Scared of our Own Shadow

The Biden administration has unleashed a frontal assault on free speech, using allegations of Russian interference in US elections as justification to ban Russian media from operating inside the United States, and criminalizing the actions of Americans such as myself who dare provide a platform for Russian voices to heard by a broader American audience.

While I have, to date, not appeared in any of the indictments (nor do I expect to, since I have done nothing illegal), several Russian and Russian-Americans have, along with various Russian organizations. As expected, speculation in the mainstream media as well as social media runs wild regarding the scope and scale of the alleged Russian interference. This has caused me to reflect on how far off-kilter America has found itself, where a politicized judiciary clearly seeking to tip the forthcoming election away from the challenger, and to the hand-picked successor to the incumbent, is ignored while allegations made by this politicized judiciary about paid propaganda are treated at face value.

Scott will discuss this article and answer audience questions on Ep. 191 of Ask the Inspector.

(A quick reminder that all of the persons and organizations that have been indicted so far on criminal charges are Russians or Russian-Americans who reside in Russia and, as such, are outside the reach of American law enforcement and most likely not going to engage in an adversarial challenge of the charges in a US court of law, allowing the US government and its compliant minions in the mainstream media to treat the allegations as fact.)

Amidst revelations of multi-million dollar deals where influencers were paid $100,000 a week to produce video content, and on-air hosts given million dollar salaries along with other perks, my relationship with Russian state-owned media pales into insignificance, contracted as an outside contributor compensated with what now, by comparison, seems a paltry $250-280 per item published, with the total amount received amounting to less than 7% of my total annual income.

Apparently, my negotiating skills are lacking—rather than insisting that I would not consider any offer under $5 million, I was content with compensation that matched the industry “norm” of between $150-300 per item published. Earlier this year, when RT thought that my interest in contributing had waned, they offered to double the price paid per article; I declined, insisting that we adhere to the letter of our agreement.

The author in the radio studio of Komsomolskaya Pravda

The value of my interaction with Russian media, both in terms of publishing with RT and Sputnik, as well as appearing on programs of a wide range of other Russian media outlets, came from the connections made, and the resulting ability to meet and interact with Russian officials, politicians, diplomats, academics, military officers, analysts, experts, and people on the street. I view my Russian media interaction as part and parcel of my entire Russia experience—a critical aspect of the immersive activities I engaged in when traveling to Russia in 2023 and early 2024. The Russian journalists I encountered were professionals in every sense of the word, and by subjecting myself to their queries, I learned much about the Russian mindset and how it shaped Russian sensibilities and priorities.

I am struck by the intensity of the Department of Justice’s campaign—and by extension, that of the Biden administration—against Russian media. Not only is it a gross politicization of the judiciary, singling out as it does one candidate (Donald Trump) as being the recipient—unwitting or otherwise—of Kremlin efforts to tip the scale of democracy in his favor, but it builds walls between the American people and their Russian counterparts at a time when bridges are desperately needed.

Back during the Cold War, when the US and the Soviet Union were locked in an ideological contest of existential proportions, the strategy of the United States was to encourage the American people to actively learn about the Soviet Union. Then we were confident in who we were as a nation, and unafraid to pit our way of life against any other. We also trusted in the ability of the American people to discern fact from fiction, and to be able to make decisions free from foreign interference.

Encounter Magazine, a CIA-funded literary and cultural challenge to Soviet ideology

The CIA engaged in this culture war using traditional black propaganda. But it also funded and helped direct a center-left literary magazine, Encounter, which sought to win over elements of western society deemed vulnerable to Soviet propaganda by engaging the intellect, not by denying it.

The CIA also funded the work of the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, or FBIS, which, from 1967 until it was dissolved in 2005, monitored foreign mass media transmitted by radio, television, and print which was then translated and bound together in unclassified publications which were made available to government and military customers, as well as academic audiences (the material was not freely distributed to the American public due to copyright concerns.)

The FBIS was a CIA open-source intelligence activity that operated from 1967 until 2005

The point is that there was a time when people who were interested in learning fact-based information about the Soviet adversary were encouraged to do so without fear of sanction or hostile legal proceeding. I graduated from college in 1984 and was commissioned into the Marines that same year. During this time, I completed my Russian history degree, which included defending an honors thesis which required me to do a deep dig on Russian and Soviet military theory. I also authored an academic article on Soviet history which required the use of primary research materials. At no time was I hindered, either directly or indirectly, with this work, even though the Soviet Union, in 1984, was carrying out a massive intelligence-driven effort to prevent Ronald Reagan from gaining a second term. The Reagan administration was aware of this Soviet effort and took measures to monitor and counter it. But at no time did they seek to silence the Soviet voice, or deny the American people access to information about the Soviet Union and its people.

Under Ronald Reagan, America was comfortable with what it represented as a nation, warts and all.

One cannot say the same about the present day.

Not only is the Biden administration scared of its own shadow when it comes to trusting the American people to form independent political opinions about the candidates for office, they are concerned that, if allowed to do so, the American people may very well vote in favor of their political opponent(s). As such, the tactics embraced to prevent this outcome combine the age-old concept of yellow journalism to smear their opponents, and a politicized judiciary to silence voices of dissent.

The Ukrainian government views the Author as a “top Western expert” pushing Russian narratives

In the case of myself and other vocal critics of the Biden administration’s Russia policy, the US government has taken to neutering the First Amendment right of free speech by—literally—contracting out the work to foreign powers. The State Department, using taxpayer dollars allocated by Congress for this express purpose, has funded and directed the creation and work of the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD), a Ukrainian agency which has, as its first order of business, published a so-called “blacklist” of persons, including many Americans (including myself) it describes as Russian propogandists. The CCD, again with funding and organizational support, has moved to label those on the list as “information terrorists” who should be subjected to the same sanctions as actual terrorists, up to and including the use of extrajudicial assassination to silence them.

I feature prominently in the work of the CCD, as well as other Ukrainian “lists,” such as the Miratvoretz (“peacekeepers”) hit list, which literally marks those on it for assassination. It would be curious to see the extent to which the concerns of the CCD and Ukrainian intelligence about my work were transmitted to the State Department, CIA, and FBI, and to what extent the US government acted on these concerns, up to and including whether or not the underlying information contained in the affidavits submitted for establishing probable cause to execute a search warrant on my home originated from Ukraine.

Gerald Celente

On September 28 I will be participating in a peace rally in Kingston, New York, organized by Gerald Celente. I will be joined by other concerned Americans, including Judge Andrew Napolitano, Maz Blumenthal, and Anya Parampil. We will be discussing a number of issues pertinent during this election year, including the threat of nuclear war, the conflict in Gaza, the assault on free speech, and the status of the peace movement in America today. I view this rally as the jumping off point for what I am calling “Operation DAWN,” a campaign to help inject the issue of nuclear war and the necessity for peace into the American political dialogue by encouraging American voters not to give their vote away, but rather make the candidates earn it by holding their feet to the fire on important issues such as these.

The Russian government, or any Russian proxy, is not involved in this effort whatsoever.

However, an important component of this exercise is to breathe life into the words of President John F. Kennedy who, in his commencement address to the students and faculty of American University in June 1963 declared, “No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue…we can still hail the Russian people for their many achievements—in science and space, in economic and industrial growth, in culture and in acts of courage.”

But we can only hail these achievements—and by extension gain insight into the humanity of the people who accomplished them—if we allow ourselves to be open to the concept of free interaction between people.

Today, the Justice Department and the Biden administration seeks to promote rampant Russophobia amongst the American people by keeping them ignorant of the Russian reality. This is done by silencing Russian voices and criminalizing any effort undertaken by Americans to enable these voices to be heard.

This is where things stand today.

I, for one, am very worried about how things will look tomorrow.