venezuelan economy on behalf of foreign powers.” And while we hear repeatedly from corporate media that the problems come from within Venezuela, whether it’s dictatorship, gangs, or corruption, Anya points out a basic truth:“Coming at it from the point of an American, I'm not going to intervene in your country at all, and beyond that all I know is that their lives would be better if the sanctions were lifted.”She explains why, even after the constant meddling of neocons like John Bolton and Gargamel-doppelganger Elliot Abrams, the piracy of the country’s oil, and the destruction of countless people’s lives with harsh sanctions, the US has still been unsuccessful in regime change.Subscribe to hear the full interview with Anya Parampil where she details how each US president from Bush to Biden made efforts to derail Venezuela’s economy, how these efforts have actually created the immigration problems they love to complain about, and Anya’s epic 2019 interview with Tucker Carlson which led to a call from then-President Trump.00:00 Intro00:35 Lindsey Graham wants to bomb Iran and Trump falls in love15:09 Anya Parampil interview16:38 WTF happened in Venezuela this week?23:43 Who is the opposition?29:13 The US role37:32 A visit from Gargamel45:49 Is it Venezuela's fault?Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy