“Witness.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. Films about war, shorn of the bone crushing fear, the putrid stench of the corpses, the deafening noise of explosions, the constant exhaustion and the nervous anxiety that comes with trying to understand what is happening in the terrifying chaos, are pale and inadequate reflections
Continue readingAuthor: Chris Hedges
Canadian Dimension: Journalists abandoned Julian Assange and slit their own throats
“When Goliaths Infiltrate the Fourth Estate.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. The persecution of Julian Assange, along with the climate of fear, wholesale government surveillance and use of the Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers, has emasculated investigative journalism. The press has not only failed to mount a sustained campaign to support
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: They lied about Afghanistan. They lied about Iraq. And they are lying about Ukraine
“Preying for Peace.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. The playbook the pimps of war use to lure us into one military fiasco after another, including Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Ukraine, does not change. Freedom and democracy are threatened. Evil must be vanquished. Human rights must be protected. The
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Dr. Cornel West announces he is running for president
“Go West.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. Dr. Cornel West, the moral philosopher and civil rights activist, has formally announced he is running for president on the People’s Party ticket. Cornel will be a singular voice for serious social and political change in an electoral system saturated with corporate money and
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Why the conspiracy theory about Trump and Russia won’t go away
“Run for Your Lives.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. There is no report, investigation or new revelation, including the recent release of Special Counsel John Durham’s “Report on Matters Related to Intelligence Activities and Investigations Arising Out of the 2016 Presidential Campaigns” that will implode the myth that Russia was responsible
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The enemy from within
“You Are What They Eat.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. America is a stratocracy, a form of government dominated by the military. It is axiomatic among the two ruling parties that there must be a constant preparation for war. The war machine’s massive budgets are sacrosanct. Its billions of dollars in
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The United States of paralysis
“Follow the Money.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. Political paralysis is snuffing out what is left of our anemic democracy. It is the paralysis of doing nothing while the ruling oligarchs, who have increased their wealth by nearly a third since the pandemic began and by close to 90 percent over
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The lord of chaos
“We’re Number One.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. Two decades ago, I sabotaged my career at the New York Times. It was a conscious choice. I had spent seven years in the Middle East, four of them as the Middle East Bureau Chief. I was an Arabic speaker. I believed, like
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Ukraine’s death by proxy
“Proxyboy.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. There are many ways for a state to project power and weaken adversaries, but proxy wars are one of the most cynical. Proxy wars devour the countries they purport to defend. They entice nations or insurgents to fight for geopolitical goals that are ultimately not
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Chris Hedges: Rage Against the War Machine speech
“Murder King.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. Idolatry is the primal sin from which all other sins derive. Idols tempt us to become God. They demand the sacrifice of others in the mad quest for wealth, fame or power. But the idol always ends by requiring self-sacrifice, leaving us to perish
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Woke imperialism
“Identity Politics.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. The brutal murder of Tyre Nichols by five Black Memphis police officers should be enough to implode the fantasy that identity politics and diversity will solve the social, economic and political decay that besets the United States. Not only are the former officers Black,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Ukraine: the war that went wrong
“Everything Must Go.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. Empires in terminal decline leap from one military fiasco to the next. The war in Ukraine, another bungled attempt to reassert US global hegemony, fits this pattern. The danger is that the more dire things look, the more the US will escalate the
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The plague of social isolation
“Cell Damage.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. The is very little to recommend about my old gym, other than the low monthly fee, where I worked out nearly every day from 2007 until the pandemic shut it down. The locker rooms were grimy with moldering carpets. There were brown rings around
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Russell Banks, John Brown and the American soul
“Russell Banks.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. The deep malaise that defines American society—the rage, despair and widespread feelings of betrayal and loss—is rarely captured and almost never explained in the pages of newspapers or on screens. To grasp what has happened to the United States, the savage economic and emotional
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: America’s theatre of the absurd
“Macdeath.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. Our political class does not govern. It entertains. It plays its assigned role in our fictitious democracy, howling with outrage to constituents and selling them out. The Squad and the Progressive Caucus have no more intention of fighting for universal health care, workers’ rights or
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Israel and the rise of Jewish fascism
“Where There’s Smoke.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed coalition government of Jewish extremists, fanatic Zionists and religious bigots represents a seismic change in Israel, one that will exacerbate Israel’s pariah status, erode external support for Israel, fuel a third Palestinian uprising, or intifada, and create irreconcilable political divides
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The politicians who destroyed our democracy want us to vote for them to save it
“The Body Politic.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. The bipartisan project of dismantling our democracy, which took place over the last few decades on behalf of corporations and the rich, has left only the outward shell of democracy. The courts, legislative bodies, the executive branch and the media, including public broadcasting,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The puppets and the puppet masters
“Armed and Dangerous.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. This is the speech given by Chris Hedges outside the Department of Justice in Washington, DC on Saturday October 8 at a rally that called on the US to revoke its extradition request for Julian Assange. Merrick Garland and those who work in
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The return of fascism
“The Bankruptcy of the Liberal Ass.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. Energy and food bills are soaring. Under the onslaught of inflation and prolonged wage stagnation, wages are in free fall. Billions of dollars are diverted by Western nations at a time of economic crisis and staggering income inequality to fund
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Strike, strike, strike
“Strike, Strike, Strike.” Illustration by Mr. Fish. The ruling oligarchs are terrified that, for tens of millions of people, the economic dislocation caused by inflation, stagnant wages, austerity, the pandemic and the energy crisis is becoming unendurable. They warn, as Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
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