We had a very lively call-in show today on The BradCast, as we stacked the deck with folks who disagree with me, in response to my calling out those, particularly on the (supposed) Left, for forwarding Kremlin propaganda (including at on our own flagship station, KPFK, here in Los Angeles), over our public airwaves, amid Russia’s deadly and grotesque war and war crimes against Ukraine. [Audio link to full show is posted below this summary.]
Before we get to that and to a bunch of callers on that topic…The midterm primary season gets under way in earnest this week — with Ohio and Indiana voters holding Election Day tomorrow. So, we’ve got a few quick words on that, and on the gerrymandered U.S. House District map that Republicans have managed to keep in play this year, even though it was found — four times to date! — to be in violation of the Ohio state Constitution by its state Supreme Court. But, as we discussed in detail last week, the GOP’s packed federal courts allowed the even more gerrymandered map drawn after 2010 to be used once again in this year’s election, as Ohio’s GOP-majority Redistricting Commission purposely ran out the clock on drawing new legal maps following the 2020 Census.
Then, it’s on to our main topic: Namely, Russia’s ongoing military invasion of its sovereign neighbor and the propaganda help Vladimir Putin is getting from some on the far-Left in this country who are lying and/or misinformed about it all. Hopefully, via at least some of the calls from listeners today, we straighten out at least some of what happens to be Kremlin propaganda and what is not.
It remains unclear some on the Left — who claim to be anti-war (like us), who were critical of the U.S. when we were the empire invading a sovereign nation (as we were) — are now having such a difficult time condemning Russia for doing the very same thing. Our anti-war position has been both accurate and consistent. As you’ll hear on today’s program, at least a few of our listeners seem to have a problem with that sort of consistency, choosing to blame the U.S. for Russia’s war.
Today’s lively conversation also comes as new polling from WaPo/ABC finds huge, bipartisan majorities of Americans support Joe Biden’s actions in Ukraine, including his vow to keep American troops out of the conflict, sanctions against Russia; and sending defensive weaponry, humanitarian and economic aid to Ukraine. Despite that, in the very same poll, only a minority of Americans say they support Joe Biden’s actions in Ukraine! Ya know, the same ones they previously said in the very same poll that they supported. Seriously. So, what’s going on here? We open the phones to callers to try and help us understand that puzzle as well today.
Among the lively calls, several who try to forward more Russia propaganda on Ukraine (it didn’t go well), and one who seemed disappointed, oddly enough, that the U.S. was trying to stay out of the direct conflict in hopes of avoiding a nuclear World War III.
As noted…a lively, but also kinda crazy program today with a lot of callers both fun and “fun”. So we expect you may enjoy it!…Or you won’t…
(Snail mail support to “Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028” always welcome too!)
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The Russian invasion is unjustified and reckless. But Brad seems to uncritically accept all the one-sided propaganda from U.S. imperialism and NATO. Brad talks about the Russian propaganda machine–billions of dollars worth he says–but nothing about that of the U.S./NATO. He says that Russia has caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths. While tragic, the UN latest figures are just over 3,000. One could go on. Do we really need to hear this on KPFK? We can get it on CNN or MSNBC. I for one will not listen to KPFK if it is a shill for the Democrats and the warmongers.
Putin (on the Ritz) is one of the biggest suppliers of pollution (The Authoritarianism of Climate Change – 3).
Hi Don!
Apologies if actual facts don’t line up with what you seem to want to believe. They are facts none the less. But, let’s go through your note. You said…
That’s all? How about deadly and including myriad war crimes? (Not unlike, as I noted several times in the show you’re responding to, the U.S. in Iraq and elsewhere.)
Like what? I don’t believe you cited any examples. Feel free.
I don’t recall using the phrase “billions of dollars worth”. Nonetheless, that sounds about right, and I cited several examples of that Russian propaganda. What “propaganda” from the U.S./NATO did I cite with which you take exception? You didn’t mention any.
I also don’t recall my specific reference to “tens of thousands of civilian deaths” and if I used that phrase to describe what has already occurred and/or what will occur. But just to add a bit more context to the numbers you cite above — The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reports today that there are “6,546 civilian casualties in the country: 3,193 killed and 3,353 injured,” many of whom are women and children, as they break down at that link.
Perhaps you didn’t read the entire page, but closer to the bottom it says [emphasis added]:
Looking at Mariupol, just one of the three listed among the examples from the OHCHR above where they say they have not been able to get numbers, the Mayor of Mariupol said that he believes more than 10,000 civilians have died there as bodies of Mariupole’s people “carpeted through the streets.”
That was from April 11, almost three weeks ago, and the seige on Mariupol has continued throughout that time.
I don’t have the time to look up estimates from Izium, Popasana or any of the other locations where the OHCHR says they do not yet have numbers.
Then there are some 10 million civilians dislocated, forced to flee their homes and to other countries, thanks to Putin’s unprovoked war on Ukraine. But, what was your complaint again?
Please do. Because you’ve yet to counter anything I reported or said with any actual independently verifiable information that supports whatever you complaint seems to be.
Of course, I can’t speak for KPFK, but I’m sorry if you don’t like hearing actually verifiable facts on the air there when I am on. Good news, however! If you listen to the hour before me on KPFK you can hear a guy who actually works for a Kremlin-run “news” outlet, which pays him to be on their air two hours a day, five days a week — even though he doesn’t bother to mention that when he’s on KPFK misleading you with false and disinformative Russian talking points and propaganda. A clear conflict of interest like that seems worth disclosing when he’s discussing Russia’s war on Ukraine (which he does not call a “war”, because that’s unlawful for Russian media outlets). My complaint is not that he works there, but that he is not transparent with listeners about it (at all!)
You don’t feel that lack of transparency is worthy of your complaints?
For the record, I also don’t speak for CNN or MSNBC and am frequently critical of them (as I am of the U.S. Government when they are the ones invading a sovereign nation.) If any of them are telling the truth here and/or doing the right thing, I have no problem giving them credit for it.
I stand behind my accuracy and consistency and I’m happy to correct any error you feel I have made. And I thank you for your input.
This war has become a real dilemma—–Try to stop the fighting and work out a diplomatic solution, but maybe end up rewarding (Putin’s) aggression, which would not be a good precedent to set, OR, keep the fighting going in the hope Ukraine can “win”, but risk getting the entire country utterly destroyed, and having the war spread to other countries, and possibly even go nuclear. JMO, but I’d choose a diplomatic effort, and take my chances there. IMO, the risk to the world increases every day the war goes on.
It’s good to see Putin’s gov’t being held accountable for illegally invading a non-threatening smaller country pre-emptively.
Yeah, it’s a war crime. Unequivocally.
GW Bush&Co totally got away with THEIR 2003 war crime invasion based on those fake WMD lies.
Nice job, GOP.
Does this mean the condemnation we now deservedly aim at Putin&Co will also be aimed at the US, should it decide in the future that we just “have” to invade Iran, or maybe Venezuela, to “save democracy”?
In the future, I hope we can establish once and for all after Putin’s invasion, that this kind of thing is illegal, immoral and totally awful, and should be universally opposed, NO MATTER WHO DOES THE INVADING.