StarrNarrative

  Israel Moves Further Towards Religious Supremacy and Ultra-nationalism By David Starr Israel is moving more towards a Jewish theocracy based on the myth of religious supremacy and ultra-nationalism. In the Knesset (parliament), a bill was pushed through declaring Israel to be the nation of the Jewish people. This exclusiveness has Jews being citizens with equal rights, but at the expense of non-Jews. It amounts to Arabs being treated like second class citizens where some people are more equal than others. The nation-state law in the bottom line is for Jews only. Israel does not belong to non-Jews. And the bill further promotes the immigration of Jews to Israel. Carolina Landsmann wrote a piece published in Haaretz (January 16, 2022) which asserted that “The bill in fact provides a format conforming conversion with Jewish and Torah law – for the first time in Israeli law.” It sounds like the Israeli right is getting ahead of the United States’ Christian right in the effor...

  John Fetterman vs the ’Wizard’ of Oz By David Starr In the 1939 fantasy film, “The Wizard of Oz,” the wizard calls himself “great and powerful.” But it turns out that the wizard is not what he says he is. The wizard is a mere mortal trying to fool people. There is a similar scenario when looking at the Pennsylvania senate race where Democrat John Fetterman is going up against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, the latter trying to come across as a “true” Pennsylvanian and is “strong” and “knowledgeable” on the issues. But like the wizard in the movie, Dr. Oz is not what he says he is, turning out to be a phony. Oz has had celebrity status with his own show. He has been called “America’s doctor.” And he’s made Time’s list of the 100 most influential people. But all this sparkle does not make him the ideal candidate. Oddly enough, Oz has lived in New Jersey but is campaigning for the Pennsylvania senate seat. And this may not appeal to Pennsylvanian voters. John Fetterman is from...

  The Crusade on Critical Race Theory is Censorship By David Starr The right is obsessed with Critical Race Theory (CRT). It is hell-bent on censoring it where public schools are deprived of teaching students some inconvenient truths about the dark side of history in the United States. The censoring of CRT will deprive students of a chance to gain knowledge of the U.S.’s racism in the past and the overt and institutional racism of today; and how they connect. After all, present conditions are the results of past events. The past influences the present. It is cause and effect. In turn, censoring CRT will make students, and people in general, ignorant of why and how racism still exists today and thus will put obstacles in the way to finding out how to eliminate racism in the future. There is a group called the Alliance Defending Freedom. This entity published a “fact sheet” on October 4, 2021 and revised it on August 5, 2022 entitled “What is Critical Race Theory?” In its op...

  The CIA in Ukraine – Philip Agee Would Have Been Outraged By David Starr The U.S. establishment called the 2014 overthrow of president Victor Yanukovych in Ukraine a “revolution.” But given his commitment to social justice and equality, former CIA agent-turned-CIA-whistleblower Philip Agee would have known better. He would call it more accurately a violent, CIA-backed coup. Agee would have recognized the usual pattern within the United States’ imperialist, foreign policy: to protect U.S. interests in its attempt to make Ukraine a market satellite, even though the latter is on the other side of the world. Agee would have been aware of the imposition of private monopolies characteristic of capitalism, or what is called neoliberalism. The idea of taking advantage of the wealth, resources and labor in the former Soviet republic as it has done in other nations. Another familiar element in the imperial pattern would be the supporting of rights abusers in and out of government. ...

  The U.S. Empire’s Sanctions Are Basically Criminal By David Starr Economic sanctions are penalties imposed on commerce and financial relations and are usually intended to cut countries off from international relations and trade. --MADRE, Sanctions Are an Act of War , A Q & A about economic sanctions Before the 20 th century, the United States empire took little interest in imposing economic sanctions and embargoes on other countries. But during the 20 th century, the U.S. developed an obsession with these acts. The Cold War was a major factor, with U.S. leaders trying to stop the spread of “communism.” More to the point, it was really to impose regime change in other countries, whether or not a country was socialist. There have been various acts used by the U.S. involving sanctions and embargoes: There are laws used by the president of the U.S. for imposing embargoes such as   Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917; Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; Internationa...

Christian Nationalism = Theocratic Fascism By David Starr On July 23 rd in Tampa, Florida, the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit had Marjorie Taylor Greene speak on behalf of the reactionary cause of the religious right. It was a regressive farce.   Greene proudly declared herself a “Christian nationalist.” She said, “I’m a Christian. How many Christians do we have here? I also call myself a Christian nationalist and that’s not a bad word. That’s actually a good thing, right? I think that’s what the Republican Party should be about.” (Remember, Democrat Nancy Pelosi once said that we need a “strong Republican Party,” even though she opposed the Trumpites) It’s easy to translate the words “Christian nationalism” into what it really means: theocratic fascism. What Greene is really saying, whether she knows it or not, is that she is a theocratic fascist. Oh, she is sounding sincere about it, thinking that she and her ilk represent the will of U.S. citizens. But what th...

  The Wave of Propaganda from the Western Media Reporting on the Russia-Ukraine War By David Starr Ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, the western media has been full-throated in condemning Russia as evil incarnate. It has boiled the whole affair down to a black and white/good guy vs. bad guy scenario. It is, however, a pattern of behavior that is nothing new when the United States media especially has used negative propaganda against perceived enemies. It is not to say that Russia is totally innocent when it comes to the invasion. It is probably accurate to say that some Russians troops have committed rights abuses on the battlefield. But the western media has consistently used exaggerations and outright lies when reporting on the crisis. A lot of this has to do with the Ukrainian government, putting out atrocity stories that the western media has uncritically gobbled up. Journalist Caitlin Johnstone wrote (05/23/2022) in the Monthly Review th...