As J.D. Vance pointed out, the United States has poured billions of dollars into building Israel into the world’s neediest welfare state. But, as David Bowie used to say on MTV, too much is never enough for them.
Ted Rall’s Latest Books:
War Is Peace
While the IDF was ethnically cleansing the Gaza Strip, razing 80% of its buildings and slaughtering hundreds of thousands of its people in an internationally condemned genocide, the Israeli people were calm and happy. Now that Trump is forcing Israel to stop attacking Iran and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli warmongers are furious. This society has screwed-up priorities.
Venit, Vidit, Ad Id Rediit Unde Coepit.
After killing 3,500 Iranians and 13 Americans, while costing billions of dollars and America’s global credibility, Donald Trump settled his joint war with Israel against Iran with an arrangement that left Iran infinitely stronger and the United States with, at most, exactly what it had before: an open Strait of Hormuz.
Right Around the Corner
In the same way that Nixon kept telling the American people that the end of the Vietnam War was right around the corner, Trump has told us at least 36 times that a peace deal with Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz—critical to the global economy—were imminent.
Fixer Upper
Between the destruction of the East Wing and the construction of the octagon for a UFC cage match on the White House lawn, Trump has turned the nation’s presidential mansion into a hideous eyesore representative of his presidency. It’s ironic, considering his obsession with national monuments.
Holding Pattern
A ceasefire means the temporary cessation of hostilities. Yet, in the current conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran, Israel in particular continues to bomb and kill. Nevertheless, the media describes the ceasefire as still in effect. Language no longer means anything.
No Show 250
We all know that Trump obsesses over attendance numbers for the big national events he throws. Which is why it’s curious that he has made clear half the country — Democrats — are not invited to the nation’s big 250th birthday party this summer.
My Economy Rocks
At least in public, Trump claims not to be concerned about the economy despite severe warning signs of rising inflation and shrinking jobs. Though he must be privately concerned, the impression he conveys to a worried public is that he doesn’t care about them. And why should he? He’s been grifting the presidency to amass extreme wealth that he only previously pretended to have.
My Right to Exist Is My Right to Kill You
The Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to alter course or accept any criticism of its genocidal policies. This has prompted many who previously favored a two-state solution to now call for the abolition of the Israeli ethnostate, which in turn causes supporters of Israel to accuse their critics of eliminationism.
This Perfect Day
One of the biggest threats to the planet is humans’ tendency to think of warm (hot) sunny days as “good” weather. As the planet warms, it is dying—and we will die with it, feeling great the whole time.
“The Stringer”
graphic novel
by Ted Rall & Pablo G. Callejo
“Political Suicide: The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party”
by Ted Rall
“Bernie (Revised 2020 Edition)”
by Ted Rall
Iran an American Ally? Trump Says Maybe | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
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LIVE 9:00 am Eastern time, Streaming Anytime: Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • For decades, the idea that Iran’s regime represented the worst of the world’s worst stood as a pillar of Republican foreign policy. A different perspective is taking hold in the American Right: Iran as a pragmatic country that the United States can, and must, learn to live with. • Back-to-back major earthquakes strike Venezuela, destroying buildings in the capital Caracas and killing an unknown number of people in the economically-devastates nation. • New York Attorney General Letitia James expresses frustration with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for endorsing a group of democratic socialists for statewide races, saying some don’t understand race and class. “All of us are a little frustrated with the Democratic Party. But you don’t blow it up. That’s what MAGA has done,” James said. MERCH…
Read MoreQ&A | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
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Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of “DeProgram” for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it’s up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
Read MoreUN: Israeli Targets Kids for Genocide | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
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LIVE 9:00 am Eastern time, Streaming Anytime: Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • A U.N. report says Israeli security forces target, abuse and deliberately kill Palestinian children as part of the genocide. One Palestinian kid has been killed on average every day since the start of the cease-fire 8 months ago, UNICEF finds. “They were killed in their homes, in their schools, playing football, fishing. They were shot, bombed and hit by airstrikes.” • The leader of a group of protesters accused of being members of “Antifa” is sentenced to 100 years for an armed assault last summer against an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas. Six other defendants were sentenced to between 50 and 70 years. Another, who was not even present, was given 30 years in prison. A final defendant is scheduled to be sentenced next month. The remarkably stiff penalties…
Read MoreIs This Column Real?
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During the pandemic, I did something stupid: I published a book. Bookstores were closed, so authors obviously could not promote their books by going on tour. Like a lot of other titles that came out in 2021, “The Stringer”—a graphic novel written by me and drawn by Pablo Callejo—got lost in the shuffle. Too bad, and not just for my bottom line. It was a good read about an important topic: deepfakes. What would happen, I wondered after considering the intersection of underemployed reporters in an age of decline with their deep connections to the dangerous places some of them cover, if a rogue journalist were to manipulate global politics—and even start wars—by creating fake imagery and audio of world leaders insulting one another? Behind that question lies a deeper philosophical and psychological concern. What do human beings do after they come to accept that they cannot believe anything they read, hear, or see? What if there is no reliable…
Read MorePopulists Favored to Win | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
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LIVE 9:00 am Eastern time, Streaming Anytime: Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Incumbents beware: The left-wing public is pissed off, too. As voters express frustration with the corporatist establishment, democratic-socialist congressional candidates backed by Zohran Mamdani have the potential to score upsets in New York’s primary elections today. • The Senate passes, 85-5, a major housing bill with a goal of cutting housing prices by stopping Wall Street investors from buying up more than 350 single-family homes, among other things. The House will pass, Trump will sign, it will have no effect. • A judge bans Trump’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements,(SAVE) because the national database of aggregated Americans’ sensitive personal data could result in voters being wrongly purged. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
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