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Scott and Matt Taibbi look back at the 2024 election. They discuss the reason Trump was able to quickly return to form, Biden getting tossed out, the many weaknesses of Kamala Harris and, of course, how awful the media was. 

Discussed on the show:

• The Pentagon Wars (IMDb)
• “How America’s Accurate Election Polls Were Covered Up” (Racket News)
• Hate Inc. by Matt Taibbi

Matt Taibbi is a journalist, author and political commentator. Subscribe to his Substack publication: Racket News and follow him on Twitter @mtaibbi.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Roberts and Robers Brokerage Incorporated; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; Libertas Bella; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

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Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjY

Trevor Aaronson discusses the FBI’s dubious techniques for luring people into fake terrorist plots, which very often border on entrapment. In this case he takes up the story of two Americans involved in the “boogaloo” movement, who were approached by FBI agents masquerading as members of Hamas. The FBI was able to induce these young men into cooperating with a scheme that supposedly would have involved attacks on Israeli soldiers. Whether or not these two were at all likely to have committed crimes in the absence of FBI persuasion, Aaronson explains that they will almost certainly take some kind of plea deal and face serious time in prison, just because that’s the way the justice system is set up in such cases.

Discussed on the show:

• “Hamas Disavows FBI Sting Against Righ” (The Intercept)
• “Why the FBI had to pretend Hamas wanted to plot with ‘boogaloo boys’” (Washington Post)
• The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

Trevor Aaronson is a contributing writer for The Intercept and executive director of the nonprofit Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. He is the author of The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism. Find him on Twitter @trevoraaronson.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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Scott interviews Andrea Prasow about the war crimes and human rights violations being perpetrated by all sides in the war in Yemen. She reminds us that although civilians always suffer the most during war, this war has seen a particularly cruel strategy by the Saudis, supported by the U.S., of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and blocking the delivery of food and humanitarian aid. Also unlike most of America’s wars, congress has made several attempts to force an end to U.S. involvement, but so far President Trump has blocked them, claiming that our relationship with Saudi Arabia is good for America’s economy.

Discussed on the show:

• “U.S. War Crimes in Yemen: Stop Looking the Other Way” (Human Rights Watch)
• “Deadly Consequences – Obstruction of Aid in Yemen During Covid-19” (Human Rights Watch)
• “War Crime Risk Grows for U.S. Over Saudi Strikes in Yemen” (The New York Times)
• “Yemen: 900 airstrike and shelling hits on farms in three years” (Norwegian Refugee Council)
• “Report: Strategies of the Coalition in the Yemen War” (World Peace Foundation)

Andrea Prasow is Washington Director at Human Rights Watch. She frequently appears on domestic and international radio and television, and has published in a wide range of print and online media outlets, including Politico, The Hill and Foreign Policy. Follow her on Twitter @andreaprasow.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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Kevin Gosztola is back for another update on Julian Assange’s extradition hearing. A major focus of the last few days, he says, has been Assange’s mental health, including a brand new diagnosis of Asperger syndrome. The defense has argued that this, combined with serious depression, would make him unfit for high-security imprisonment and for certain kinds of questioning that he would likely have to undergo in the U.S. The defense has also continued to emphasize the insidious and illegal tactics employed by the U.S. government and its allies during Assange’s confinement in the Ecuadorean embassy, demonstrating that all along this has been about the deliberate targeting of a political enemy, not some disinterested quest for justice.

Discussed on the show:

• “Julian Assange Diagnosed With Asperger’s While in Prison” (Shadowproof)
• “US Prosecution Accuses Assange Of Exaggerating His Depression” (Shadoproof)
• “9/18/20 Joe Lauria: Day Nine of the Assange Extradition Hearing” (The Libertarian Institute)
• WikiLeaks World Tomorrow
• Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier
• “Underground: The Julian Assange Story (2012)” (IMDb)
• “Vault7” (WikiLeaks)
• “State Department Cables” (WikiLeaks)
• “JOHN KIRIAKOU: As Assange Faces Extradition, the State of US Prisons Grows Worse” (Consortium News)
• “Kabul War Diary” (WikiLeaks)
• “Baghdad War Diary” (WikiLeaks)
• “Collateral Murder” (WikiLeaks)
• “Exclusive images from inside British court expose Assange’s un-democratic treatment, physical deterioration” (The Grayzone)

Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, “Unauthorized Disclosure.” Follow him on Twitter @kgosztola.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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Scott inverviews Tom Secker about the immense influence that the police, the military, the intelligence agencies and, especially, the Department of Homeland Security wield in Hollywood. Secker describes the complicated process required for a writer or producer to include any material about the U.S. security state apparatus in a movie or TV show, detailing just how much creative control these agencies demand in exchange for information, shooting locations and special equipment—in other words, all the things that are necessary to complete a project involving one of these organizations at all. The result is that hugely popular shows and movies like Breaking Bad, Homeland and Lone Survivor end up being giant PR projects for the U.S. government.

Discussed on the show:

• “Homeland Security in Hollywood: How the Dept Controls Its Image On Screen” (Spy Culture)
• The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege…And How We Can Be Safe Again
  
• “Homeland (TV Series 2011–2020)” (IMDb)
• “The Punisher (TV Series 2017–2019)” (IMDb)
• “The Rookie (TV Series 2018– )” (IMDb)
• “Full Text of F.B.I. Agent’s Letter to Director Mueller” (The New York Times)
• “Lone Survivor (2013)” (IMDb)
• “Patriots Day (2016)” (IMDb)
• “Deepwater Horizon (2016)” (IMDb)
• “Dirty Harry (1971)” (IMDb)
• “The French Connection (1971)” (IMDb)
• “Dragnet (1987)” (IMDb)
• “Coyote (TV Series)” (IMDb)
• “The Shield (TV Series 2002–2008)” (IMDb)
• “Top Gun: Maverick (2020)” (IMDb)

Tom Secker is a British-based journalist, author, and podcaster specializing in the security services, Hollywood, propaganda, censorship and the history of terrorism. He is the author of National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood. Find him on Twitter @spyculture.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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Peter Van Buren discusses yet another development in the “Russiagate” story, one that he says exposes the whole thing for what it really is. He describes the way “media watchdog” groups will discover small, insignificant websites, come up with an excuse for why they seem to be connected to Russia and then get large platforms like Facebook and Twitter to ban those sites in the name of truth and accuracy. Then mainstream publications like the New York Times will run stories about the bans, and Democrats who want to keep the narrative alive can point to the mainstream media coverage as evidence that Russia is in fact interfering in America’s elections. Van Buren says that all of this nonsense simply reveals how out of touch the party and media elites are these days, since they think stories like this will greatly move regular people.

Discussed on the show:

• “Election Meddlers Find a Scapegoat” (The American Conservative)
• “2/28/20 Peter Van Buren on Russiagate II and the Coronavirus Panic” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “9/18/20 Nasser Arrabyee on the Continued Horrors of the War in Yemen” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “Dark web voter database report casts new doubts on Russian election hack narrative” (The Grayzone)
• Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden
• “Wag the Dog (1997)” (IMDb)
• “Anne Applebaum Interviews Peter Strzok” (The Atlantic)
• “Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’” (The Atlantic)
• “U.S. commander: Intel still hasn’t established Russia paid Taliban ‘bounties’ to kill U.S. troops” (NBC News)
• “Trump’s popularity slips in latest Military Times poll — and more troops say they’ll vote for Biden” (Military Times)
• “Wholesale Slaughter of Japanese Civilians in WWII Was Evil” (The American Conservative)
• “Trump Nobel Nomination: End the Peace Prize” (The Atlantic)

Peter Van Buren worked for 24 years at the Department of State including a year in Iraq. He is the author of We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People and the novel Hooper’s War. He is now a contributing editor at The American Conservative magazine.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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Scott talks to Dave Smith about the upcoming election and the role of the Libertarian Party in presidential politics. Both agree that the right move for the Party, given that it has essentially no chance of winning the presidency in the near future, is simply to spread the message of liberty to as many people as possible, just as Ron Paul did during his campaigns. Instead, the LP seems more focused on saying the politically correct thing, not offending too many people and accepting a few percentage points at the ballot box. This strategy is sure fail in waking people up to the radical message of libertarianism that our country so desperately needs. Scott and Smith also discuss the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the likely fallout from the Republicans’ attempts to install a new justice before January 2021.

Discussed on the show:

• “9/11/20 Ford Fischer on the Unified Activism the Media Doesn’t Want You to See” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “Leaked phone recordings reveal CNN head supported then-candidate Trump during 2016 elections” (One America News Network)
• Hate Inc.: Why Today’s Media Makes Us Despise One Another
  
• “War Crime Risk Grows for U.S. Over Saudi Strikes in Yemen” (The New York Times)
• “9/18/20 Nasser Arrabyee on the Continued Horrors of the War in Yemen” (The Libertarian Institute)
• Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War
  
• “9/11/20 Ted Snider on the Israel-UAE Normalization Agreement” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “9/17/20 Ted Snider on the Bahrain ‘Peace’ Agreement” (The Libertarian Institute)

Dave Smith is the host of the podcast Part of the Problem and a member of Legion of Skanks. His debut comedy special, Libertas, reached #1 on iTunes. Follow him on Twitter @ComicDaveSmith.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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Gareth Porter discusses the slow death of the “Russiagate” narrative, which has been allowed to live on mainly because of deliberate obfuscation by democrats and the mainstream media. Rarely do they lie outright about the facts, says Porter—instead they will cherry-pick statements from favorable experts and make vague references to incidents where some website or database was accessed by a computer somewhere in Russia. None of this is enough to prove actual Russian interference in the 2016 election, and probably isn’t meant to be. But for those who already refuse to accept the results of the election, and who will look for any morsel of evidence to sustain their theory, no matter how outlandish, these tactics prove to be effective.

Discussed on the show:

• “Dark web voter database report casts new doubts on Russian election hack narrative” (The Grayzone)
• “Russia Targeted Election Systems in All 50 States, Report Finds” (The New York Times)

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state. He is the author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare and, with John Kiriakou, The CIA Insider’s Guide to the Iran Crisis. Follow him on Twitter @GarethPorter and listen to Gareth’s previous appearances on the Scott Horton Show.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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Muhammad Sahimi discusses Mike Pompeo’s continual efforts to provoke a war between the U.S. and Iran, or to incite regime change from within. His “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign is part of the quest to attain one of these outcomes, a policy that Sahimi thinks is both doomed to fail and incredibly dangerous for America. The JCPOA, negotiated by the Obama administration, helped to take the excuse for war off the table, easing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. But President Trump withdrew from the deal almost right away, and his administration has been making aggressive moves toward them ever since. Sahimi reminds us just how dangerous such a conflict would be, given the size and military power of Iran.

Discussed on the show:

• “When it comes to Iran, how many failures is enough for Pompeo?” (The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft)
• “Another Opinion Columnist Pushing War With Iran Who Doesn’t Actually Exist” (The American Conservative)

Muhammad Sahimi is a professor of chemical engineering at USC, Iranian expatriate, and expert on Iranian and U.S. foreign policy.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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