Useful Idiots

Pre-order Aaron’s new book on the Ukraine war “Their Blood, Our Bullets.”

Vice President JD Vance went on Joe Rogan’s podcast this week and surprisingly took some big shots at an unnamed target who sounds suspiciously close to President Donald Trump, who has bragged about taking large sums of money from Israel donors like Miriam Adelson, got manipulated by Israelis like Benjamin Netanyahu, and continued to bomb Iran amidst the peace deal his administration worked to reach.

See if JD’s comments sound familiar:

I don’t actually mind that certain elements of the Israeli government want to criticize the [Iran] deal or have disagreements about the deal. I don’t even mind an effort to try to influence [us]. Foreign governments try to influence the United States all the time.

What bothers me is when American leadership allows that influence to affect their judgment and to affect what they are advocating for. That’s what really bothers me.

When I open up the pages of Time magazine and I see that there’s a literal foreign influence campaign being funded to tank the very deal that I was pursuing… my response to that is, well, ‘go to hell.’

After telling (maybe) President Trump to go to hell, Vance continues on, calling out (maybe) President Trump, who most recently bombed a children’s hospital in Iran, for using the military over diplomacy.

There are people who are super hawkish in the American system who have attacked the deal and frankly in some ways have tried to derail the deal. What I always say to those people is: ‘What is your proposal? What is your actual argument?’

But the people who are like, ‘You cannot negotiate with the Iranians,’ the reason why that’s fundamentally idiotic is because so long as you have some person who’s willing to fire off a few cheap drones, you’re going to have some ship captains who say, ‘No, no, no. We’re not willing to do this.’

So, we got to use all tools at our disposal. The military is one tool, but diplomacy is another tool. And I’m very frustrated by the Americans who are like, ‘You cannot negotiate with the Iranians.’

So what you’re saying, JD, is “President Trump is an idiot who can go to hell.”

Don’t miss our weekly recap of the craziest moments in corporate media:

Watch this week’s Monday Mourning here:

Senator Lindsey Graham, who was scheduled to appear on Meet the Press Sunday, died suddenly this weekend. The corporate Sunday shows paused everything to heap praise on one of the most depraved people to ever sit in government.

Just listen to Face the Nation’s Margaret Brennan giving an emotional tribute:

“A note on Senator Lindsey Graham, a fierce Ukraine supporter who had just returned from his tenth trip to that war zone at what was a key moment for one of his proudest accomplishments. On the phone Friday, he told me it was a big day: he was excited to share the news that the Trump White House had finally given him the green light for…”

(Is she gonna say a peace deal to save innocent Ukrainians?? Is she??)

“…for Congress to move his long-sought bill to put significant financial” sanctions on Russia.

She says it with such heartfelt passion that it’s almost hard to tell that his final act was to ruthlessly starve more Russians in a ploy to extend the war and, in doing so, kill more Ukrainians.

Even President Trump called in to the Sunday shows to pay tribute. Here’s what he told CNN’s Jake Tapper:

“I wanted to see the war with Ukraine end very quickly. I think he was more into, you know, keeping it going, frankly.”

Every now and then Trump does tell the truth.

From Lindsey Graham propaganda to Ro Khanna’s detainment by Israeli settlers to Jake Tapper bending the knee to President Trump, this Monday Mourning is jam-packed with BSing pundits and politicians. To support our work and get bonus content, please consider subscribing to our show:

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Pre-order Aaron’s new book on the Ukraine war “Their Blood, Our Bullets.”

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Subscribers get our recap of the craziest in corporate media, the Friday Free-for-All:

This week we have a powerhouse panel on Useful Idiots: Professor Sami al-Arian and investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill of DropSite News, who join us to analyze Trump’s wars in West Asia.

The breaking news is that Trump is renewing the bombing of Iran, insulting its leaders, and threatening to take out more civilian infrastructure, all while Israel is allowed to continue its genocide in Gaza as well as steal and destroy land in Lebanon.

Useful Idiots: Trump has said the deal is likely over. So where are we with the state of war against Iran?

Sami al-Arian: The deal was basically an admission by the United States that it’s been defeated. It is surrender in all points. And I think the Zionists have upped the pressure against this administration, which has been beholden to it for whatever reason. They were trying to find justification to renege on this deal.

But regardless, there is nothing that the US could do to defeat Iran. There is nothing that it could do to achieve its objectives, which is basically regime change, regime collapse, breakup of the country, and to reverse its advanced scientific achievements in nuclear power or in missiles or even to stop its support of its allies in the region.

None of these objectives were reached in the first thirty-nine days of the war and they are very unlikely to be reached again.

Jeremy Scahill: What we’ve seen since Trump took this deal is that he has not been able to effectively spin his victory-narrative on this thing. This is the latest iteration of the Trump pattern, which is that he’s flailing around like a child throwing a tantrum and threatening.

And the more he escalates it, the more it becomes clear that he is in the quagmire of all quagmires in this situation. One thing that we have to be always concerned about is that Trump is a very erratic character. I wouldn’t put it past him to authorize a much more significant escalation of the bombing against Iran.

My understanding from Iranian officials is that if that happens, if a Rubicon is crossed and it becomes a full-blown war again, that Iran’s response to this in the Persian Gulf and aimed at Israel is going to exceed what it did in the initial weeks when it fought the United States and Israel to a point where Trump was the one essentially begging for some kind of a deal.

Watch our full, unpaywalled interview with Professor Sami al-Arian and Jeremy Scahill. Please consider subscribing to support our work and watch the ad-free version of the show.

Subscribers also get the Friday Free-for-All: Analysis: Establishment Dems are seizing the Graham Platner scandal to slander progressives across primary elections

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Katie and Aaron deep dive on the Graham Platner scandal and how the Democratic establishment, instead of panicking over the boost given to Republican Senator Susan Collins, are celebrating his loss by using it to take down other progressive candidates.

The most clear case being Michigan progressive Abdul El-Sayed in his race against the certifiably-ridiculous Zionist Haley Stevens (who claimed that Israel comes to her in her dreams).

The Corporate Sunday Shows were on break this weekend which means no Monday Mourning:(

Instead, take this time to watch Abby Martin's incredible new documentary, Earth's Greatest Enemy:

https://createsend.com/t/i-96F446CD3620EF692540EF23F30FEDED

We'll be back with new episodes later this week!

Watch Abby Martin’s new film, Earth’s Greatest Enemy: https://createsend.com/t/i-96F446CD3620EF692540EF23F30FEDED

Subscribe for the full interview at the bottom of the page. Watch a free preview here:

Subscribers also get our Friday Free-for-All:

Friend-of-show Abby Martin, journalist and filmmaker behind the Empire Files, Gaza Fights for Freedom, and Cuba After Castro, returns to Useful Idiots on the premiere day of her bold new film: Earth’s Greatest Enemy.

The new documentary examines how the Pentagon, exempt from international climate agreements or emissions laws and rarely scrutinized in mainstream reporting, is the world’s single largest institutional polluter—spewing carbon, contaminating water, and scarring landscapes across the globe.

Martin went deep into Washington as well as into the communities and ecosystems it destroyed in order to expose the truth about the US military and put pressure on its most powerful conspirators, from bought-out politicians like Nancy Pelosi to squirming army officials to corporate profiteers like Palantir’s Alex Karp.

In this interview, Abby recounts the most shocking discoveries she and her team made while unraveling the story and filming where the military didn’t want them to be filming. She also reveals bonus secrets she uncovered that aren’t in the documentary, explains why a movie on such a serious topic is filled with biting gallows humor, and the real way that AI data centers are “going to literally kill us all.”

To watch our full interview with Abby Martin on what she found on her reporting trip to Israel (and the most racist Israelis she caught on camera), the truth about the US history of violence on Cuba and how she became the first US journalist to be granted a sit-down interview with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, and what Israeli military officers are doing in Venezuela after the US coup and a devastating earthquake in Caracas, please subscribe to our show.

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Plus, don’t miss our weekly recap of the worst people in corporate media, the Friday Free-for-All: CNN’s Jake Tapper Humiliated for Zohran Mamdani Meltdown

And check out Ground News, an awesome tool we found that helps us sift through the news and compare headlines to expose media bias. For an example, watch our comparison of two stories about Israel in today’s episode. Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world.

Thanks for supporting our work, subscribe to watch the full interview here:

After AIPAC-funded Congressman Dan Goldman lost his primary race to Zohran Mamdani-backed Brad Lander, Israel activist and CNN host Jake Tapper hosted Goldman to slander both Mamdani and Mahmoud Khalil.

Mahmoud Khalil, viewers will remember, was kidnapped by the Trump administration for leading anti-genocide protests at Columbia University, detained for over 100 days, and forced to miss the birth of his first child. Instead of supporting Khalil, which seems like the sensible way to oppose Trump (let alone the moral choice), Tapper and Goldman slander him, calling him out for antisemitic statements that of course they can’t name.

So as Tapper sides with Trump and Israel, Katie and Aaron take aim at their favorite Zionist target. It’s a mocking you don’t want to miss.

Also in this Friday Free-for-All: CNN’s Kasie Hunt strikes out after thinking she had the perfect gotcha question for Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, Fox News has no choice but to call out the Trump family for blowing Biden-family corruption out of the water after reports show they’ve profited over a billion dollars in cryptocurrency alone while in office, and Republicans freak out over Zohran Mamdani’s air conditioner.

Everybody’s being extra ridiculous this week. Katie and Aaron are swinging away. Thanks for supporting our work, subscribe to watch the full episode here: