JOHNSTONE

The decay of western civilization is unfolding in real time right in front of our eyes. Israel has ramped up its assault on the West Bank with an incursion the likes of which has not been seen since 2002, at the same time we learn that the Biden administration has been scrambling to increase its weapons shipments to Israel. Haaretz reports that August has been the second-busiest month for weapons shipments from the US to Israel's Nevatim Airbase, second only to October 2023. This is the same Biden administration that Americans have been assured is working "tirelessly" and "around the clock" for a ceasefire in Gaza. They're committing genocide and lying about it while laughing and grinning and celebrating the "joy" of the Kamala Harris campaign. Reading by Tim Foley. Article version: https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/theres-no-good-news-in-the-unfolding

The US knows Israel has nuclear weapons but simply pretends it does not know this. The US knows it's Netanyahu sabotaging a peace deal but simply pretends Hamas is the real obstacle. The US knows Israel is committing genocide but simply pretends that saying this is antisemitic. The US knows Israel is deliberately targeting civilians but simply pretends to believe it is exclusively targeting Hamas. The US knows Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza which make it illegal to send them weapons, but simply pretends it hasn't seen solid evidence of this. The US knows Israel will never agree to a two-state solution but simply pretends to believe a two-state solution is right around the corner. The US knows there can never be peace and stability in the middle east as long as Israel exists in the way that it exists, but simply refuses to acknowledge this self-evident fact. US policy on Israel is to simply refuse to acknowledge self-evident realities which can be immediately observed with the naked eye. It's pretending to believe up is down, day is night, and a spade is a pineapple, while privately knowing that none of these things are the case. It maintains the status quo through narrative control, and it maintains narrative control through tenaciously feigned ignorance. Reading by Tim Foley.

You don't get to vote on whether wars, militarism and imperialism should continue. You don't get to vote on whether your government should engage in nuclear brinkmanship with Russia and China. You don't get to vote on whether your government should keep systems in place which ensure the destruction of our biosphere. You don't get to vote on whether your government should be continuously working to subvert and destroy any nation anywhere on earth who dares to disobey its commands. Reading by Tim Foley.

As Americans become more and more discontented with the abusive nature of their nation's government, a man has shown up who leads both Democrats and Republicans to believe that the best way to stick it to the man is to take a highly emotional position either for him or against him. When really whether he wins or loses couldn't matter less to those with real power. Reading by Tim Foley.

What they are saying is that they believe Israel should murder children, decapitate them, rip their guts out, dismember them, mutilate them, burn them alive, every single day, until its military demands are submitted to. They are also probably saying that they personally would help Israel do these things to children if circumstances permitted. Reading by Tim Foley.

The reason I find myself fighting with both Harris supporters and Trump supporters is because they see the other party as the problem while I see the US empire itself as the problem. They seek to make things better by ensuring that the empire is under the correct management, while I seek the end of the empire. Reading by Tim Foley.

The reason I criticize the Democrats so much can be explained in the aphorism “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” The Democratic Party exists to ensure that good people will do nothing. Gaza is such a perfect example of this. When Instagram progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez promulgates the blatant lie that Kamala Harris is “working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza,” the result is that people who trust AOC will relax and stop pushing for an end to the genocide. They’ve been told by the congresswoman who’s been marketed as standing as far to the left as anyone can reasonably be that the current administration can be trusted to take care of this thing, so all they need to do to save Gaza is vote for the vice president in November. Reading by Tim Foley.

Weep, sisters, for the child with the blown-out skull, for the other child burned alive, for the limp, lifeless, tiny bodies and the piles of unrecognizable carnage. Weep, brothers, for the cackling politicians, for the apathetic westoids, for the human drones chanting "We love Joe" and the DNC attendees covering their ears to avoid hearing the names of murdered children in Gaza. Weep for this fraud-faced civilization, this microplastics civilization, this OnlyFans civilization, this Moloch civilization Ginsberg wrote about in Howl, this civilization with enormous forced grins  over plates full of shredded children in selfies with AOC and Tim Walz. Weep with careless abandon. Weep til the sobbing wrings you out like a sponge. Weep with head back, screaming sloppy and snot-nosed, ribcage splayed open to the heavens and human heart beating unguarded and unhidden. There are no answers in the weeping. There are no solutions in the tears. There is only the release of something that needs release, and an act of sacred solidarity, and an act of unauthorized humanity, and the small, private victory of having gone one more breath without being assimilated by the machine. Reading by Tim Foley.

The difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans will kill a million Palestinians and say they’re doing it so Jesus will come back, whereas Democrats will kill a million Palestinians while making noises with their mouths like “ceasefire” and “two-state solution”. That’s basically it; one does an evil thing in an evil way, while the other does the same evil thing in a much more photogenic way. Republicans want to kill Muslims for evil reasons like claiming they’re all terrorists and irredeemable heathens, while Democrats want to kill Muslims for nice guy reasons like helping Israel defend itself and bringing peace and stability to the region. They both want to kill middle eastern civilians, but one of them will kill middle eastern civilians in ways that let liberals feel good about themselves. It’s just a classic good-cop, bad-cop routine. One plays your friend and the other plays your enemy, depending on what end of America’s fake ideological divide you happen to land on. But really they both want the same thing — in this case to murder people around the world with total impunity without sparking domestic unrest. Reading by Tim Foley.

When you're siding with John Bolton on whether to bomb Iran, you're as insanely hawkish as it gets. Reading by Tim Foley.