[Peace-discuss] How powerful is the fear of being smeared?

[J.B. Nicholson]

In https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFkG8y57RP8 Aaron Mate talks about Democracy Now's 
lack of coverage of the OPCW leakers (now numbering 4) which get extensive coverage 
on The Grayzone but zero coverage in Democracy Now after May 2019. It's almost the 
1-year anniversary since DN reported on 
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/23/leaked_opcw_report_raises_new_questions 
discussing only one leaked report, and nothing on the other 3 leakers or the context 
that has irrevocably changed our view of that alleged gas attack in Douma, Syria.

We've seen the self-styled 'war and peace report' go from "[leading] the way on 
pushing back on the Iraq war lies, [to] seeing them enrolled in pushing lies used to 
justify war on places like Syria" (quoting Aaron Mate from 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFkG8y57RP8). Mate is referring to the aforementioned 
link which is DN's nearly year-old interview with Brian Whitaker who tries to 
minimize the first leaked OPCW report which contradicts the official OPCW report 
claiming there was a Douma, Syria gas attack. This alleged attack was used as the 
basis for a coordinated US, UK, and French missile attack into Douma. Following that 
shameful interview there's nothing from DN on the subsequent OPCW leaks which all 
contradict the OPCW's official report and thus undermine the subsequent coordinated 
missile attack.

DN is promoting the very thing that entire newscast was ostensibly established to 
challenge, and this is one of the two main reasons Mate left DN (the other being DN's 
pro-Russiagate coverage which, by the way, is also pro-war as Russiagate claims are 
used to justify anti-Russian sanctions and sanctions are war).

Why did DN change?

The reason Mate gives as his "most charitable interpretation" as to why DN would fall 
so far going from anti-war to pro-war happens to be the same reason Sanders is said 
to obey the Democratic Party (serving now as their 2-time sheepdog) -- fear of being 
smeared. Here's Mate's complete quote on this:

 From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFkG8y57RP8
> Aaron Mate: I can speculate on the reasons, I just like to think that-- my best
> interpretation-- my most charitable interpretation is that people are just
> credulous and not thinking enough, and they're being intimidated by fear of being
> smeared. And this is why I do what I do: is I want them to change, I want them to
> remember who they are and what they're about. Same thing with The Intercept which
> basically started with the leaks from Edward Snowden, a whistleblower. The
> Intercept [has] always prided itself on championing whistleblowers, that's what
> they do. Now where are they in relation to these two-- now four whistleblowers--
> but the two main ones, the inspectors who were involved in the Douma
> investigation, why are they silent on these whistleblowers? And by the way, when
> whistleblowers come forward, and even adversarial outlets are silent on them,
> you're actually putting them in danger. There's a long history of whistleblowers
> being bullied and what saves them is when there's light on the abuses that they're
> blowing the whistle on. And when the media ignores their stories and their plight
> it actually puts them in danger. In the case of the OPCW it's particularly serious
> because there's a long history of the US bullying the OPCW and even threatening
> people. So, for example, Jose Bustani, who was the OPCW's first Director-General,
> there's a famous story and you can find it in Democracy Now or on The Intercept
> where back when the Bush administration was going to war on Iraq, Jose Bustani was
> the head of the OPCW and he was trying to push for inspections and the OPCW's
> involvement. John Bolton, then serving under Bush, personally threatened Bustani
> and his family saying 'we know where your kids live' and they successfully forced
> Bustani out. And that also shut Bustani up for a while, though he's recently
> started to tell his story a little bit more and there's-- you can go through case
> by case. So when the media, in the face of seeing whistleblowers being intimidated
> and whistleblowers being silenced, when the media goes along with it, it's
> especially-- like whistleblowing advocates like [Deanna?] like the Intercept, it's
> harmful to these whistleblowers' safety. It's really shameful. I'm gonna keep
> calling it out until they change. I'm hopeful that they will.
And as Jimmy Dore points out, DN is now "running a protection racket for progressive 
politicians instead of pressuring them and exposing them and making them do better, 
they're actually-- they [progressive politicians] know they can count on them 
[progressive news outlets] to lie for them just like Sean Hannity lies for Donald 
Trump which is really shocking to see.". The recent DN interview with 'squad' member 
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is a prime example where Rep. Omar acknowledges the harm the 
bailout bill will cause and then says she'll vote for it:

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/27/rep_ilhan_omar_coronavirus_relief_bill
 > Rep. Ilhan Omar: [...] And I think this crisis and this pandemic really lays bare
 > the kind of inequalities that have existed for far too long in our country. And
 > the conversations we’re having right now as we put forth our third relief package
 > shows us that there is often a prioritization of corporate interests and often not
 > a prioritization of the interests of the people.
 >
 > So, today I plan on voting for this bill, not because it’s perfect or it’s
 > sufficient, but because I think, in a time where we are facing one of the largest
 > crises we’ve faced in our country, it’s going to be really important for us to do
 > everything that we can to protect the lives and the livelihoods of the people of
 > this country. My home state, just in 10 days, there has been 165,000 people who
 > filed for unemployment insurance. And nationwide, as you said, it’s 3.3 million.
 > And so we have to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to deliver
 > relief.

Goodman offered no objections in response.